Ten Thumbs Up!

[DarkMeister]

  That's my 10 thumbs. And don't ask 'up' what or where. 

My bike has been sitting for over  month. One thing leads to another...
Did my first tank removal a while ago to change the petcock. Good experience. As a sideline, been following comments about decel-pop. Checked some stuff out, rotten vacuum plugs, vac lines. One line, from tube 4, came off in my hand when I went to check it. Ordered Red-Eye stuff finally and it arrived.
So now I keep busting stuff - and I haven't even got to trying to godzila in the airbox. Looking forward to that. Got the 2x4 chunk, ratchet straps, KY jelly, detergent, alcohol, sledgehammer. Whatever it takes.

In the meantime, the 10 thumbs were busy - putting intake tubes back on - I busted 3 of the intake tube insulator bands. &%$!!(* ! Knowing my nearest dealer, they won't have any and I'll have another delay as the riding season nears the end up here. Shouldn't have used the drill to tighten them. Yet I seem to recall that everything there has to be super-tight.

Found water inside sparkplug holes - but only in 2 and 4. Weird.

Weirder yet, the bike hasn't been started in over a month, yet I detected this persistent whine. Then I realised that was me, whining on here instead of being outside working on the bike.

I'll probably update when I get to the airbox biddaniz...

[Ricky-D]

If you instead rip all that smog crap off the motor you will find things a bit easier and no more have to be concerned with hoses.

I find that snug to tight works just fine.  Unlike a v-twin, the Valkyrie has little to no vibration so even if you do not tighten something properly, you will not lose that particular item or bolt/nut and later as you go over what you had earlier done and find something loose, just go ahead and snug it up.

On the same note, using an anti-seize on just about everything that has screw threads is the way to go. Most threaded fasteners that thread into aluminum need this to keep the bolt/screw from locking up to a point where they break when trying to unfasten them.

***

[DarkMeister]

I hear ya on anti-seize; really must get some. First thing that stopped me cold, right at the beginning, were the small screws holding down the choke-cable trim. Had to go buy a ..burr?..for removal of stripped screws.

Well - no KY, no drinking, the tubes went onto carbs like butter. That actually worries me. Too easy.
Guess I'll find out the next time I fire her up.

[DarkMeister]

Seems I'm not the only one to over-crank the clamps on the insulators. Stopped by the dealer's and of course none in stock. Apparently, they are on back-order for October 27th. Wow...
Went to order from CheapCycleParts; had luck with them before. 30 bucks just for shipping a few screws and 3 bands!! Toasted that, went to HDL. Lower prices and shipping only 7 bucks. Yay.

[John Schmidt]

Water inside the plug holes? Each hole has a drain hole at the bottom. Get a piece of stiff wire and poke around in there until you open it up. You should be able to see it from the top with a flashlight.

[DarkMeister]

Woo-hoo!! Just did a test-ride and wow! Runs awesome. No decel pops. Seems much more responsive to throttle. I know some of this is in my head only, because I was amazed that after ten-thumbing it to death it even started and ran.
This latest 'fix' involved new vacuum plugs, vac hoses and intake tube o-rings. (The old vac line to number 4 tube fell into my hand when touched and was cracked throughout).
Tank removal number 3 for me; thought I learned - but no. Had one heck of a time getting the fuel line back onto the petcock. Swore, cursed, bled...interspersed with running back here to search and read. Absolutely getting the longest needle-nose pliars I can find.
Thanks guys for input and help along the way.
 

[FLAVALK]

Absolutely getting the longest needle-nose pliars I can find.
 

I have a pair that I picked up from Harbor Freight. They're about 10" long and the jaws are bent at a slight angle. Those things are handy as can be