Wrenching needed on Sunday in Tyler

[RainMaker]

Big John in Tyler is having problems with his Tourer.  It sounds like venting issues after talking with him but could be the petcock failing or some other little nasty that is keeping the bike from getting sufficient fuel after a short run time.  He had it in the shop but it sounds like the shop had no idea what they were working on.

There is more Valkyrie knowledge in this group than at any Honda shop.

I'm going to ride over to Tyler on Sunday (4/26) to see if I can be of assistance and if any of you would like to come over and do a little wrenching and kibitzing, let me know.

RainMaker

[RainMaker]

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[Valkpilot]

Big John in Tyler is having problems with his Tourer.  It sounds like venting issues after talking with him but could be the petcock failing or some other little nasty that is keeping the bike from getting sufficient fuel after a short run time.  He had it in the shop but it sounds like the shop had no idea what they were working on.

There is more Valkyrie knowledge in this group than at any Honda shop.

I'm going to ride over to Tyler on Sunday (4/26) to see if I can be of assistance and if any of you would like to come over and do a little wrenching and kibitzing, let me know.

RainMaker

I wish I was free to help.  But, I have a conflict on Sunday and can't make the trip.

Have you got a petcock cover set to take with?

[Disco]

I'd love to go try to help but this weekend is out for me, too.  Good luck if you go.  If it slides to another weekend, I might be able to tag along. 

[RainMaker]

Big John in Tyler is having problems with his Tourer.  It sounds like venting issues after talking with him but could be the petcock failing or some other little nasty that is keeping the bike from getting sufficient fuel after a short run time.  He had it in the shop but it sounds like the shop had no idea what they were working on.

There is more Valkyrie knowledge in this group than at any Honda shop.

I'm going to ride over to Tyler on Sunday (4/26) to see if I can be of assistance and if any of you would like to come over and do a little wrenching and kibitzing, let me know.

RainMaker

I wish I was free to help.  But, I have a conflict on Sunday and can't make the trip.

Have you got a petcock cover set to take with?

Yup.

[Timbo]

If interested, I can offer my truck and a trailer to get the bike closer if getting it to Dallas will help....

[RainMaker]

If interested, I can offer my truck and a trailer to get the bike closer if getting it to Dallas will help....

Thanks, but I think we'll be able to figure it out.  Vent line is open, but it's still starving for fuel.  Fuel line mods were removed and it's straight line now, but no fixie.  I think we're just looking at a petcock rebuild at this time, based upon the symptoms.  It hasn't failed, but it seems to be clogged.  Now, this may indicate a clogged screen/rusty tank or something like that, but won't know until we open it up.

[Disco]

If you don't have a replacement screen set, my advice is not to pull the old one for inspection.  I don't think I've ever seen one come out without enough persuasion to leave the mating/sealing surfaces boogered up.

[RainMaker]

If you don't have a replacement screen set, my advice is not to pull the old one for inspection.  I don't think I've ever seen one come out without enough persuasion to leave the mating/sealing surfaces boogered up.

If the screen is clogged up, that means we have bigger issues, so no plans to pull the screen off.  I'm hoping that the petcock rebuild will take care of the issue.

Surprisingly, in my saddlebag, I don't have a full replacement petcock assembly.  Maybe I should get one before inzane......

[Disco]

I put a K&L kit in John's petcock at the last wrench party we had at the late, great HogHead's shop.  I'd probably go with the more complete Honda Cover Set this time, or a new or rebuilt & tested petcock.

[GeoffreyB]

What time on Sunday are you going?

[RainMaker]

What time on Sunday are you going?

Leaving around 11am from Arlington, ETA 1:00PM in Tyler.  PM me if you would like to go play.

Mark

[Disco]

Trip report?

[john]

        ???                                                                     RAINMAKER .....
                                               LEFT TYLER @ 10:35                               ISH

[RainMaker]

