Engine rebuild

[Roadog]

  Has anyone ever have to rebuilt their Valk engine ?  I can't remember anyone doing this,..and that is good .   Only repairs.  Was just wondering what the longevity would be on one of these engines that is well taken care of.  Syntyhetic oils and good filters regularly.  Anyone ever have to pull the engine and do a rebuild.  Over bore and freshen heads,  seals,  gaskets and bearings  complete rebuild and how did it turn out.  

[YoungPUP]

Can't remember the members name, but there's one around here with 400K (+)? Someone will know the name....

[tank_post142]

theres a few of us with 350,000 + with no probs

[F6BANGER]

DDT is the man with over 400k on his bike.

[John Schmidt]

A few months back I saw an ad where the bike had just over 100k, the seller said not to worry about the mileage because he had it overhauled at 94k. I was curious but did't bother to follow up on it. Can't imagine why it was overhauled unless he was possibly referring to a hydrolock repair, and that's a long way from being an overhaul.

Some people just don't realize the longevity built into these engines. I've had V-twin owners tell me flat out there isn't a bike made that will go that long without an overhaul so I should quit bragging. Told one guy it isn't bragging if it's the truth, then suggested they do some reading on the subject. He told me he wasn't going to waste his time reading about "Jap Crap" and I suggested why not....you've already wasted your money. He had just bragged about his new engine, bike was on its third one and he was happy with the outstanding service, already had 136k on the bike. I just moved on, no chance of changing a mindset there and wasn't trying to. Even the guy behind the parts counter got a chuckle out of his attitude, and that was in a Harly Boutique.

[Roadog]

  EXACTLY what I wanted to know..THANKS everyone for your input.  400,000 miles THAT is outstanding.  I bought my '98 tourer new on labor day weekend 1999 .  it had 1 mile on it. From Shroaders Honda in N.C.  This is THE finest bike I have ever owned and I got my first one in 1965.  I just came back from  Peoria , Ill. 1189 mile trip. It seems  to  runs better everytime I take it out , if that is possible.  34,000 on it now and still so crisp and smooth..power is amazing.  I guess I don't have to think about pulling it down for a LONG time.  I just pulled the engine in my GS550 Suzuki and performed a rebuild at 27,000 miles. 
Terry

[eric in md]

  EXACTLY what I wanted to know..THANKS everyone for your input.  400,000 miles THAT is outstanding.  I bought my '98 tourer new on labor day weekend 1999 .  it had 1 mile on it. From Shroaders Honda in N.C.  This is THE finest bike I have ever owned and I got my first one in 1965.  I just came back from  Peoria , Ill. 1189 mile trip. It seems  to  runs better everytime I take it out , if that is possible.  34,000 on it now and still so crisp and smooth..power is amazing.  I guess I don't have to think about pulling it down for a LONG time.  I just pulled the engine in my GS550 Suzuki and performed a rebuild at 27,000 miles. 
Terry

  really i have run the guts out of my interstate it have 98,ooo heck its still new man . you better ride your bike some.

[R J]

 Has anyone ever have to rebuilt their Valk engine ?  I can't remember anyone doing this,..and that is good .   Only repairs.  Was just wondering what the longevity would be on one of these engines that is well taken care of.  Syntyhetic oils and good filters regularly.  Anyone ever have to pull the engine and do a rebuild.  Over bore and freshen heads,  seals,  gaskets and bearings  complete rebuild and how did it turn out.  

Almost all of the blower bikes had to have forged pistons put in them.   There are a few blower bikes that are still running the stock bottom end.

