Valkyrie performance build??

[Just-us-6]

Hi, I have a 1998 Valkyrie that has been customized. It started life out as a standard, but it now has a Harley street glide fairing, Harley style bags (after market fat big bags) a Harley street glide rear fender and a Harley style king tour pack. It has a very nice custom paint job and the bike looks really good and rides and performs well. I have had numerous bikes over the years including several Harleys a different Valkyrie and my last ride was a BMW k1600. I just got back from a 2600 mile trip on the bike and overall it performed nicely and was very comfortable. I rode with a friend of mine who was riding his Screamin Eagle Street Glide. He has done heads and cams on his 110" motor and it runs very strong. He had no problem outrunning me in roll ons in 4th and 5th gears.

This got me thinking about trying to up my power a bit. I do not really want to do a supercharger and have considered nitrous but am leary of this also. I would like to find out if there is any experience with anyone doing any headwork, cams or bigger bore builds on a Valkyrie. I was thinking that if I could do those things that I would forego the laughing gas. Does anyone know of any available bigger pistons for a valk and how far can you bore it. Can a 1800 from a Goldwing be made to work? Can you go with higher compression either through head work or different pistons? Is there anybody that regularly works on these heads for performance? I saw Web Cam has a performance cam for the Valkyrie, has anyone tried it and what were your results? Any other suggestions for more performance?

[R J]

Send Attic Rat  a PM.

He performs some work on the engine to get it a little wild to ride.

Go to the members (list) and do a search for him.

[DarkSideR]

 Talk to Attic Rat. He is the leading authority on tuning Valkyries. Stay away from cams. You can only get them ground and there are only negative reports.

[Disco]

If you don't believe in butt dynos and want documented performance increase, put a blower on it.  Otherwise, leave your 92 cubic inches alone, perform required periodic/preventive maintenance, and enjoy hundreds of thousands of virtually trouble-free miles.   

What's the service life of that modified 110 and what did it cost to get the 20% larger engine to outperform you?   

If you're OK with butt dynos, you have more options with which to experiment.   

[MP]

That HD is 20% bigger than the VAlk, and, if lucky, will have a service life of 30,000 miles, with the added work he did.  The standard HD motor now will last a long time, but once they start adding power, the life shortens up.

Around here, the guys that make 30k literally brag about how long their motors went before rebuild!

MP

[judd]

You're running against him at a disadvantage ..........the Harley is a 6 spd, 6th being O.D. 5th is 1:1 The Valk of course is a 5 spd, 5th being O.D. and 4th being 1:1  

Valkyrie Ratios

1st gear               2.66
2nd gear             1.722
3rd gear              1.291
4th gear             1
5th gear             0.805

HD Ratios

1st: 3.21
2nd:2.21
3rd:1.57
4th:1.23
5th:1
SE 6th: .89

You should be running in 5th against his 6th,  4th against his 5th  and 3rd to his 4th gear,  then you will find out which one of you needs to throw more money at their cycle.  

Another fair way would be for you to run 3500 rpm in 3rd and he run whichever gear he feels works for him at that speed, and run 'em thru the gears, you will find it to be a much closer race then.

Cheers, Judd

[Just-us-6]

I wondered about the gear rato, as it did seem that when we were riding in the twisties it did seem that we were pretty close on accelerating out of corners. We were definitely a lot closer than what was indicated by the roll on. When I kept the Valk up in the rpms it seemed to accelerate well and seemed strong. I have a hard time judging it against a Harley by the butt dyno (which I do not put much faith in) because even though I have owned several Harleys (many with strong performance builds) my last bike was a bmw k1600 which made all of these heavy weights seem lethargic. Any info on going bigger displacement? I was thinking of picking up a spare motor and doing the build whatever it may be and then waiting till winter to do the replacement. If I were going to do a blower, I thought I needed to do a module to retard timing and I thought they did not make this anymore? I just thought bigger displacement or building up the current motor would be an easier task. As far as longevity, I know from his experience and my own that the performance builds on the twins will not last as long as the Valkyrie. In fact on the way home he had a suspected valve seal problem and started burning oil badly (33000 miles on that build). He has way more money in his bike than I do in mine, just wondering what I can do to pep mine up. I would love an honest 120 - 130 horsepower (not butt dyno either) just do not know what it would take and how much it would cost to get there, not only in initial investment but also in cost of longevity.

[R J]

http://www.timskelton.com/valkyrie/tech/dollars_per_hp.htm

Look this over and then decide what ya want to do.

You realize, you go muckin inside any engine you will shorten its life.

MGM has some minor mods, but nothing that will blow the doors off of a V-Max and etc Crotch Rockets.

It currently has 243K + miles on it.

If you do a search for high mileage bikes, a post should come up, the 1st post has a bunch of high mileage bikes.

[Bagger John - #3785]

On both of the Tourers and both Interstates I've owned I swapped the pilot jets for #38s, put adjustable jet needles in place of the fixed ones, then put I/S diaphragm springs and an I/S ICM on the Tourers.

