new to me interstate

[mark81]

after many years of desire I finally pulled the trigger and brought home my dream bike. 2000 interstate with only 10500 miles on the clock.  it does have some issues as it is a 15 year old bike,

1)  the rear brakes have good pedal feel but don't seem to do too much to stop the bike. the po said he had the brakes done when the tires were replaced, which still have great tread on them.

2)   I also suspect some possible issues with the rear wheel bearings, or it may be the tires, there is a slight vibration, bouncing at low speed. 

[mark81]

needs some carb work as well. po rebuilt them himself but left all the clamps on the boots loose. as well as about 15-20 other nuts and bolts iv'e found so far including a missing motor mount bolt

[Steve-L]

What kind of tires? I'm suspecting a tire problem, possibly a balance issue? Did they use those balance beads? 10K mileage, wouldn't seem like a wheel bearing problem.

Getting the warts out of a used bike purchase is just part of the journey.

I just bought a used IS this summer and felt the same way about the rear brake. I had a Valk Tourer previously so I knew I also needed to adjust the pedal position a bit so my toe didn't have to be pointing down to apply strong foot pressure to the pedal. I changed the pads and cleaned up the calipers and then changed the brake fluid.  It helped a lot, but it's still a BIG bike and the rear is pretty much a good assist to the fronts, but is better used as a low speed brake, but it would be nice to have more stopping power back there.

PS The thread needs at least 2 or 3 pics of the bike for us to believe you.

[mark81]

I don't think its a tire balance issue. that usually shows up at higher speeds.  below 10 mph you could have it several ounces out of balance and not notice. 

I am well familiar with the inherent issues with old used bikes, i've owned an '81 cb750c for the last 6 years.

as far as pictures im a bit too slow to figure that out, especially since I only have my phone not a real computer

[hubcapsc]

You'll find a ton of info on brakes and carbs by searching
the tech forum here. Of the things you mentioned, I think it
is kind of weird to have a missing motor mount bolt...

If you're going to work on the bike yourself, you might
as well jump into learning how to remove the rear wheel
and final drive since you need to get a look at
your brake caliper and satisfy yourself on the possible
bearing issue anyhow... it is hard to imagine the
bearing being bad at 10K... there's tons of info on
removing the rear wheel, what to lube while  you're
in there, and the proper order for bolting things
back together archived in the tech forum as
well.

Good luck... you have a great bike... Stanley Steamer
can make his Interstate go zoom-zoom real well 

[PharmBoy]

Tires that have set in the same position for a long time sometimes "take a set" and basically have a "flat" spot in one place.  Being that this is such a low mileage bike, those tires could be the origonals.  Just guessing.  Placing beeds in a tire to balance them is the way to go as far as I am concerned. I haven't had a weight on a MC tire in many years now.  Congratulations on your find.  I bought my I/S seven years ago with 923 miles on the odometer and there were a lot of issues that needed to be attended to, but it was all a labor of love and it has been a faithful servant and a wonderful traveling companion ever since...Jim

[Gryphon Rider]

"So those of you who have recently bought Valkyries and have been unimpressed with the rear brakes..."

http://www.valkyrieforum.com/bbs/index.php/topic,33413.0.html

[allanbegg]

Congratulations on the purchase. I just got mine this spring with over 100K on the clock. I'm fixing all sorts of stuff that had been neglected by the previous owner. The really cool part is that I thought it ran great when I bought it, but it keeps getting better, as I fix things. Makes the process so enjoyable. Allan

[Rio Wil]

Take a look at the pivot bolt on the rear brake pedal,  likely need to be cleaned and lubed. Rear brakes will be amazingly better...meaning much easier to lock up.......so be careful.  Also take a look at the date code on the tires to determine age. If original tire toss then now.....

Enjoy your new ride

[mark81]

The tires were replaced by po when he got the bike 2 years ago. And about 2500 miles on them. They look much newer than that to me. Ill lube the pivot hopefully that helps. It feels as though i could put all 250 pounds of me on the brake and still not lock it up.  Po claims he had brakes replaced when he did tires.

[Bighead]

It is easy enough to lay down beside the bike and look and see the pads.

[Challenger]

"mark81" definitely do some investigating, I have two Valks, one with a 205-60-16 and one with stock rear tire. I can easily lock up the rear tire on both with minimal pressure on the pedal even when two up.

[Ricky-D]

A lot depends upon the type of material the brake pads are made of, along with how worn they are. My organic pads take a good bit more pressure but the rotor will last considerably longer because the pads are much easier on the rotor.

***

[Steve K (IA)]

Rear brake.  Here is something to look at.

