Future spare part availability........your input needed

[Beer van Huet]

Policy makers at Honda have decided some time ago, to stop producing OEM parts after 10 years of production termination of their motorcycles. If I am correct, this will happen sometime in 2013. From there on, only in-stock supplies will be sold. Since the Valkyrie is produced in relatively small numbers, compared to other succesful models, you can expect some parts to dry up pretty soon after that. Honda already stopped producing a list of parts for the Valkyrie as we speak. As a Valk fanatic, who wants to ride this bike in an original state forever, it crossed my mind that we, as VRCC could start to investigate the OEM spare part  business. Although no action is required yet, it would be nice to know the lifetime cycle and MTBF (mean rime between failure) of certain spare parts. I am thinking about crankshaft bearings, (oversized) pistons and rings, gaskets and the like. Although the Valk has a very reliable reputation, surely all these items start falling apart sooner or later. If the club could produce some of these figures, based on the members experience, that would be nice to keep in the back of your mind.
If this idea is supported by the staff, I propose to start a poll for everyone to participate and have some nice realtime figures.

Question: Is there anybody knowledgable on this matter and able to produce some facts and figures? If not, is there anybody who experienced a component failure of some kind, that fits in this discussion? We all know about the wheel bearings and such, but if you have had to replace them, they could be involved as well.
As for myself, my bike has not let me down since I bought it new in 1999, apart for some wear-and-tear items like vacuum tubing and air prefilter, the one that sits in the cover and not sold seperately.



TIA,

Beer#7609

[Patrick]

I'm not going to worry about the engine except for maybe a water pump.. Other stuff such as wheel and steering head bearings, brake pads, various electrical parts[switches] and u-joint, drive splines are the kinda junk I'm stocking up on..I still need to remember to get the u-joint and splines..I just sold all my other bikes and such ,but, I'll never get rid of the Valk or Indian, I'll keep them till I'm gone..

[Tigger #422]

We did a lot of parts swapping and sales when wrecked bikes were readily available a few years ago, but so far they're gettin pretty scarce.  Since that engine was made for such a long time, quite a few of the major components will be available in the aftermarket, but all good things come to an end.

It'll become another short run classic, and all that goes with that.

I like my Valkyrie chopper, but it might evolve into somethin else.  Ya never know.

[fudgie]

We did a lot of parts swapping and sales when wrecked bikes were readily available a few years ago, but so far they're gettin pretty scarce.  Since that engine was made for such a long time, quite a few of the major components will be available in the aftermarket, but all good things come to an end.

It'll become another short run classic, and all that goes with that.

I like my Valkyrie chopper, but it might evolve into somethin else.  Ya never know.

Wow, I wondered if you were still kickin!  Still slinging ink?

[X Ring]

Question: Is there anybody knowledgable on this matter and able to produce some facts and figures? If not, is there anybody who experienced a component failure of some kind, that fits in this discussion? We all know about the wheel bearings and such, but if you have had to replace them, they could be involved as well.
As for myself, my bike has not let me down since I bought it new in 1999, apart for some wear-and-tear items like vacuum tubing and air prefilter, the one that sits in the cover and not sold seperately.

There are quite a few parts such as wheel bearings, timing belts, etc that are commonly available.

http://www.jkozloski.com/generic_parts.htm

Marty

[Beer van Huet]

Hi Marty,

Perhaps I need to amplify my question. You are right, there are plenty of parts for sale right now.  Suppose for arguments sake, that I want to keep this bike for, let's say another 15 years. By that time, most of the original parts will be sold (the last new one being manufactured over 10 years ago by then) and I will probably have to go to the junkyard to get the part I want. Fine. Now, if I have a clue about the probability of some part breaking down within that 15 years, I could also buy that part brand new now and keep it in my garage for future use. To be able justify which parts I need to order now, or in my case before 2013, I need to know the (global) availability of specific parts in stock and on the other hand, the chance that something will break down in 15 years from now. Then, if I wish to do so, I can make a justified decision which parts to buy and keep as a spare.
This may sound a little hypothetical to you and maybe you are right. Again, it just crossed my mind and I just wanted to have a rough idea what I needed to replace in 30 years, based on figures that are avaialbale right now.

