looking for a good valk resource

[NDFRC]

I know there are some good valk masterminds on here and I don't want to take my lady to a Honda shop to fix.. especially when I cant tell them exactly what's wrong, not to mention I am sure they will not 'treat' her right while she takes up space there.
I suspect I have something mechanical with one of the cyls, but before I get into that, the real question is.. is there anyone that does and would be willing to work on my valk?

many thanks.. Keith
 Orange Park, FL
03 std, 3500 miles

[Grumpy]

When you say mechanical, exactly what are the symptoms ? Knocking, missing or ?
And yes I do repair them.

[Thunderbolt]

There are a few of us that have some experience with them.  If you can describe what is going on in a little more detail maybe we can help you diagnose the problem.  I don't profess to be any kind of expert but will be glad to help you check it out.  Bill (Grumpy) that posted before me has a lot more experience as well as a couple of others on the board if they care to offer assistance.  If you have never changed the vacuum lines to the center two carbs that is often a place for a vacuum leak and sometimes one of those will sort of "whistle" especially on deceleration. 

[TJ]

I also work on them and in Lake Placid, Fl.  As Grumpy said , maybe a little more info on the
problem...

[sixlow]

I think i have found your problem, 3500 miles in 12 years. yep, there it is.
seriously lots of great help here and if you need to trailer it somewhere I may be able to help ya.

[Bert AKA,Valkaholic]

Welcome To The Wild World Of Valkyrie's !
 If You Can Post The Symptoms We Can Probably Diagnose What Is Going On With Your Valkyrie.
 I Also Work On The Valkyries And I Am In The Ocala Nat'l Forest, Near Ocklawaha, Fl.

[NDFRC]

Wow, thanks for the responses..
ok symptom's..
let me start with what I have done, when I got the bike w/2500 miles, the previous owner had the carbs rebuilt by a local Honda shop, which made sense due to the age and low miles and it ran great, then I had the rear end service, new tires and all fluids changed, still ran great, so not being able to leave it alone, I desmogged(shiny kit- Ca bike), replaced petcock with a pingle, and repiped via glass pack mods and truck stacks with Grumpy’s fine tips..(looks and sound great).  Everything I did was researched thoroughly via the tech pages and lots of emails on here specific to what I was doing at the time with a lot of great help.  Initial problem was a backfire, to which the common thread was to expect such after a repipe or you have a vacuum leak after the desmog. Well I inspected, tightened and reinspected every hose and clamp, till I am blue, I replaced intake Orings, rechecked everything related to vacuum, double checked my desmog work, the top of the carb rubber things. I can pull the tank, and airbox and have everything back together in an hour. I only run non-ethl and plenty of seafoam, B12 and techron have been ran thru.
I really don’t think I have a vacuum leak, so I Turned my attention to the exhaust, and got rid of the new fangled asbestos exhaust gaskets and put in the oem copper ones, made sure everything is tight, but still have backfire.  About this backfire, its consistent on the right side, then one day I notice blue smoke after I had idled for a bit, it cleared and did it a couple times after, but don’t notice it as much now, checked and replaced all plugs and noticed #5 (right, rear) fouled, figured that caused the smoke, looking closer I noted that exhaust pipe(#5) runs about half as hot as the others on that side, so its not firing correctly and that’s when I noticed she misses, so even though a bad coil should affect 2 cyls, I replaced the one that runs #5, no change.. the backfire is a loud bark- right side, no backfire on decal ever. I can reduce it to almost nothing by feathering on the choke, making it rich- it smoothes out and doesn’t  backfire, put choke off and it starts again.
So something is going on with this one cyl(#5), I sense its carburetion due to being able to use the choke, so she is running too lean?, maybe needs to be rejetted, I do not want to get into carb work, I know I will screw things up. I just dont understand why the backfire isn’t happening across all cyls if it’s a jetting issue, its just #5 that seems to be the problem… bent valve? Bad guides? Bad or clogged carb?   Geez, I feel stupid on this one and sure would like someone to fix her before I make things worse. I am at my end of wits.

[Grumpy]

Looks like you have a slow jet on that cyl that is partially blocked, cooler pipe indicates that cyl is not firing all the time, and it will cause it to back fire. I have had a couple bikes here with the same symptoms, that were corrected by cleaning the jets. I have even had one that would backfire while idling, same fix. If you are careful that jet can be pulled with out removing the carb bank.  Also check the slow jet to be sure it is set the same as the rest, lightly seat the jet screw, then open it 1 3/4 to 2 turns out. If that does not correct it, the jet is plugged.