The rear brake on my I/S at one time didn't seem to be doing much at all in stopping.  After looking really good at it, it appeared to only be pushing against one side of the disc as one pad was worn more than the other.  It turn out the "Bolt,Pin" was all gummed up where it goes into the caliper bracket.  It wasn't floating as it is intended to do.  I removed the bolt (it was a bit hard to do) and cleaned it up along with the hole in the bracket and greased it up good.  No problems since and the rear brake works as good as when it was new.
It's not too hard to remove the pin bolt to check it.  If you do, grease it up so it doesn't corrode if it hasn't already.
At this link it is #11

http://www.partzilla.com/parts/search/Honda/Motorcycle/2000/GL1500CF+AC/REAR+BRAKE+CALIPER/parts.html

[mark81]

Thanks for the advice on the brakes. Once my back is feeling a bit better ill get down there and have a look

[Ricky-D]

It's not advised to lubricate the floating pin assembly for the very reasons as mentioned that they crud up and limit movement.

Dry is the recommended procedure and cleaning off the crud is the process.

You can see that one pin is protected from being crudded up by way of a boot.

***

[Savago]

Dear Friend

Congrats on acquiring an I/S. I have mine for over a year and it has been a blast (logged over 11K miles and last July used it for a 2 weeks ride through Northwest, over 3300 trouble free miles)!

Since it is a such low miles bike, I would recommend that you start by flushing the coolant. I always use the Honda organic coolant:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0089LSFJ0?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage

The procedure is really easy to do, just follow the Owner's manual procedure.

Another thing that may be worthy checking is the front forks oil.


Cheers


Savago

[mark81]

everything on the brakes looked good from what I could see without disassembly. pivot pin seems free and moving properly. rode about 100 miles without her on the back, rear brakes work much better, even when 2up I guess they just needed some time/heat  to re-seat and grab the rotor.  a few miles on it has helped the bounce at low speed as well.  just goes to prove these bikes were meant to ride not to look at.

still needs some carb work done. anybody familiar with these carbs within 150 miles of Cincinnati oh willing to help?

[Steve K (IA)]

everything on the brakes looked good from what I could see without disassembly. pivot pin seems free and moving properly. rode about 100 miles without her on the back, rear brakes work much better, even when 2up I guess they just needed some time/heat  to re-seat and grab the rotor.  a few miles on it has helped the bounce at low speed as well.  just goes to prove these bikes were meant to ride not to look at.

still needs some carb work done. anybody familiar with these carbs within 150 miles of Cincinnati oh willing to help?

Have you tried a carb cleaner yet?

Pour 1/2 a can of Berryman's B-12 carb/fuel injector cleaner in the tank and top it off.  (some people will pour a whole can in, it shouldn't hurt anything)  Go for a 10 - 20 mile ride, some of it at a slow pace like riding around town.  Park it for at least a day to let the B-12 work.  Go for another ride and see if that helped.

This is a cheap way to see if the carbs will straighten out before going to the work and expense of tearing into them. 

I was sure this summer I was going to have to tear apart my carbs.  The Berryman's worked great for me. 

Berryman has a stronger additive called B-12 TOTAL Fuel System Clean-Up.  This might be the better choice.

[Gryphon Rider]

everything on the brakes looked good from what I could see without disassembly. pivot pin seems free and moving properly.

I would take the lever off to clean and lube the pivot anyway.  This is something that should be done every few years.

[mark81]

Ill clean up the brake pin.
As far as the carbs go the po bought it after it sat for many years after the original owner died. He rebuilt the carbs last year. I have little faith in his mechanical abilities. None of the clamps on the boots are tight there is a multitude of missing and loose bolts everywhere on the bike. The choke\enrichment lever doesnt move anything until the last 1/4" of travel.  When you do get the bike fired up the left side exhaust is warm the right side is cold, and it has a pretty good vibration when accelerating especially under load.

[Steve K (IA)]

The way you describe how the choke works sounds about right.  On all these Valks, the choke lever will rotate down easily and when it meets resistance it takes as you said about another 1/4 inch travel for it to activate the enrichers.

I don't believe you have a problem with that.

[gordonv]

It also sounds like your low speed jets are plugged, more on the low side than the other.

Carb cleaner is cheap (compared to other things). Buy some Berryman's B12, half a can in half a tank of fuel. Go for a drive, doing your best to keep the RPM low (high gear with low speed). Park over night or longer. Repeat.

[Michvalk]

The enrichiner is working as it should, or normal for these bikes. moves quite a way, then the last quarter of the lever movement moves the enrichiners. At least that is one thing you can cross off