changing a starter.

[cmawest]

i ride a lot of miles and just to be safe i  have bought an extra starter, alternator, and timing belts and am going to put them in my bunkhouse just in case it happens out on the road. after reading everything i can from valk owners it comes to me that i probably couldn't change the starter on the road anyway. is it really impossible to get the old one out without dropping the engine ?? thats kind of what i'm gleaning from the site. but then i hear some really off the wall opinions about just about everything having to do with anything here. can someone who has actually had to replace a starter please give me an honest opinion as to weather its normal maintanance or harder than hell ??

[hubcapsc]

I was sure that there was no way to get mine out without cutting the frame!

But, it comes out and goes back in.

I had mine out because I "polished" it. Bad move. I "polished" off
the paint. It is not aluminum, it rusted. So I wanted to paint it again.

I've never heard of a Valkyrie starter going bad.

-Mike

i ride a lot of miles and just to be safe i  have bought an extra starter, alternator, and timing belts and am going to put them in my bunkhouse just in case it happens out on the road. after reading everything i can from valk owners it comes to me that i probably couldn't change the starter on the road anyway. is it really impossible to get the old one out without dropping the engine ?? thats kind of what i'm gleaning from the site. but then i hear some really off the wall opinions about just about everything having to do with anything here. can someone who has actually had to replace a starter please give me an honest opinion as to weather its normal maintanance or harder than hell ??

[cmawest]

I was sure that there was no way to get mine out without cutting the frame!

But, it comes out and goes back in.

I had mine out because I "polished" it. Bad move. I "polished" off
the paint. It is not aluminum, it rusted. So I wanted to paint it again.

I've never heard of a Valkyrie starter going bad. thanks mike, i figured that, nothing ever seems to go down on these bikes, no wonder ultra lite pilots love them

-Mike

i ride a lot of miles and just to be safe i  have bought an extra starter, alternator, and timing belts and am going to put them in my bunkhouse just in case it happens out on the road. after reading everything i can from valk owners it comes to me that i probably couldn't change the starter on the road anyway. is it really impossible to get the old one out without dropping the engine ?? thats kind of what i'm gleaning from the site. but then i hear some really off the wall opinions about just about everything having to do with anything here. can someone who has actually had to replace a starter please give me an honest opinion as to weather its normal maintanance or harder than hell ??

[cmawest]

thanks mike, i sort of figured that. one nice thing about ordering through amazon is that you can return it with no questions.

looks like a job for the shop, not for the road. no wonder the ultra lite pilots love these 1500 engines, you want something dependable at 5,000 ft in the air.

anyway i'll return the starter and keep the alternator and belts, and hope they last forever too.  i have a second valk i bought just because i figured it was the best deal i have ever saw on a used valk. its sitting in my shop wondering why i keep riding the trike and ignore it. so i will put it up for sale this spring.

[Oss]

How many miles on your trike now Dennis?

[Pluggy]

There was a tip posted years ago that the starter motor could be separated from the starter gearbox while mounted to the engine.  The motor is then removed, followed by the gearbox.  I have not tried it.

Anyone successful with this?

[hubcapsc]

There was a tip posted years ago that the starter motor could be separated from the starter gearbox while mounted to the engine.  The motor is then removed, followed by the gearbox.  I have not tried it.

Anyone successful with this?

If you mean "make it easier" by taking the cover off the starter while the starter
is still mounted,  that would be a hard NO for me. Its got all those springy things
inside holding the brushes or something and when you slip the cover off it goes
SPROING and then if you can find all the things that sproinged away you need 16
fingers to hold the springy retainer things in and try to put the cover back on.

If you mean something else, then ida know... 

Here's another starter thing: find a low profile wrench (maybe in the OEM tool kit)
and hold the bottom lock nut when you're loosening the hot wire from the starter.
Don't just turn the top one and hope it comes loose. The "stud" is just a bolt and
its head is held inside in a plastic thing that you could break.

-Mike

[98valk]

The center cover has to be removed to easily remove the starter, per the factory technical manual,
page 18-4.  cover removal is per page 2-3.

[cmawest]

How many miles on your trike now Dennis?

about 58K

[98valk]

How many miles on your trike now Dennis?

about 58K

starters don't fail, basically bulletproof.
per manual timing belt inspection is at 100k miles, replacement is only if they fail.  they are actually Gates industrial drive belts designed to run 24/7 at higher loads than turning little camshafts with 90lb valve springs. Honda uses them as timing belts and why in the Gates timing belt books the belt number cannot be found.
Best thing to do is check the idler pulleys at your mileage. a bad pulley will destroy any belt faster than anything. there are holes in the supports which allow a grease needle fitting to get under the seal lip and add a very small amount of grease. Or one can find low mileage idler pulleys on ebay. GL1200 and GL1500 are the same. I found a set from a low mileage GL1200 for $20.  there are websites out there on how to check and inspect sealed bearings and adding some grease to them. common practice in industry.
Alternators usually last over 100k miles. key is to pull apart at your mileage and clean it out and check the bearing on the shaft and clean the housing hole that the bearing fits into.
I did mine about your mileage and found the bearing was starting to go bad, so I replaced it with a SKF alternator bearing from NAPA. When re-assembling best to put some blue lock tight on the outside of the bearing and in the bearing recessed area of the housing, this is per Goldwing site to prevent the outer part of the bearing from spinning in the housing and thereby ruining it and causing alternator failure.
""When fitting the new bearing, a drop or two of thread locking compound on the outer area will prevent spin, assuming that the cover is not already scrap. This picture shows a knackered bearing and you can see the burn marks where it spun in the cover. The cover in this case had to be replaced.""   http://homepage.eircom.net/~wingnut/GoldwingTips.htm