If I could find a set of Vikings or similar performance pipes I would consider swapping those for the stock exhaust then tuning the carbs accordingly. I have done zero (no, zip, nada, none) mods to the airboxes or to the motors themselves. Power has been markedly increased in all cases, whereas reliability has not suffered.

Should I need more power than a Valkyrie in that state of tune can provide, I would pick from one of the following:

1) Source a spare motor and purpose-build it into a forced-aspirated setup;
2) Buy a Rocket III;
3) Throw a leg over either of my Concours 14s and go wail the crap out of anyone's Screamin' Beagle.

Enjoy the Valk as it's meant to be. Short of a supercharger or possibly a nitrous-oxide setup, most invasive mods to these bikes will effectively convert a silk purse  into a sow's ear.

[dago mooserider]

I know it was said already, but...... attic rat. Many have had him "tune up" their bikes and I don't think anyone has ridden away without a big smile. I dunno if anyone has dyno run their bike after he's worked on it. Mine dyno'ed at 94 before I took it to him. I hope to dyno mine soon so I could post up some scientific numbers but it's a safe bet its 100+ now. My buddies with modded 96's really are not even in the ballpark when it comes to a drag race. I have not tangled with a 110 yet tho.  If your looking for 130 h.p. supercharge or nitrous are your only options. I'm going to be adding a hidden nitrous system (30-40 shot) to mine at some point. I moved the battery under the swing arm and made room for a bottle under the seat.

[Just-us-6]

I spoke to Attic Rat today. He appears to have what I may be looking for!

[98valk]

JeffK's dyno run,  I believe this is what he did to the bike, blower, head work, new valve springs, viking pipes.
I'm sure Jeff will post and add the rest.

[67blkbrd]

Not sure of your mechanical skill set  but if you are capable of some minor port work it is worth the time when combined with a .060 shave off the heads. Some engines may require the valve reliefs to be re cut to clear the valves. I fabricated a fixture to do this on my engine but it tuned out that I had enough piston to valve clearance to call it good, buy a hair. I have run it a little over 500 miles since I did the work and all is well. Though you can do more, a basic bowl blend on the intake and exhaust combined with the head shave does provide results, good results. The guys I ride with all have modified HD's with 107 - 110cid screaming eagle engines. One has a monster 127 cid S&S but it spends too much time in broke down mode than I would tolerate for what it makes in power, and no I cant out run him, most of the time. Heat soak has a way of taking the venom out of his bite. Before I modified my heads I could run with these guys and out run the 107, I had only tuned my bike at this point. After the head work I can out run them and traction is now limited in first gear. I know there are a couple guys out there that poopoo on the butt dyno but it is the way things were done for decades and just like then there are still people out there that are more skilled at tuning and modifying than others, always has been always will be. In my opinion if I wanted more power I would just buy a bike that started off with more power long before I considered a turbo, blower or nitrous on this engine unless I was to go full on with the engine. That would entail forged pistons, light weight wrist pins, beamed and polished rods with ARP rod bolts  and a true balance and blue print. Doing these things not only offer some performance advantages but will greatly improve reliability.  I feel safe working with all the power adders I mention as I do have a vehicle enhanced by each and they all provide reasonable reliability  and they all perform as well if not better than expected.

[R J]

JeffK has also got forged pistons, last I knew..

[Disco]

I would love an honest 120 - 130 horsepower (not butt dyno either)

How much improvement are you expecting from Attic Rat Bob? 

Whatever you decide to do, get a before dyno run to use as your baseline.  Then, establish and agree to a target improvement.  After the work is done, go get yourself an after dyno run to see how everything turned out.  Sharing with the group will be appreciated. 

[Disco]

67blkbrd, you just described what is also the core of the Howie "The Jet" / Attic Rat, et al mods.  Milled heads + restored valve to piston top clearance. 

Maybe you guys should do a build-off!      With real before and after dyno runs!   

[Just-us-6]

I am not sure how much to expect from Attic rat's improvements but it sounds like a good start. I am not overly concerned about Dyno results as long as they are real results. Dynos can be deceiving and games can be played with them also. I will see what it gets me and then decide if I want more. Like I said I do not mind paying to play and will definitely enjoy some extra kick but I also do not want to put it "on kill". I still take this bike on trips. I still have my k1600 to go fast on also.

[Disco]

I am not overly concerned about Dyno results as long as they are real results.

Did I just read that correctly?   ???

[wdvalk]

Ok, here it goes,me and my 40 year long friend both have Valkyries,mine a 97, his a 98,both dressed as tourers.We both have been riding all our life.When ever we would line em up(which was very often)we run neck & neck.Had Mr. Smith(attic rat )do his thing,and now my friend(who is a member on this board)has a frown on his face every time we race.I don't need a dyno to tell me how that happened.Every time this subject comes up one particular guy chimes in and has to be heard.Im here to say what attic rat does work. If you have any doubts,Line your bike up next to mine and well run em for $100.00, That's all.