Introduction

[derek533]

Hey everyone, just wanted to drop in and say hi.  Name is Derek and I'm in central Oklahoma.  I'm the new owner of a rescued 97 Standard in the red/white color scheme.  First thing I do when I get a new to me bike is find the associated forums as they contain a wealth of information.  Anyway, I'm 45, married with 3 boys (8, 13, and 16).  I do loss control and risk management for an insurance company.  

My motorcycle ownership has consisted of the following in order:  98 Suzuki Marauder, 05 Yamaha FZ6, 09 Kawasaki Vulcan 900, 08 Moto Guzzi Breva 1100 (2nd favorite bike I've owned), 09 Suzuki Burgman 650 (boring but fast and easy to ride), 07 Shadow 1100, 05 Yamaha Royal Star Tour Deluxe and now the Valkyrie.  

As you can see, I'm still searching for the perfect bike but so far, this Valkyrie may be the last bike I own honestly.  I can't believe how smooth it is and effortless in acceleration.  A lot of people talk about how big and heavy of a bike it is but like I said in the FB group post (if y'all read those), you ain't seen heavy until you've muscled around that Royal Star.  Something about the front end just made steering it at slow speed take a tremendous amount of effort and you felt every pound of that bike getting it in and out of the garage.  The Valk on the other hand despite it's heft, is so easy to move around and once I'm going 2mph, it seems like the weight just disappears.  It's absolutely incredible.  

I took off a few accessories in the process of making it my own.  One is a tank bib as my previous bike had one at some point and the prior owner was extremely sloppy about keeping underneath it clean so it started to flake the clear coat and cause a few cracks in the paint directly under the bib.  He either let fuel drip underneath it when filling his tank or never washed/dried it.  Either way, this has made me scared of bibs plus I personally, prefer a nice clean look on the tank.  

A couple of questions for you as I could use your guidance on this.

1.  My bike came with an Iron Horse tank bib that I took off and am toying with idea of selling.  It's studded and has a larger pocket and smaller pocket.  What's a fair price to ask for it on the FB trading group.  Looks to be in excellent condition.    

2.  My left side exhaust had a leak (audible on left side only) and you could feel the exhaust pulses coming out of the front of the resonator where the header pipes enter it.  I JB welded it with the high heat putty/epoxy and that seems to have fixed it.  How long does a repair like that last usually if you know?  

Apologies for the redundancy of this post if you are also in the FB group.  Thanks and look forward to getting to know you guys.  I may be here awhile and may have just found the last bike I'll buy as long as I can keep it running!  

[old2soon]

    Keepin it runnin you say? DDT our resident long miler has over 700000 miles on his! We have a number of us here with anywhere from 100000 miles and stops in between of DDTs numbers. And for I fergits-Welcome from the Missouri Ozarks!  Far as your exhaust leak goes there are gaskets tween the header and the head. The bolts holding your exhaust headers to the head BREAK Real EASILY!  When retorquing them CAUTION is NEEDED. Your not far-Tulsa-from a Master Valkyrie Guru! Oue friend AtticRat! But he is Always booked out Months in advance. Far as that weight dissappearing on clutch release from a standing start I KNOW what yer talkin bout. And fer a M/C this danged weighty she sure do make it easy on curve carvin! A LARGE portion of our Club are enroute everywhere from Billings Mt. as I-22 just wrapped! I-22-Inzane-our annual git together rally tall tale tellin meet and greet!  Again-WELCOME! RIDE SAFE.

[Jess from VA]

Welcome Derick.  

I've no answers to your questions.  

Throw the tank bib (and maybe a picture) on our classified and see what you're offered for it.

Years ago, when I decided I wanted a large water cooled multi cylinder bike, a Royal Star was in the running, until I found out how top heavy they were.  The Valk (or any) flat 6, with all the weight low, is a much better and easier ride.   However if you lay it over in the driveway, it suddenly gets really heavy.  

If (when) that happens, get the three boys out there to help you.  (and my all means get a picture of it for us)

[Rams]

Welcome to our forum, it's a great place to be.   An Okie huh?   OK, you should do well within this group of Misfits.     Honestly, it's almost like a family.   Again, Welcome.

Rams

[carolinarider09]

Welcome from South Carolina and my second bike was a Honda 1100cc Shadow Tourer.   Then my 2003 Valk and then my ST1300 and then a Goldwing.  Still ride the last three. 