Started as a beautiful day to ride.  Got to Tyler around 1:15PM.  John already had his tank off so petcock was easy to access.  Tank was clean, filter clean, so opened up the petcock.  The large diaphragm lifted out easily - it was not connected to the metal piece that connects the two rubber pieces in the diaphragm.  I think this was the fuel starvation problem.  Went ahead and put the new kit in.  Tested the installation - thought it was not working as gas was dripping, but it turned out to be from the vent as the tank had been inverted during the petcock rebuild.  By 2:30, we were on the road for a test ride through the piney woods.  Stopped at Juicy's burgers where John bought my late lunch - good burger and fries.  As we talked, John said he had felt something like a skip - like a gear was jumping a tooth - so I thought "drive train".  Called and talked with Disco about the symptoms and he thought it sounded like the u-joint about to fail.  Well, I had one so we went back to John's house to take a look at the drive train.  John has a lift and lift adapter, but only 1 ratchet strap.  I had one on my bag so we fashioned a way to secure the bike and dropped the rear wheel.  The splines looked good, the pinion cup looked good, the drive shaft looked good and no metal chips.  Well, we were in this far so pulled off the boot and the u-joint.  The u-joint had some play but wasn't in pieces.  After thinking about it a little, decided to install a new u-joint.  Back to the supply saddlebag and viola!  New u-joint.  Put it in and then started the struggle/battle with the boot.  Anyone who has installed one knows what I mean.  I tried for about an hour, called Disco again for any hints - he then called Valkpilot and they sent a message on lubing up the boot and spinning it on.  Pulled everything out, lubed it up and then reinstalled.  After another 30 minutes and near misses, it popped on.  Woo-hoo!  While I was doing this, John was cleaning up the old grease from the pumpkin and the splines. I applied new grease to the splines and now we had to get the drive shaft to mate up with the u-joint assembly.  After 15-20 minutes, we found the angle and the satisfying thump of the drive shaft going in was heard and felt.  Now back to reassembly.  During the rebuild, we found the bike had shifted on the jack and it started falling off to the left.  We caught it so it didn't go down, but we had a 30 minute span of jacking the bike up, down, blocking it, taking the jack out, resetting the adapter and re-jacking the bike back up. (NOTE TO ALL - DON'T PUT A BIKE ON A JACK WITHOUT 4 RATCHET STRAPS!). Struggled a bit with the rear axle lineup, lineup for the saddlebag rails, finding the tools we kept putting in the wrong place and even the saddlebag reinstall.  But we got it all back together.  Cleaned up and left about 10:35pm heading back to Arlington and looking at the most fantastic lightning show I've ever seen. I put the rainsuit on before I left Tyler to try and avoid rain.  It worked until I got to Grand Prairie!  Even then, the rain was light while I was out.  Pulled into the garage about 12:40am, hit the showers, begged forgiveness for scaring the wife and got to bed by 1am.  That's my report and I'm sticking with it.

[Valkpilot]

Started as a beautiful day to ride.  Got to Tyler around 1:15PM.  John already had his tank off so petcock was easy to access.  Tank was clean, filter clean, so opened up the petcock.  The large diaphragm lifted out easily - it was not connected to the metal piece that connects the two rubber pieces in the diaphragm.  I think this was the fuel starvation problem.  Went ahead and put the new kit in.  Tested the installation - thought it was not working as gas was dripping, but it turned out to be from the vent as the tank had been inverted during the petcock rebuild.  By 2:30, we were on the road for a test ride through the piney woods.  Stopped at Juicy's burgers where John bought my late lunch - good burger and fries.  As we talked, John said he had felt something like a skip - like a gear was jumping a tooth - so I thought "drive train".  Called and talked with Disco about the symptoms and he thought it sounded like the u-joint about to fail.  Well, I had one so we went back to John's house to take a look at the drive train.  John has a lift and lift adapter, but only 1 ratchet strap.  I had one on my bag so we fashioned a way to secure the bike and dropped the rear wheel.  The splines looked good, the pinion cup looked good, the drive shaft looked good and no metal chips.  Well, we were in this far so pulled off the boot and the u-joint.  The u-joint had some play but wasn't in pieces.  After thinking about it a little, decided to install a new u-joint.  Back to the supply saddlebag and viola!  New u-joint.  Put it in and then started the struggle/battle with the boot.  Anyone who has installed one knows what I mean.  I tried for about an hour, called Disco again for any hints - he then called Valkpilot and they sent a message on lubing up the boot and spinning it on.  Pulled everything out, lubed it up and then reinstalled.  After another 30 minutes and near misses, it popped on.  Woo-hoo!  While I was doing this, John was cleaning up the old grease from the pumpkin and the splines. I applied new grease to the splines and now we had to get the drive shaft to mate up with the u-joint assembly.  After 15-20 minutes, we found the angle and the satisfying thump of the drive shaft going in was heard and felt.  Now back to reassembly.  During the rebuild, we found the bike had shifted on the jack and it started falling off to the left.  We caught it so it didn't go down, but we had a 30 minute span of jacking the bike up, down, blocking it, taking the jack out, resetting the adapter and re-jacking the bike back up. (NOTE TO ALL - DON'T PUT A BIKE ON A JACK WITHOUT 4 RATCHET STRAPS!). Struggled a bit with the rear axle lineup, lineup for the saddlebag rails, finding the tools we kept putting in the wrong place and even the saddlebag reinstall.  But we got it all back together.  Cleaned up and left about 10:35pm heading back to Arlington and looking at the most fantastic lightning show I've ever seen. I put the rainsuit on before I left Tyler to try and avoid rain.  It worked until I got to Grand Prairie!  Even then, the rain was light while I was out.  Pulled into the garage about 12:40am, hit the showers, begged forgiveness for scaring the wife and got to bed by 1am.  That's my report and I'm sticking with it.

I really wish my schedule would have allowed me to be there.