Beer

[X Ring]

Beer, I'm like you.  I want to keep my Valk for a long, long, long time.  Maybe I'm being a little naive but Honda is still selling parts for bikes they made in the 70s, maybe even earlier.  There are some parts have been picked up by the aftermarket.  Brake rotors for example.  One thing I find encouraging is our block was designed for the 1500 Wing which was 1st produced in what?  '88.  So, lower engine parts shouldn't be a problem.  Plus, let's face it, Honda likes to play with part #s to make it seem the part is specific to that model but it actually is a common part, just packaged differently.  If we can figure that out, it will help. 

There are some things we can do.  One thing is replacing the right rear wheel bearing with a left rear wheel bearing.  The left bearing is a double row bearing and able to handle radial and axial loads better than the single row bearing.  The only thing you have to do is have .26" machined off the spacer.  You just can't use the dust seal and considering the bearing is sealed on both sides plus the spacer is against the outside of the bearing, it should be fine.  I ordered an axle with spacer from Pinwall.  I'll have that spacer machined and keep the other one stock, just in case.  I'll also have a spare axle, just in case.

[PatrickDoss]

While Honda does discontinue some parts a few years after production ceases, they are usually very good about continuing with mechanical parts for a very long time.  So while you may not be able to get a saddlebag lid, or a fuel tank, or possibly a timing belt cover in 2015, I would be willing to bet money you can get u-joints, driveshafts, starter gears to fix your hydro-lock, wheel bearings, etc. for a long time to come.  You can still get mechanical parts for the 1200 series Goldwings, and they haven't been built for 22 years.  Back in 2002, I purchased some parts for my 87 Shadow 700 (last year for that particular model/size) that were cosmetic, but I had to wait a month for them to be shipped from the warehouse shelf in Japan.  They had been discontinued, but I got lucky there were still some on the shelf.  So if you're gonna stock up, stock up on cosmetics.

[Beer van Huet]

Back in the days that Soichiro Honda was still in charge (he had a very customer orientated mind) he took very good care of this issue. Don't forget, that there has been a big struggle for Japanese companies to conquer the US market. Since his death in 1991, other managers have taken over the company and gradually adopted the more traditional selling strategies. One of these strategies of course, is to minimize on stocks. Unsold spare parts take up a lot of space in warehouses, that costs money. Next, it seems to me, that the models in those days, were not changed as frequently as now. Finally, as far as the Valkyrie is concerned, you have the California and 49 States variants, but also over 17 different variants worldwide, some with derated power or full power and all having to meet different emission control specs of different countries. If you take the model years of all 3 versions (Std, Tourer and Interstate) into account as well, it will add up to worldwide 63 possibilities of motorcycle variants from basically the same model. This coincides with the Honda OEM spare part order list, I am told. And all that in merely 7 production years. Of course, the majority of these parts will be common, but it's the difference that I am curious about.
I agree with you guys that the Valkyrie, being derived from the GW 1500, most likely will have no problem in engine part availability for a long time to come. I wonder however, how different the Valkyrie engine is from the Goldwing. I know about the 6 mikuni carbs and hotter cams from the folder, but that's about it and not much to go by.
Of course, there won't be as much Valkyrieriders in 15 years from now, so that is a consideration too.
I think Patrickdoss is correct in his statement that cosmetic parts are the ones being hardest to get eventually.


My 2c worth

Beer

[R J]

Buy a spare wrecked one for spare parts.    Problem solved.

242,000 and still climbing.     NO need for engine parts yet, so worry about something else.    These rides are pretty much bullet proof unless ya beat the hell out of it everyday 7 days a week.

Then ya might need to worry a little bit.