[sandy]

2.  My left side exhaust had a leak (audible on left side only) and you could feel the exhaust pulses coming out of the front of the resonator where the header pipes enter it.  I JB welded it with the high heat putty/epoxy and that seems to have fixed it.  How long does a repair like that last usually if you know?  

That hole is suppose to be there. It’s a condensate drain to prevent rusting inside the muffler.

[derek533]

That hole is suppose to be there. It’s a condensate drain to prevent rusting inside the muffler.

No, not the hole on the bottom.  I'm talking about where the actual individual pipes coming off the exhaust header on the block enter into the muffler under the chrome shield.  That's where the leak was and what I JB welded.  Not the drain hole on the bottom.  I left the drain hole open

[Ramie]

Welcome to the forum.

[klb]

My 99 Standard had the same Iron Horse tank bib on it when I bought it. If I remember right I sold it to another member on here from Colorado for $100.00 several years back.

[MarkT]

That hole is suppose to be there. It’s a condensate drain to prevent rusting inside the muffler.

No, not the hole on the bottom.  I'm talking about where the actual individual pipes coming off the exhaust header on the block enter into the muffler under the chrome shield.  That's where the leak was and what I JB welded.  Not the drain hole on the bottom.  I left the drain hole open

That location is where I have seen weld failure on multiple OEM exhausts, generally high miles and often in high corrosion places - like Florida.  I have fixed all of them in conjunction with a custom glasspack mod.  Honda welds them on the inside of the can before final assembly.  Without a fix, your collector junction will flex and the other ones will break and start leaking as well.  I have jigs that define the relationship between the header mount points and the rear hanger point.  I put them on the jig, tack weld them on the outside to hold that relationship, then cut the can off just downstream of the weep hole, and reweld the 3 headers on the inside, to the can end.  Subsequently, the baffles are removed from the can, a header collector is welded into the can stub, a glasspack is welded to the header collector, and the muffler can is reinstalled - rewelded back where it was.  (I am glossing over a lot of the detail, and am not inclined to cover it here, to be used as DIY instructions.  I am after all in business doing this mod and a lot of additional options, for the last 23 years.)  I have never repaired an exhaust without being in conjunction with a glasspack mod.  Likely not worth it, as the labor would price the repair with shipping, above what you could buy used OEM pipes from say pinwall on ebay.  But with a glasspack mod, I can do this repair along with the glasspack labor at low cost.  To see what I do with pipes, see http://www.horseapple.com/Valkyrie/Valk_Products/M2W_Exhaust__System/m2w_exhaust__system.html

[derek533]

That hole is suppose to be there. It’s a condensate drain to prevent rusting inside the muffler.

No, not the hole on the bottom.  I'm talking about where the actual individual pipes coming off the exhaust header on the block enter into the muffler under the chrome shield.  That's where the leak was and what I JB welded.  Not the drain hole on the bottom.  I left the drain hole open

That location is where I have seen weld failure on multiple OEM exhausts, generally high miles and often in high corrosion places - like Florida.  I have fixed all of them in conjunction with a custom glasspack mod.  Honda welds them on the inside of the can before final assembly.  Without a fix, your collector junction will flex and the other ones will break and start leaking as well.  I have jigs that define the relationship between the header mount points and the rear hanger point.  I put them on the jig, tack weld them on the outside to hold that relationship, then cut the can off just downstream of the weep hole, and reweld the 3 headers on the inside, to the can end.  Subsequently, the baffles are removed from the can, a header collector is welded into the can stub, a glasspack is welded to the header collector, and the muffler can is reinstalled - rewelded back where it was.  (I am glossing over a lot of the detail, and am not inclined to cover it here, to be used as DIY instructions.  I am after all in business doing this mod and a lot of additional options, for the last 23 years.)  I have never repaired an exhaust without being in conjunction with a glasspack mod.  Likely not worth it, as the labor would price the repair with shipping, above what you could buy used OEM pipes from say pinwall on ebay.  But with a glasspack mod, I can do this repair along with the glasspack labor at low cost.  To see what I do with pipes, see http://www.horseapple.com/Valkyrie/Valk_Products/M2W_Exhaust__System/m2w_exhaust__system.html

So I'm not crazy then, there was exhaust leak afterall!  Thought so. 

I did the JB weld on all three entrances to the muffler just to be on the safe side.  They don't tell you that stuff stinks when it heats up though!  Hopefully, the smell lessens as it sets in.  Hopefully it lasts awhile too! 

[BudMan]

Hi Derek,
I'm out in Tecumseh, OK.
I'm kind of smothered at the moment trying to sell my house, but when things settle down a bit, LET'S RIDE!