Larue's Valkyrie Repair

[Bert AKA,Valkaholic]

Well I Am Finally Finished With Larue's Valkyrie. What Started Out As A Carburetor Cleaning And Timing Belt Change Turned Into A Rear-end Service,(Changing The O-rings,Removing The Never-Seize And Re Greasing The Splines,And Changing The Oil In The Final Drive).



Then Onto The Timing Belts That Were At Least Two Teeth Off On Both Cams And After Doing A Compression Test, The Results Were A Bent Exhaust Valve In The #2 Cylinder.







Then I Cleaned And Replaced Many Parts And Jets In The Carb's.




 I Also Replaced Both Front And Rear Brake Pads.

Removed The Stereo Speakers And Old Wiring That Was Left Hanging And Wrapped Up Under The Tank And In The Headlight,Removed The Saddlebag Rails,Grab Bars ,And The Fender Rails.

I Removed And Replaced All Of The Odd Bolts And Nuts That Were Holding These Things On With New Or OEM Bolts And Nuts.

I Also Replaced The Shorty Windshield With A Taller One And Replaced The Fairing Mounting Bolts With The Correct Type Bolts.

I Removed  The Sissy Bar Brackets To Make It A Little More Stealth Looking From The Rear And Replaced The Rear Fender With One That Has Some Stealthy Modifications And More Lights.

I Had To Weld Both Saddlebag Brackets Because They Were Both Broken Where The Lower Front Brackets Bolt On.



Then I Re-Installed The Saddlebags And Brackets With New Or OEM Hardware That Was Badly Needed.



Then After Doing All Of The Things That Were Needed I Cleaned It Up And Now It Is Ready For The Long Haul.






Now It's Time To Ride!

Oh Yea, What I Did The Rest Of The Afternoon Was Load These Pictures And Write A Biography About Larue's Bike, "The Black Knight", That Is Ready To Meet Darth Vader, LOL !

[flsix]

Ok, that was this mornings project, what did you do in the afternoon?

Looks like you got a lot of work done there Bert, and I'll bet Larue is a happy camper.

[John Schmidt]

Sounds good Bert, so what did you do in the afternoon?    

I'll bet it runs great now but Larue is going to have to be careful while riding it. The big smile is going to catch a lot of bugs. Glad you got it going now, he shouldn't have any problems for a long time. Re. the timing belts, that's what the trouble was with the engine I bought to replace the original one in the '84. Apparently whoever replaced them didn't know what they were doing. The belts obviously were new and the inside of the covers were nice and clean. Only problem....the left side had a good 1" or more slack in it and that side was off more than just 2 teeth. Recall the pix I posted with an intake embedded in the top of #4 and exhaust was bent on #2. I just replaced the head since the OEM was beat up pretty bad. What really PO'd me was the dealer I bought the engine from said it ran fine. So when I emailed him about the problem he totally ignored me. The jerk is in Ft. Myers.

[Bert AKA,Valkaholic]

This Saturday Will Be Three Weeks Since I Traded Bikes With Larue,To Do The Repairs. One Thing Just Led To Another. The Timing Belts Were The Major Problem Followed By The Carburetor Slow Jets Being Clogged.I Plan On Riding It On Saturday To The Cove And Revealing The "New Look" To Larue, I'm Sure He Will Be Glad To Have Her Back. As You Know A Little Knowledge Can Cause A lot Of Problems When It Comes To Changing The Timing Belts.It Did Not Do Any Damage To The Head Or Pistons,Just A Slightly Bent Exhaust Valve. I Don't Know Who Changed The Timing Belts Before But It Will Be Like Riding A New Bike To Larue When He Gets It Back.

As Far As The Rest Of The Afternoon,Hell,I'm Taking The Weekend OFF,LOL !

[Flrider]

WOW!!!

That was some service I would say.

I am sure Larue will be thrilled with his new ride.
I like Larue's rear end ..............  wait, that did not come out right  

I like the new clean look of his rear end ...............  wait, that did not come out right either.

I like the new rear fender and the clean look.

I am glad he will have an up to date ride and now he can ride worry free.

Bert, you tha man  

Now I really cannot miss this Saturday's ride.

