Breathing life into an old Valk

[SgtBunny]

So I have been trying to get a friend of mine to get his Valk out of the garage ever since I bought mine in late 2008.

His bike has been parked for 3-4 years.

Finally, I have convinced him to start it up.  I told him I would come by the house and sync the carbs for him.

I plan to do the following:

1) change oil and drain/refill fuel tank
2) remove old plugs and turn motor over to check to ensure engine is not hydrolocked
3) sync carbs

Any other recommendations?

[vanagon40]

Having never synced my carbs, I may be speaking out of school.  But with a bike that has not been used in 3 to 4 years, I would wait a week or two (or at least several tanks of gas) before making any adjustments to the carbs.  I would also run some sea foam or other additive to the gas prior to making any adjustments.  If, after several hundred miles the bike did not seem to idle/run properly, THEN I would start to consider carburetor adjustments.

[Robert]

Vanagon has the right idea about the carbs and I would also add flush brake and clutch fluid inspect the tires real good. As you use it you may find other small glitches that will need to be ironed out. But I would be very surprised if you will not be taking the carbs off and cleaning. If I were to be Id say 50/50 chance.

[Sambo21]

Before tearing it down, try a few applications of Techron.  Low speed jets are probably gummed up unless carbs were drained before layup.  Add a full bottle to 1/2 tank of fresh gas and ride at low rpm's fort a while.  Repeat procedure a few times.   Worked for me.  Techron better for cleaning carbs than Sea Foam, OMO.

[Sambo21]

Also, don't mess with the sync until and unless it's running on all 6.

[PAVALKER]

It's probably seized up, hydro-locked, rusted, corroded,  dry rotted and just no longer any good.  Give me his address and I will bring my trailer down and haul it out of his way for free.......   

I agree with others.... no carb work til you get em cleaned out running Techron or Seafoam for awhile.  But do drain and change other fluids and air up the tires.

[upjeeper]

Odds are good you'll find the battery bad. Also check the light bulbs (no brake lights are bad)

if it's sat for years there could be rust in the tank. For a few $ and a half hour of your time I'd suggest an inlne fuel filter. Learned the hard way with a previous bike.