brake life.

[Thespian]

 Just got my Val, ,6,000 mile's ago. po said the oil spot on the floor was old, but ended up the fork's had a leak and I had to replace the seals and the front brakes ,as soon as I bought it.

  @ 7,000 miles the front brakes are down to 50%. Is this nominal? 

Also getting allot of drag on the left front caliper after re instillation.

 With no brakes, everything spins good. Right side OK left is dragging.
took the caliper apart and everything looks and works ok. but still I get drag.
Any input is welcome.

[Valker]

I'd bet the front axle isn't completely in. It should be flush with the left fork. Check that first.

[R J]

I'd bet the front axle isn't completely in. It should be flush with the left fork. Check that first.

Totally agree with Valker's answer.     Axle not seated properly, or, knocked in flush, what ever ya wish to call it.

[PhredValk]

I have 24K on mine with the pads that were on her when I bought her. I have new pads in my kit, but am some time away from needing to change them.
Fred.

[Thespian]

 I will R&R the front axle tomorrow. I was thinking I needed to start over and see what would happen.
If at first you don't succeed try try again.

 Thanks for the timely reply's.

[9Ball]

follow the instructions for re-installing the axel and the order to tighten the pinch bolts.  You also have to bounce the forks a few times before final tightening of the last pinch bolts.

It's all clearly laid out in the instructions...

[Bone]

Shoptalk, owners handbook, owners manual.

[hubcapsc]

It's all clearly laid out in the instructions...

If a person wanted to read the instructions, where would they be located?

Here's one place:

   http://www.valkyrieriders.com/shoptalk/TireChangeSplineLube.htm

Dag has the entire manual online here, you can download a PDF...

   http://valkyrienorway.com/download.html

-Mike

[RonW]

the instructions are about the same for most bikes however the sequence should be followed religiously. With the axle in the front wheel and through the front forks ....

• torque left fork pinch bolts (16 ft-lbs)
• then axle bolt (nut) on right fork (67 ft-lbs)
• then straddle the bike and bounce the forks up and down applying front brake.
• finally torque right fork pinch bolts (16 ft-lbs)

in that order. However before Step One of torquing the left pinch bolts it's essential (as others have noted) that the left end of the axle shaft is flush with the outside surface of the left fork. To ensure the flush alignment, you can either pound in the left end of the axle shaft with a rubber mallet with the left pinch bolts loose of course. Or with the left pinch bolts loose, tighten the axle bolt (nut) on the right-side fork to draw in the axle shaft fully into the left fork recess. Two wrench are needed for the second option. Also, with the second option, the steps would be out of sequence or transposed, er, instead A then B, it was B then A, that is, if you were to immediately torque down the left pinch bolts leaving the already tightened axle bolt as is out of convenience. To restore the proper sequence, loosen the axle bolt and start from scratch following the steps above. Bouncing the forks up and down supposedly aligns the axle shaft to both forks. How many repetitions? Personally, I do 8 reps. It's also a good idea to double-check that the speedo housing hasn't been rotated away from its stop lug, here.

(In the process of aligning the front forks, some people loosen the 4 pinch bolts on the lower triple bridge (18 ft lbs) and remove the windshield bolts and windshield as well to preclude locking in any built up stresses imaginary or real. However, after bouncing the forks up and down .... the question is do you torque the lower triple bridge pinch bolts BEFORE tightening the [edit] right fork pinch bolts or the visa versa? If removed the windshield goes on last. With the lower triple tree pinch bolts, dunno.)

[RP#62]

As others have noted, this is one area where the instructions in the manual are deficient.  They leave it to you to get the wheel positioned with the rotors centered in the calipers by trial and error.  That is, it gives the instructions for torquing everything down, then has you check that the rotors are properly positioned, which if they aren't means you have to take everything loose again and start over.

It should tell you in the dissassembly instructions, to note the position of the left side of the axle relative to its depth in the lower fork as you will need to reinstall to the same depth.  This would save you a lot of grief later.

-RP

[Ricky-D]

I hate injecting myself into the fray but the following should not be allow to go unchallenged.

    torque left fork pinch bolts (16 ft-lbs)
    then axle bolt (nut) on right fork (67 ft-lbs)
    then straddle the bike and bounce the forks up and down applying front brake.
    finally torque right fork pinch bolts (16 ft-lbs)

The above quoted directions are all wrong!

Simply put:  If the axle is allowed to stick out too far from the shock you will have interference from the brake rotor mounting grommets hitting the brake caliper mounting bracket.

This is what the bouncing is all about. To be sure the axle is not sticking out too far from the shock.

***

[RonW]

what the ever are you talking about? There's not a whole lot of steps involved. Once the axle is stuck in the wheel through the forks, there's only 5 bolts to mess with. I believe I quoted the proper order of said steps. Again, what are you talking about. Happy Sunday, btw.

[sandy]

You don't have to remove the axle to fix this. Loosen all 4 pinch bolts. Loosen the axle nut. Tap the axle in from the left side: it must be seated all the way. Tighten the leftside pinch bolts(drivers side in a cage). Bounce the front end up and down 2-4 times. Tighten axle bolt (67 ft/lbs) and then tighten right side pinch bolts.

I will R&R the front axle tomorrow. I was thinking I needed to start over and see what would happen.
If at first you don't succeed try try again.

 Thanks for the timely reply's.

[Chrisj CMA]

This is what the bouncing is all about. To be sure the axle is not sticking out too far from the shock.

It gets old seeing stuff like this........do you just dream this stuff up and then see who will bite.........  If you are going to post on the Tech board, please stop posting made up junk.

How in the world can "the bouncing thing" detect or correct an axle not seated all the way.....it cant.....I really think you are just taunting to see who will bite.

Stop it please

[9Ball]

You don't have to remove the axle to fix this. Loosen all 4 pinch bolts. Loosen the axle nut. Tap the axle in from the left side: it must be seated all the way. Tighten the leftside pinch bolts(drivers side in a cage). Bounce the front end up and down 2-4 times. Tighten axle bolt (67 ft/lbs) and then tighten right side pinch bolts.

I will R&R the front axle tomorrow. I was thinking I needed to start over and see what would happen.
If at first you don't succeed try try again.

 Thanks for the timely reply's.

this is good advice...

Also, get hold of the Honda Service Manual...that's where the directions come from.

[Thespian]

 Thanks again everyone. I feel a little foolish for not paying attention to the instructions for the front, after making sure to do so on the rear. I didn't torque the pinch bolts at all. It looks like the PO used a roto hammer to put them in last time, they are so bad. I felt lucky to have broken them loose. Ordered replacements. They should be here mid week.

 I'll try the bouncing the front end thing for good measure. Who knows maybe a apex bit will drop out from under the fender.

[Bone]

Your lucky you did this work. Even a dealer can mess up the job and some try and hide the damage. Imagine the inconvenience and cost if you had to do the job on a trip. Don't hesitate to ask questions.

[Sigrún]

Even a dealer can mess up the job and some try and hide the damage.

Oh they can and they will 

[Thespian]

 The fat lady is no low maintenance ride. But she will, no doubt give back what she is given.