[larue]

its 3.50 am and i just got home, checking the board i see what my bike had undergone in 3 weeks, and WOW what a great work Bert did on this machine not only worked on it but did it as if it was one of his own, I visited Bert twice while the fat girl was on the operation table, her guts were out nuts and bolts everywhere and wires and stuff, he was in that big garage with his tools tightening and trimming the unecessary stuff off, putting his knowledge, time and effort to service the bike,  and what can I say ,  i am really touched by this, and whatever words i have will never be enough to convey how much gratitude i owe this guy and many of you before, i cant wait to see it in person and ride the heck out of it. you go Bert You are the man   
BIG THANK YOU

[Thunderbolt]

Nice write up with pictures and narration Bert.  I am sure Larue will think it is a new machine when he gets on next time.  Sure is good to have folks in our midst that have the talent and experience and time to do this sort of thing for our fellow Valkyrie riders.  Big pat on the back to Bert.  I know he deserves the weekend off.

[Gondul]

Nice....still working on mine.

Intermittent gas leak from overflow line on left bank...frustrating to say the least.

[John Schmidt]

WOW!!!

I like Larue's rear end ..............

I like the new clean look of his rear end ...............

Jack, I'm so glad I'm not sharing a room with you at InZane.  

[Pappy!]

Way to go on the major surgery there, Doc! As if Larue needed an even bigger smile than the one he already has!

Now the best part!

Will be fantastic to see you, sitting there at InZane in your chair.....or at a rest area......or in the parking lot swapping stories.....with Larue fanning you and feeding you grapes! ................ I can just see it now!


Serioulsy though, that was quite the selfless deed you did. Way to go and it is a pleasure just being around good folks like the ones we have in our group!

[HayHauler]

Awesome job there Bert.  There are aome good people in this here VRCC. 

Hay
Jimmyt

[big poppa pump]

Curious about those engine guards. Who makes them?

Thanks.

[Jess from VA]

Great post.  Great work.  Great friend.   

[larue]

WOW!!!

I like Larue's rear end ..............

I like the new clean look of his rear end ...............

Jack, I'm so glad I'm not sharing a room with you at InZane.  

lol that just didnt come out right at all Jack, but i am still with john on not sharing a room at inzane with you,..oh wait now i am never gonna ride in front of you now 

[larue]

Curious about those engine guards. Who makes them?

Big Poppa these engine guards are made specifically for the valkyrie, they call them europrean crash bar, they were made in Europe, but they rare now, i havent seen one on any other bike here. i bought it new from Doc the wingdoctor in tampa FL, he used to be a valk dealer here closed down and had few parts left in his shop and was lucky to get the one left.

[big poppa pump]

Curious about those engine guards. Who makes them?

Big Poppa these engine guards are made specifically for the valkyrie, they call them europrean crash bar, they were made in Europe, but they rare now, i havent seen one on any other bike here. i bought it new from Doc the wingdoctor in tampa FL, he used to be a valk dealer here closed down and had few parts left in his shop and was lucky to get the one left.

Thank you.

[Tundra]

All I can say is WOW
 Larue please don't tell me tomorrow that you happen to "find" that old fender laying around somewhere for FREE

[reclaimerroger]

Really great write-up with pics Bert.
You did an excellent job.

[BCoy]

WOW!!  Bert you've got some great skills!  I can't wait to see Larue's bike transformation in person. Looks great, Bert really went all out n did it right ... like Larue said he fixed it as if it was his bike. Great job Bert!!
Enjoy your group ride tomorrow, I am envious and will be looking for the pics. I am out this weekend, should have my rear caliper rebuild kit on Mon, then try to fit in the repairs in between the crappy (pun intended) prep work for the dreaded 5 year (overdue by 2 years) follow up colonoscopy. Hopefully, I can work it in next Saturday afternoon after I drop the girls off on the Spacecoast for their week of fun at sea.

[Bert AKA,Valkaholic]

Thanks To All Of You Guys For The Great Pat On The Back. It Is A lot More Work Than Most Can Ever Imagine, As Usual You Touch One Thing And End Up Doing More Than You Expect But That Is Not All Bad, Some Things That You Can't See Also Need That Little Bit Of Attention. This Is Usually Expected On A Fifteen Year Old Motorcycle. I Am Glad That I Was Able To Help Larue Out In This Time Of Need. I Am Sure, As He Has Already Stated, That He Is Very Appreciative Of The Work That Has Been Done To His PHAT GURL. I Am Naming It The "Black Knight". Hopefully He Will Get Years Of Enjoyment Out Of Her From Now On. I Will Be Delivering It To Him Tomorrow And Will Be Getting My 93,000 Mile Loaner Bike Back. Hope To See You All Or At Least Some Of You Tomorrow At The Cove, Ans Some Of You At Inzane Next Month. Until Then, Ride Safe.
          Bert
 AKA-"Valkaholic"