DDT has 400K on his bike, I've got 242K on mine and neither one of us has had any bottom end problems.      These bikes are not Harley's.    I can say that as a very good friend of mine bought a 2011 Electra Glide before he went to Rolling Thunder.   He rode it out and broke it in as Harley said to, coming back he just got into PA. and the bottom end went out.      He rented a car to get home, borrowed my trailer to go back and get his bike.   The dealership here, sent the engine to Harley for their factory rebuild, they rebuilt it and the dealer put it in.  He took another ride into Arkansas and called me to borrow my trailer again, he blew the bottom end again.     This time they just shipped him a different engine, the dealer put it in and he has been riding it to his volunteer jobs, he is retired, and so far it is holding up.   Yupper, I sure do raze him about his good luck.   As a harrassment, I told him to keep my trailer in his shed, just in case he needed it again

[Sodbuster]

Some people just don't realize the longevity built into these engines. I've had V-twin owners tell me flat out there isn't a bike made that will go that long without an overhaul so I should quit bragging. Told one guy it isn't bragging if it's the truth, then suggested they do some reading on the subject. He told me he wasn't going to waste his time reading about "Jap Crap" and I suggested why not....you've already wasted your money. He had just bragged about his new engine, bike was on its third one and he was happy with the outstanding service, already had 136k on the bike. I just moved on, no chance of changing a mindset there and wasn't trying to. Even the guy behind the parts counter got a chuckle out of his attitude, and that was in a Harly Boutique.

Jap Crap on a Harley   

[Richythebluesman]

Even with the proof you have posted ... I have to remind you that ....
"you can't fix stupid" 

[Tim R]

Hi all
 I just had to chime in here love this topic, I wish my friend would read it though even if I sent it to him he wouldn't believe it. He drank the cool-aid or something and now wants to sell his black 2000 Tourer it only has 20k on it, but he thinks he needs a Harley I keep telling him he already has the best bike he could ever want, but once they drink the cool-aid there just is not a chance you can tell them anything.  Anyway if you all know of someone looking for a nice Valk check out the classifieds I think he listed it under the username Kokeman or something like that. I think is price is coming down some also. 

[Fritz The Cat]

A few months back I saw an ad where the bike had just over 100k, the seller said not to worry about the mileage because he had it overhauled at 94k. I was curious but did't bother to follow up on it. Can't imagine why it was overhauled unless he was possibly referring to a hydrolock repair, and that's a long way from being an overhaul.

Some people just don't realize the longevity built into these engines. I've had V-twin owners tell me flat out there isn't a bike made that will go that long without an overhaul so I should quit bragging. Told one guy it isn't bragging if it's the truth, then suggested they do some reading on the subject. He told me he wasn't going to waste his time reading about "Jap Crap" and I suggested why not....you've already wasted your money. He had just bragged about his new engine, bike was on its third one and he was happy with the outstanding service, already had 136k on the bike. I just moved on, no chance of changing a mindset there and wasn't trying to. Even the guy behind the parts counter got a chuckle out of his attitude, and that was in a Harly Boutique.

"There is none so blind as he who will not see."

[TomE]

I have heard of GL1000's going 350,000 miles and that bike was last made in 1979. And the Valk has the benifit of 20 years more experence!

I too have freinds with V Twin's that don't ever make it to 15,000 miles. To be fair, I saw one V-Twin make it to 67,000 miles. The Valk is in a class by itself.

Got to wonder why small plane engines are horizontally opposed! Those guys like reliability, right?

[art]

My v twin made to 86000 an wasrunning great when I sold it .I waslayed off an had to.I almost cried when it left.By the way I didn't mention it was a honda  aero 

[Tim H]

Just adding more information to the pot.  I saw this add in the Lexington, KY craigslist stating that he has a rebuild title for a 2000 Valk.

http://lexington.craigslist.org/mcy/2620896268.html

[Hoser]

That's too high a price for a rebuilt title, it means it was totaled by his an insurance company, and rebuilt.  Probly nothing wrong with the bike, but the price should be lower because of the title.  It should bring about 4500 tops.  That would be a good buy.  Hoser

[John Schmidt]

Re. DDT's mileage, at a recent lunch ride gathering one of those in attendance said he's now over 500K. I believe he's had a couple final drives replaced and the forks rebuilt a couple times as well. I remember a couple years back he had to replace the speedo due to the gears wearing out in the odometer. Along with a few hundred gallons of oil, numerous filters, tires, batteries, etc., the engine in the '98 Tourer(believe that's what it is) just keeps on trucking.

Moral of that story; if you're planning on the Valk being your very last bike, you'd better be an old fart like me. Otherwise, you're going to wear out before the bike does!  