[Bert AKA,Valkaholic]

Like Grumpy Said, It Sounds Like A Clogged Jet. I Had A Similar Problem With One Of The Bikes I Just Repaired Due To Hydro=Lock. The Float Was Sticking Letting Fuel Flow To The #5 Cylinder Causing Hydro-Lock. Luckily I Know The First Signs !
Adding A Little Marvel Mystery Oil To The Gas Every Other Time I Ride Usually Helps Keep Things Lubricated.

[Thunderbolt]

Try this if you have not already done so.  Change the small hose on the left side of #5, it's about an inch long.  I use 5/32 hose from the local auto parts store for all of those.  Otherwise it might very well be the slow jet.  I had one set that I cleaned and there must have been more junk in the line or tank and had to do it a second time.  The OEM slow jets are only 35 thousandths and very easy to clog. 
When you say if you run the choke partially on leads me to believe there is a vacuum leak which is leaning out the mixture on that cylinder and you are compensating for it with the choke.  Do you know how many turns you pilot jets are out from the stop?

[NDFRC]

ok.. a clogged jet, sounds reasonable and an easy fix, thx! ...that would be so great.. to someone that knows where this jet is and what they are doing.. "and if your careful you dont have to remove the carb bank?" To me that says.. if theres a way to screw it up, I will.   ok.. let me search and see if i can find a clear procedure on this, cuz its clear as mud to me at the moment.
fast jets, slow jets, idle screws, air mixture, 35s or 38s.. where did that spring pop out of ??!
Man, carbs  just make me cringe! But hey I have another direction to pursue..  thanks again, much appreciated!!   before this i was stuck! javascript:void(0);

[IamGCW]

Try this if you have not already done so.  Change the small hose on the left side of #5, it's about an inch long. 

There is a good chance each carb has a bad hose.  Good idea to change each one, long forceps help here. 

Follow the suggestions from the others as well.  To adjust the pilots you will need a special D tool.  But it sounds like you would rather get help with the carbs.  Some will make "house calls" and help you.  Keep listing the symptoms.  Also be sure the gas is fresh, and better yet ethanol free.

Gil

[Chrisj CMA]

start with easy stuff.  Take the chrome cover off that hides the enricher system.  Make sure the enricher piston thing is connected to the slide and its moving fully in and out.  It can get dirty and sticky

[FloridaValkRyder]

You guys are amazing...

[IamGCW]

start with easy stuff.  Take the chrome cover off that hides the enricher system.  Make sure the enricher piston thing is connected to the slide and its moving fully in and out.  It can get dirty and sticky

Seems to me someone just had an issue with fouled plug one cylinder and the problem was one enricher was always open.  Chrisj CMA might be onto the issue you have.  Simple visual can rule this in or out.

Gil

[NDFRC]

Well then.. if the enricher are those plungers that go in and out of the sides of the carb- controlled by the choke lever, then those all appear to be working as they should.  i found the pilot screw on #5 carb, unscrewed it all the way out, it wasn't dirty or anything, put it back in and backed it off 2.25 turns, installed a fresh spark plug in 5 and fired it up, Holy Crap what a difference!!.. while the backfire isn't completely gone, its a good 75-80% gone and she runs a lot better, smoother, no backfire on decel or accel(but then it never has), when it does backfire its just at that cruise spot, no more throttle but no less, just at a steady rate, it doesn't seem to miss near as much either. Naturally i have more questions.. how do the turns, on the pilot screw work? I assume turning it in leans and out makes it rich? is there a too much in either direction?, in other words can i turn it out more to see if it helps, or is that piece as good as it gets and i need to check other things now?, like maybe the jet is still partially blocked? do i really need to set all the pilots on that bank the same?  the other 2 cyls seem fine so to mess with them goes against- if it isn't broke, don't mess with it. sorry for rambling my wife says i am way too wordy!  nonetheless.. if it wasn't for you guys helping out, i would of got a new F6B by now... hmmmm.. No, I dont think so.. yet...  cuz i think nothing beats the looks of that purty motor in the lady!! Can i get to the #5 carb slow jet without taking out the carb bank?

[Pappy!]

The settings given to you are "recommended" initial settings and only that.
There are those that firmly believe that all pilot screws should be set the same. In a perfect engine that would be the case.
I try and give each cylinder what it needs using the minimum number of recommended turns as a baseline only.
With 35s in the idles my pilot screws were not equal and most if not all were around 3 turns or possibly a little more....been a while !
I have the luxury of an accurate digital tach that I pop in place and set each cylinders mixture to the tach using RPM drop. Takes a while but works nicely.
See...other folks can be wordy as well. In short....yes you can go to 3 turns or more if you need to on that cylinder. Around the 4 turn mark the needle is pretty well not controlling anything so that would be your absolute limit.
Very possible you need the carb sync checked as well. Since you don't know if or when or who did it, it would be well worth it.