Forks

[Davet261]

Is there a break in period for adjusting tension on the front forks?  I bought my Valk back in March of this year and it had 7,000 miles on it, it now has just over 10,000 miles and my steering seems a bit loose.  I never noticed it when I bought it and its not something that just started, more like over time its got more loose. Its almost like driving a car with the old style power steering, you cant hardly feel any pressure when turning/cornering, and it seems to be worse when starting out especially when my wife is on the back with me.  I do not know if there is a specific foot pound the forks need to be torqued.  I have a friend that has a Harley with about 2,000 miles less and he told me he had to take his back to the shop and get it adjusted around 7,000 miles.  Is this just normal for a Valkyrie to turn so easy or am I imagining things, any help will be greatly appreciated

[9Ball]

yes, there is a periodic maintenance listed in the service manual....recommend investing in one or going to Dag's Norway website for the electronic version.  Unless you are having issues (like you are questioning) then it's probably better to leave well enough alone rather than unnecessarily messing with the bearing torque settings.

One way I've found to determine whether the steering head needs adjusting is to take your hands off the bars while travelling on a straight stretch of road.  If you have any noticeable wandering this can usually be attributed to the steering head or the shock bushings, assuming your tires are in good order and properly inflated.

Try this at your own risk.....

[Ricky-D]

Well, I certainly wouldn't recommend that but regardless:

With only 10k miles on the bike I think you are trying to conjure up something that isn't there.

The Valkyrie is an extremely easy bike to maneuver and to compare it to some other bike is folly.

if there is a discernible looseness and you feel any movement  of the steering (when stopping) maybe this time would be good to take it to a Honda shop and let them check it for you.

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[ValkFlyer]

Check your tire pressure.