[Mildew]

I ride the pi$4 out of mine and still do wheelies all the time. Brakes, tires, antifreeze and oil is the only thing I've had to do in 70k

[Cruzen]

While I am not a supporter of Hardleys, I must acknowledge that one of my co workers, Chaz, did put 130K on his 2004 Hardley with no rebuild before trading it in.  On the last oil change he found some metal shavings and three days later he showed up at work with his new Hardley.  That bike now has 100K on it.  Most of what Chaz puts on his Hardleys are freeway miles.  He does about 35K per year.  When he traded in his 2004 despite the fact that the motor was wearing out, the bike looked as fresh as the day he took it off the showroom floor.   He rides every day to work and back home.  Because he lives in an extremely remote area with dirt roads, sometimes on Friday his bike looks like it has been through a mud bath and when he shows up on Monday it looks like brand new.  I do not know how he does it.  I wish I could have him clean my IS.

[NITRO]

There was a cycle mechanic that I met in Marlinton, WV at the VOAI ride-in in 2009 who had rebuilt his '97 Standard's engine. He said he is hard on his bikes and it was starting to throw some white exhaust, so he decided to rebuild. I REALLY doubt this was needed and am guessing he did more for fun than anything. The real bummer is that he totaled the bike later that week.

[art]

I have to admit I did have some trouble with my valk.At 80000mi. it was blowing white smoke out the exhaust an had water in the oil.I pulled the heads an replaced the gaskets.I also pulled the cams an lapped the valves while I had the chance.I also had the heads milled for flatness and checked for cracks.The valves did not need lapping but I did it anyway.I still don't know where the water came from but I now have 125000 miles on it an it runs great.I did all the work myself for a cost of two gaskets.I'm still using the stock valve cover gaskets with no leaks.I still think the valk is the best bike made.I'll turn 69 in january an my valkwill be 9 .I hope to get another 200000 out of it before i stop riding

[paulobear]

Hi Guys -

I'm a Valkyrie N00B, living in the Denver, CO area. I bought my bike last fall from another
Denver-ite. It's a '99 Interstate. I rode it all fall, and went on a couple of medium-ish rides
around 300 miles, as well as commuting to/from work around 25 miles round trip.

This Christmas, I got a lift adapter, the one which installs using the lift-stand bolts. The install went fine, with the exception that the bike is still quite heavy on the left arm (back wheel side). However, during the adapter installation and test, I did notice that I caught the left side exhaust header during a lift. I am now seeing very small teaspoon-sized coolant leak coming off the header bolts every week or so.

Today I started the bike up with the choke on (first time since fall), and I probably did leave it on too long, and it was idling at about 1500-2000 rpm for 10 minutes or so. I released the choke, but at this point, I noticed that there were large clouds of white smoke coming out of both tail pipes, with water pooling in the pipe ends, and dripping out of what looks like a weep hole in the exhaust about directly under the passenger foot pegs. I  turned off the bike and let it sit a bit. I started it back up about 20 minutes later. All the moisture had dried up by then. So looks like water, and the "smoke" almost certainly is steam. After I started it up, I didn't see the steam at first. Then I got down on the ground and was looking around for coolant leaks, and I happened to look to the back of the bike past the tailpipe. My line of vision was at that point against a dark fence background instead of against the white-ish concrete driveway. What I saw was a definite white steam. I checked the coolant reservoir before I started it the second time, while it was on the stand, and it was on the low end. I think this is normal. The high mark is for when the motor is hot, right?

I did do some searching around on this forum, and it seems like the two items might be unrelated. One post did seem to be exactly the same that I'd been seeing wrt the coolant leak. Seems there's a hose on top of the engine case behind the radiator, as well as some plugs in various places. I'll have a look at those.

Another post seemed to indicate that there may be water in the oil. I did check the oil, and it didn't seem like there was any water on the dipstick. I know it's a little hard to tell, and I didn't do the candle/lighter test.

Other posts seemed to indicate that there's a problem with the head gaskets. This I could believe since I did lift the bike on the left side exhaust header. But does that explain why I'm getting steam out of both exhaust pipes?

So, I'd really appreciate some Group Wisdom on this scenario. I'm not a terribly experienced bike mechanic, although I have done some things, like replace the clutch and clean the carbs on my '97 Magna. However, that's not nearly as complicated as the Valkyrie. 