[RainMaker]

Started as a beautiful day to ride.  Got to Tyler around 1:15PM.  John already had his tank off so petcock was easy to access.  Tank was clean, filter clean, so opened up the petcock.  The large diaphragm lifted out easily - it was not connected to the metal piece that connects the two rubber pieces in the diaphragm.  I think this was the fuel starvation problem.  Went ahead and put the new kit in.  Tested the installation - thought it was not working as gas was dripping, but it turned out to be from the vent as the tank had been inverted during the petcock rebuild.  By 2:30, we were on the road for a test ride through the piney woods.  Stopped at Juicy's burgers where John bought my late lunch - good burger and fries.  As we talked, John said he had felt something like a skip - like a gear was jumping a tooth - so I thought "drive train".  Called and talked with Disco about the symptoms and he thought it sounded like the u-joint about to fail.  Well, I had one so we went back to John's house to take a look at the drive train.  John has a lift and lift adapter, but only 1 ratchet strap.  I had one on my bag so we fashioned a way to secure the bike and dropped the rear wheel.  The splines looked good, the pinion cup looked good, the drive shaft looked good and no metal chips.  Well, we were in this far so pulled off the boot and the u-joint.  The u-joint had some play but wasn't in pieces.  After thinking about it a little, decided to install a new u-joint.  Back to the supply saddlebag and viola!  New u-joint.  Put it in and then started the struggle/battle with the boot.  Anyone who has installed one knows what I mean.  I tried for about an hour, called Disco again for any hints - he then called Valkpilot and they sent a message on lubing up the boot and spinning it on.  Pulled everything out, lubed it up and then reinstalled.  After another 30 minutes and near misses, it popped on.  Woo-hoo!  While I was doing this, John was cleaning up the old grease from the pumpkin and the splines. I applied new grease to the splines and now we had to get the drive shaft to mate up with the u-joint assembly.  After 15-20 minutes, we found the angle and the satisfying thump of the drive shaft going in was heard and felt.  Now back to reassembly.  During the rebuild, we found the bike had shifted on the jack and it started falling off to the left.  We caught it so it didn't go down, but we had a 30 minute span of jacking the bike up, down, blocking it, taking the jack out, resetting the adapter and re-jacking the bike back up. (NOTE TO ALL - DON'T PUT A BIKE ON A JACK WITHOUT 4 RATCHET STRAPS!). Struggled a bit with the rear axle lineup, lineup for the saddlebag rails, finding the tools we kept putting in the wrong place and even the saddlebag reinstall.  But we got it all back together.  Cleaned up and left about 10:35pm heading back to Arlington and looking at the most fantastic lightning show I've ever seen. I put the rainsuit on before I left Tyler to try and avoid rain.  It worked until I got to Grand Prairie!  Even then, the rain was light while I was out.  Pulled into the garage about 12:40am, hit the showers, begged forgiveness for scaring the wife and got to bed by 1am.  That's my report and I'm sticking with it.

I really wish my schedule would have allowed me to be there.

Me, too.  Would have finished 4 hours faster! Biggest issue was the problem with the jack - since it allowed the bike to move around, we had to be really careful when we were trying to line stuff up.  And we were getting tired so simple stuff took twice as long as it should have.

Still, we got it done.  John had just gotten the bike back from a shop in Forney, who, among a few items, was to check the final drive and was paid over $700 for them to do the work.  They reported the parts in the final drive as "looked like new".  From what I saw, they never opened it up.  The grease was like wax and it was slung all over the final drive flange. The goop in the pinion cup was pretty thick.  Every spline surface looked good, though.  We cleaned everything up and then regreased it.  I'm sure John is going to have a few words with the shop.

Your assistance with the boot reinstall was much appreciated.

[john]

(NOTE TO ALL - DON'T PUT A BIKE ON A JACK WITHOUT 4 RATCHET STRAPS!).     
your down to  zero RATCHET STRAPS on board ... you left your one here     
I survived with one skinned place on my ring finger just at the finger nail ...   
I believe mark suffers from one mashed finger ...     
thanks to mark my faith in humanity as been restored ...   
some ... a little ... not a whole lot .. but every little bit helps ...   
maxpowersports ... 6-9 doors west of xandercycles building ...  they suck
I when to see brian Kelly at xander ... his shop is closed ...too bad ..
very pleased on last visit to xandercycles.. maybe 4 years ago
my best to all involved ... thank you

[RainMaker]

(NOTE TO ALL - DON'T PUT A BIKE ON A JACK WITHOUT 4 RATCHET STRAPS!).     
your down to  zero RATCHET STRAPS on board ... you left your one here     
I survived with one skinned place on my ring finger just at the finger nail ...   
I believe mark suffers from one mashed finger ...     
thanks to mark my faith in humanity as been restored ...   
some ... a little ... not a whole lot .. but every little bit helps ...   
maxpowersports ... 6-9 doors west of xandercycles building ...  they suck
I when to see brian Kelly at xander ... his shop is closed ...too bad ..
very pleased on last visit to xandercycles.. maybe 4 years ago
my best to all involved ... thank you

1) I have more straps - about 11 of 'em in a drawer.  No problem.  I may send you 2 more from my stash.
2) My mashed finger has recovered nicely.
3) Faith in humanity?  Nah.  Just have faith in the fraternity of Valkyrie riders (past and present) when it comes to wrenching.
4) A day wrenching beat the day I was going to spend weeding the flower beds!