New Owner

[AZ]

Hello everyone. I bought my first Valkyrie and I'm pretty stoked about it. It's my 4th bike that I ever owned (I still own a VFR) but it's my oldest bike and first bike with carbs. Can somebody school me on when I need to use choke? Is it everyday I start the bike cold? How long do you keep it on before you can ride away?

[RonW]

any pics?

[AZ]

Absolutely. I still need to get the plates so I don't have any great pictures yet.
Meanwhile, I plan on putting a new battery, flush the brake fluid, and oil.

[AZ]

And this bike makes my V4 VFR sound weak. The sound is probably the main reason why I bought it.

[The emperor has no clothes]

Every bike is a little different. My Standard starts and idles pretty well without any choke. My I/S I usually full choke and then back it off to idle at about 1200 or so. No throttle. Most chokes on these bikes are very stiff, and it takes a fair amount of pressure to engage it fully.


Are you located in Arizona ?

[Bret SD]

Living in Southern Ca I haven't used/needed the choke yet on my 02 standard.

It starts right up even at 40 degrees with a little extra throttle.

[Chrisj CMA]

Welcome. Looks like a well preserved specimen from what can be seen. Read a lot in the tech section especially about the rear wheel/final drive and hydrology precautions. Hope you love the Valkyrie.

[..]

Absolutely. I still need to get the plates so I don't have any great pictures yet.
Meanwhile, I plan on putting a new battery, flush the brake fluid, and oil.

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[Ron in Buffalo]

Welcome - congratulations on your new to you motorcycle. Great forum bought mine last October and this board and members on it have been a great help.

[AZ]

Every bike is a little different. My Standard starts and idles pretty well without any choke. My I/S I usually full choke and then back it off to idle at about 1200 or so. No throttle. Most chokes on these bikes are very stiff, and it takes a fair amount of pressure to engage it fully.


Are you located in Arizona ?

I'm located in Arvada, CO, just west of Denver.

[AZ]

To check the coolant level, I see the reservoir is located on the left side. Does the cover that shrouds the coolant reservoir simply comes off by pulling it or is there some screws that hold it in place?

[hubcapsc]

EEK! Do you have a user's manual? The steps are in there to safely take it off.
A big Valkyrie thing is "my side cover's tabs are busted!!!" Side covers cost
about $1,000,000 each!



http://valkyrienorway.com/download.html

-Mike

To check the coolant level, I see the reservoir is located on the left side. Does the cover that shrouds the coolant reservoir simply comes off by pulling it or is there some screws that hold it in place?

[Bagger John - #3785]

I've owned and ridden a number of F6s since they came out. Depending on pilot jet size (if other than stock), ambient air temp and elevation they may or may not require choke from a cold start-up.

My '99 CA-model Tourer usually doesn't at temps above 60F. My '01 I/S most usually does unless temps are 80F and higher.

FWIW.

[MarkT]

Additionally, on the side covers - and other places like in the end of the fuel line at the petcock - use wire pulling lube to make the rubber slippery.  WPL is soap or wax based - not petroleum, doesn't hurt rubber.  Your grommets will last much longer if you don't insert dry and it goes much better  - think of K-Y in another application - improves use; the fuel and vacuum lines go in much easier.  Grainger's has it, so does Amazon, probably Harbor Freight.

BTW I'm on the other side of town, E of Franktown.  I make custom exhausts for the Valkyrie and some other products.  A popular one is the lightweight, cantilever, easy to install, permanently mounted lift adapter.  I have 4 Valkyries. (One is for parts).  Been in this Valk community since before this club started in '98.

Use the search function for any questions you have - in 24 years we have covered everything.

Check out my Tech Tips pages at www.horseapple.com.  Also here's a list of most of the mods I've done to my road cruiser, Jade.  Safety, convenience mods rather than just bling.  http://www.valkyrieforum.com/bbs/index.php/topic,107621.msg1078206.html#msg1078206

Good choice on your ride.  Best overall cruiser ever conceived!

[AZ]

Thanks, Mike!

By the way, in the picture below, I think I am missing some sort of plastic cover. Do you know what's it for or what it is called?

[AZ]

Thanks, Mike!

By the way, in the picture below, I think I am missing some sort of plastic cover. Do you know what's it for or what it is called?

Mark, 4 Valkyries  :???:That's hard work to keep them all ridden and maintained!
The centerstand or some sort of platform would be a good idea for this bike! And I love Cobra exhausts from the looks and sound perspective!

[Timbo1]

Thanks, Mike!