Thanks,

Paul

[Skinhead]

It sounds like the classic radiator hose leak (green coolant on left exhaust studs) when on the side stand.  Could be the upper hose clamp on the right side near the fill cap is loose (easy fix) or it could be the lower clamp behind the radiator (a little harder to get to).  I think your white smoke out the exhaust is just steam as it goes away after it warms up.

[Richythebluesman]

It's normal steam, h2o vapor.  Cautiously you may "sniff" the steam and if there's glycol in it the odor will be unmistakeable.  Valks don't blow head gaskets.  There's no need to start the bike during the non riding season. Treat or better yet drain the gas, do an oil change before hibernation, put a trickle charger on the battery.
Welcome to the best Cruiser ever made, yea she's heavy but at highway speed she floats like a butter fly, but when gassed will sting like a bee. 

[eric in md]

update on my 99 i/s turn 105,000 as of dec 2011 ...

[Hook#3287]

Before I bought my first Valk in 1999, I asked the service manager if the motor would last.  He said "Honda has been putting that motor in the Gold Wing since 1988 and I've never seen one apart"

[Gryphon Rider]

Paulobear:

I suggest you use the choke only for as long as you need it to have the engine run smoothly, usually no more than a minute.  Running the bike at higher than normal idle speeds without air flowing over the headers will cause the headers to discolour, and an over-rich mixture will cause carbon deposits in the combustion chambers and on the spark plugs.  If you use fuel stabilizer and disconnect and periodically charge the battery, there is no good reason to run the bike without riding it during the off-season.  Without other evidence, I wouldn't be concerned about water/steam coming out the exhaust system on a cool day, especially if it looks/smells/feels like water.  The small coolant leak you found is likely from where the upper rad hose connects to the thermostat.

[MP]

I do not think you have a problem.  The white will go away.  You need to tighten up a few hose clamps.

Try carefully cracking open the oil drain plug, and let a little come out.  If water in the oil, you will have a white/grayish sludge and/or water in the bottom, and it will come out first.  You should probably go ahead and change the oil/filter, and the engine coolant anyway, as you do not have history.

MP

[paulobear]

Thanks for all the good advice guys, and the warm welcomes.

However, there's one thing that perhaps you may have skimmed over in the "novel" that I posted. I picked the bike up with the left header on the lift. That has me worried. I didn't leave it there long. Maybe a minute or two. I don't see any obvious shifting of the head where it mates to the block. But a lot can happen in a minute. Am I just being a nervous nellie? I hope?   

Thanks,

Paul

'99 GL1500CF Valkyrie Interstate (Valkswagen)
'97 VF750CD Magna (Magna 'Tude)
 

[art]

I do that all the time never had a problem

[paulobear]

Thanks, Art. I don't know where I'd heard that. But that in conjunction w/the coolant leak and the white smoke really made for butterflies in the gut.

Paul

[Richythebluesman]

Yes, simmer down,      the pipes are thin gauges rolled sheet metal, they will bend and close shut before any damage to the head could occur. By ther way the headers are a pipe in in pipe configuation, in others words the chrome section wraps around another inner  pipe.  you would end up crushing the pipes long before damage would occur to the heads.



 I picked the bike up with the left header on the lift. That has me worried. I didn't leave it there long. Maybe a minute or two. I don't see any obvious shifting of the head where it mates to the block. But a lot can happen in a minute. Am I just being a nervous nellie? I hope?   

[Ricky-D]

There is no need to worry about the head shifting in relation to the block.

You will see in the parts blowup that part #22 is a dowel pin used in multiple places between the head and the block.

http://www.hdlparts.com/fiche_section_detail.asp?section=148575&category=MOTORCYCLES&make=HONDA&year=2000&fveh=3474

The pins are specifically for location, and to eliminate movement.

***

[hubcapsc]

I picked the bike up with the left header on the lift.

After I put one of those adapters on my bike, the first thing I noticed was that
you really have to be precise with lift placement to avoid lifting via the header.

I can just slip a piece of paper between the lift and the header when I
get it placed "right"...

-Mike