Need to know overall length of valkyrie so I can trailer it back

[rhinor61]

I had to leave my bike at a safe place after it broke down on my trip to Reno, bike goes in gear but does not move. Makes a ZZZZZ sound when I let the clutch out. Final drive ?? Drive line?? 

Good thing AAA road service Plus will tow motorcycles....

Guess I will never trust the dealer to do my annual inspection in the future or change/mount my tires EVER again.

Can somebody measure the over all length of their Valkyrie?

What size trailer should I rent?

thanks,
John
modesto, CA

[RichIAFF]

Your looking at 107" but don't forget you need more for the tie downs to pull the bike forward if your are putting it in a chock.

[dalai-lama]

I have put an I/S into my F150 Super Crew with the tail gate down.  I don't ever want to do that again    Fortunately it was not my bike and all the way home I kept saying "It's not my bike, It's not my bike...".  A friend had a rear tire go and AAA would not do anything but get the bike off the MA pike and drop it in a parking lot off the exit.  So I had the tow truck back up to my pickup and loaded it in and took it home and changed the tire for him.

Sounds like your pinion cup is toast.  A pretty easy fix and not too expensive.  If you have an impact wrench it makes it easier to get the pinion cup nut off.

the dalai

[MacDragon]

Brought mine home in a 4'x8' trailer rented from U-Haul... Pretty cheap.  

[ptgb]

Brought mine home in a 4'x8' trailer rented from U-Haul... Pretty cheap.  

+1

Brought my first Valk home same trailer from uHaul from 5 hours away (cold & snow - so couldn't ride it).  No problems whatsoever. Might have been like 30 bucks or so for the rental.

[BG99IS]

The UHaul motorcycle trailer worked great for my Interstate and was under $30 for 24 hours.

[ricoman]

it is over 100 inches long.
the 8 foot trailers hauling Valks are longer than 8 feet or the bike would need to be in at an angle. 8 feet is 96 inches. I have not seen a Valk in an 8 ft. trailer.

[gordonv]

Good thing AAA road service Plus will tow motorcycles....

CAA is expensive, then you need to pay extra for motorcycle coverage. It cost me about $100 just for myself as an extra on my wife's coverage.

I now belong to the GWRRA (Gold Wing [& Valkyrie] Road Riders Association). For the basic coverage, $55, you get a family membership with Road Side Assistance & towing to 35 miles. For an extra $25 ($80 annual) you get towing increased to 100 miles. This is for the whole family. CAA cost us almost $300 for basic coverage without MC coverage, for 3 members. North America coverage.

Valkyries are part of the GWRRA. Anyone may join, but without a GW or Valk, they pay a little extra.

[Brad]

If it is near Reno and you need some help, I live in the Reno area.

[ptgb]

it is over 100 inches long.
the 8 foot trailers hauling Valks are longer than 8 feet or the bike would need to be in at an angle. 8 feet is 96 inches. I have not seen a Valk in an 8 ft. trailer.

I think the uHaul to which is being referred (above) is actually 5x9.

[sugerbear]

Brought mine home in a 4'x8' trailer rented from U-Haul... Pretty cheap.  

hauled mine home from texas in one. worked well(heavy as hell, but worked well)

[F6BANGER]

Just make sure you have it tied down correctly. Dont put it on the side stand while strapping it down. I think there is an article on how to trailer it in shoptalk.

[BF]

I had a (recently sold it) 5x8 utility trailer with a gate/ramp.  My standard wouldn't fit on it.  Bike too long, trailer bed too short.....gate wouldn't close. 

[rhinor61]

Thanks everybody for your feedback on the trailer.

I check my local U-haul today, nobody has the 5' x 9' Utility Trailer with Ramp as pictured in this thread.

They have a 5' x 8' Utility Trailer that measures inside dimensions: 108" x 51.5". it will be tight, and I will bring my own ramp...  $18.95 what a deal....

I remember reading the proper way to tie down the Valkyrie... good stuff cause it help when it was loaded on the Slide back tow truck.

FYI.. CSAA nor cal members they will tow motorcycles if you have the Road Service Plus or Higher... I pay like $85 per year, I get 4 tows a year included for my car and SUV.. Hope to never have to use it but in CA the DMV features at the CSAA office is so worth it when transferring vehicle titles.

I am hoping its the Pinion cup, and not the fnal drive.

Thanks everybody... I learn so much from what everybody shares...
John

[Brad]

U-Haul of Modesto
4131 McHenry Ave
Modesto, CA 95356

Online this location showes the 9 foot trailer available this weekend.  $24.95 per day.

[Walküre]

Here's the one I got, fit just fine, the tailgate/ramp has two settings, one is open slightly, but did great:

[Red Diamond]

My I/S has been hauled in the back of my F350 CrewCab, twice, with the tailgate up. My friend just left today for Tennessee with his I/S in the back of his Dodge with an 8' bed, tailgate up.

[Brian]

book specs: GL1500C/CT is 99.4inches CF is 104.7 wheel base for both is 66.5 inches.

[sugerbear]

save yourself some gas, pick up the trailer close to where the bike is.
no use pulling it both ways.

[ricoman]

My I/S has been hauled in the back of my F350 CrewCab, twice, with the tailgate up. My friend just left today for Tennessee with his I/S in the back of his Dodge with an 8' bed, tailgate up.

can you get a pic?  would love to see the IS in an 8 ft. bed.
how much of an angle to get the room? this could save some guys money, knowing how to get a 104" motorcycle into a 96" box.

[Joe Hummer]

7 ft is the minimum for the tires...check my sig pic.