By the way, in the picture below, I think I am missing some sort of plastic cover. Do you know what's it for or what it is called?

Looks like the swingarm cap cover that's missing.

[AZ]

Shoutout to Sandy from this forum for reaching out to me and offering to help! I appreciate it!
By the way, when I bought the bike from the previous owner, I had a scary situation to deal with. When I came to pick up the bike and ride back home (14m away), the owner asked me how many miles I had to go home. He said he only put about one gallon of gas and if I ran out of gas to move the petcock to Reserve. I did not think too much about it since I did not have far to go and I figured a gallon of gas would be more than enough. Half way on the way home, on I-70 I lost power in the fast lane. I shift down and pull on the throttle, and the bike keeps slowing down. It did not even occur to me at first that I would be running out of gas. My first thought was the battery or something internally with the engine. Remember, Valkyrie is the oldest bike I've owned!
I barely managed to pull to the side of the highway, and at this point, and I'm freaking out  . There is no room to pull over due to construction; cars are whizzing by as I'm feverishly trying to start the bike. With the buyer-remorse thoughts  going through my mind, I text the owner, and l begin searching for a tow truck on my phone. As I'm calling the tow-truck CO, the owner writes back to try putting the Reserve on.
crap, what a relive as the bike roars back on to life and I manage to get myself out of the dangerous situation!
I still have not gone on a descent ride with it! Looking forward after I do some basic maintenance to it!
Glad to be alive and big bertha in my garage!

[yrunvs]

It sounds like you should download and check out the service manual here http://valkyrienorway.com/download.html and then read everything here http://www.valkyrieriders.com/shoptalk/
These bikes are 20+ years old with some parts that are no longer available. Their are many idiosyncrasies attached to this bike and if you plan on having a happy man/bike relationship then the sooner you educate yourself on your new to you cycle the better. 

[RustyValkry]

Congrats on your 'new' Valkyrie.  You can download an electronic copy of the service manual (I suspect someone will post that link for you).  A copy of the owner's manual will be good to.  Lots of folks here will help get you situated on the right path.

[Hook#3287]

Welcome to the club AZ

Like Meathead stated, every Valk is different in the use of the "enricher".

I got 4 Valks and each has her own requirements.

Main thing is to make sure your actually engaging the choke.

Push the lever down and look at the top of the carb bank to see if the "starter lever" (#20 in link below) is moving.

https://www.partzilla.com/catalog/honda/motorcycle/1998/gl1500c-a-valkyrie/carburetor-assy

If not, push more.

Glad you got her home safe.

[Factor]

By applying the choke, the first 80% of the pull is closing the butterfly valves to enrich the air/fuel mixture. The last 20% is actually lifting the carb piston which really gets a bunch of gas moving. That's the zone folks are referring to as "fully engaged". It is noticeably harder to move the choke lever when you get to this point with 20 year old hardware. Your one thumb is moving six pistons and all the mechanicals in between. It's practically a Rube Goldberg device. Lubing the cable and mechanism can help (on both sides). I use a silicone spray and wipe off the excess.

[The emperor has no clothes]

By applying the choke, the first 80% of the pull is closing the butterfly valves to enrich the air/fuel mixture. The last 20% is actually lifting the carb piston which really gets a bunch of gas moving. That's the zone folks are referring to as "fully engaged". It is noticeably harder to move the choke lever when you get to this point with 20 year old hardware. Your one thumb is moving six pistons and all the mechanicals in between. It's practically a Rube Goldberg device. Lubing the cable and mechanism can help (on both sides). I use a silicone spray and wipe off the excess.

My Standard has been hard to engage the "choke" from day one. I wouldn't recommend lubing the cable, but lubing the linkage.

[Factor]

I wouldn't recommend lubing the cable, but lubing the linkage.

That's probably a good idea since a bunch of folks are saying their chokes don't stay on after lubing. And I'm guessing my cable lubing is pretty ineffectual in reality.

[AZ]

Took the bike for a nice morning ride. I had a blast; the bike runs great!
I was scraping pegs on some turns, and I am not a heavy guy. Do you recommend increasing the preload? I'm on level 2 (standard) I think.

[RonW]

While you have your Valk parked on the side of the road, stand up a nickel on your right header cover. It should stay upright when starting the engine. If your engine is really tuned the nickel will pirouette without falling over as you roll on more throttle. https://youtu.be/GJxlm2wXzHM?t=7 (skip advertisment)

[AZ]

I'll have to give this a try. If it doesn't stay upright, I'm going have to take it to the Honda dealership and see if it's still got a warranty for that.