Joe

[Brad]

save yourself some gas, pick up the trailer close to where the bike is.
no use pulling it both ways.

U Haul has huge drop fees if you only rent one way.

[Red Diamond]

My I/S has been hauled in the back of my F350 CrewCab, twice, with the tailgate up. My friend just left today for Tennessee with his I/S in the back of his Dodge with an 8' bed, tailgate up.

can you get a pic?  would love to see the IS in an 8 ft. bed.
how much of an angle to get the room? this could save some guys money, knowing how to get a 104" motorcycle into a 96" box.

7 ft is the minimum for the tires...check my sig pic.

Joe

Thanks for the input JoeValk, because I am not about to load my bike into my truck bed to prove that the I/S and the Tourer will fit. On the Interstate we did have to remove the license tag holder because it pushed against the rear fender, that is about it. No angling involved, it was tied down at the tie-down eyelets in the bed of the truck.

OK, here's how it works. The interior of the bed on a 2K F350 CrewCab Dually, from the inside of the bed panel next to the cab, to the inside wall of the tailgate, the bed is 8' 2", the exact same measurement of the valkyrie length, from the front tire to the tip of the rear fender. The indenture of the tailgate makes up for the rest. Voiwalla!

[ricoman]

I don't see 8 feet plus 2 inches= 98 inches as being correct. That length does not equate to any published length for a valk.
My standard was longer than that and would not fit in a 98 inch trailer.
Maybe somebody will actually measure the length of their Valk-front of front wheel to rear of rear fender or bags, or license plate or whatever is the farthest point to the rear. It is not 98 inches.
Dave

[rhinor61]

save yourself some gas, pick up the trailer close to where the bike is.
no use pulling it both ways.

U Haul has huge drop fees if you only rent one way.

It pencils out to pick it up close to home and return the trailer from where I rent it. Since I will only have the trailer for 24 hours.  I could see a one-way rental if you were going to have it 2-3 days.

Really cant justify owning a motorcycle trailer at this time, plus after this little incident I am going to do everything possible to avoid my bike ever being towed or trailered again. Especially when I was riding with a harley at the time my bike broke down. When he whipped out his camera and snapped  a picture loaded on the trailer, I wanted to shove his camera in the dirt... 

I will make a new post about what I find once I get the bike home and tore down.  I am onboard with the pinion cup being bad...

Thanks everybody...
John

[Mr.BubblesVRCCDS0008]

Just hauled my I/S to missouri and back (1500 miles roundtrip)on a harbor freight 4X8 folding trailer. It's rated for 1195 lbs payload.  It' was set up for a kaw 2000 and belong to a riding buddy who has hauled his bike from houston to miami and back at least 3 times. I liked it so much I bought one wed. and I'm in the process of decking it out for my valk. The overall trailer length is about 12 feet, but the bed is 4X8. It folds in half and the tongue folds down and can be stored in a 24in X63in area. They had it on sale for 289 and then with a 20% off coupon out the door for 232.After I get it all finished I'll try and post a photo of it.

[sugerbear]

save yourself some gas, pick up the trailer close to where the bike is.
no use pulling it both ways.

U Haul has huge drop fees if you only rent one way.

must have changed recently.  picked up my current valk about 4 yrs ago.
total cost for oneway 2day was $35, or there abouts.
guess i'm not up to date. it's all good though

[Jim Ross]

Just measured mine a couple of weeks ago-----trying to find a toy hauler that it will fit in.
My '98 measured 99/100 inches.

[Jason O]

Did you ever figure out the problem?

[rhinor61]

Hello Jason.

I got the bike home, got the rear wheel off, had to pull the final drive off.

I found the drive shaft teeth worn down and almost all the teeth inside the pinion cup are gone. It was dry inside there. I always had the dealer do my rear tire replacement and change the final drive lube too. So about every 9-10k miles it was in for tires.... I called and asked about the service procedure and was quite shocked that the driveline-pinion cup was not part of the rear servicing...

So anyway part will arrive by friday...

I will be posting picture of what I found and rebuilding the unit... I am going to pull the swing arm too, its a bit more work since I installed a belly tank to get the rear tire off, since the swing arm does not come down enough for the rear tire to clear...

thanks, John

[Chrisj CMA]

I think I would remove the aft rear fender before taking the swing arm off just for wheel r/r. 

[X Ring]

Hello Jason.

I got the bike home, got the rear wheel off, had to pull the final drive off.

I found the drive shaft teeth worn down and almost all the teeth inside the pinion cup are gone. It was dry inside there. I always had the dealer do my rear tire replacement and change the final drive lube too. So about every 9-10k miles it was in for tires.... I called and asked about the service procedure and was quite shocked that the driveline-pinion cup was not part of the rear servicing...

So anyway part will arrive by friday...

I will be posting picture of what I found and rebuilding the unit... I am going to pull the swing arm too, its a bit more work since I installed a belly tank to get the rear tire off, since the swing arm does not come down enough for the rear tire to clear...

thanks, John

John, it's not that difficult.  Remove the shocks and lower the Valk so you can drive the axle out over the exhaust.  You don't have to mess with the exhaust at all and yes I have a belly tank also.

Marty

[rhinor61]

Thanks Marty for the info and the support.

I already took the exhaust completely off, bags too... I am going take the swing arm off too and do more inspecting..

I plan to replace the rear tire with new bearing (mod) and get it all back together.. just waiting on PARTS...

But in the future I will leave the exhaust alone, thought I would change the gaskets since I had a light tap on the right side...

thanks, John