Valkyrie Trikes

[DIGGER]

This post is more or less aimed at Bruce and John.... do you guys have a reverse on your trikes?  If you dont has that been a problem?

[Jersey mike]

To be honest I've been wondering about the rear brakes, are they disks or drum?

[John Schmidt]

As many of you know, I swapped the Valk motor for a Wing motor with reverse. Did the swap last summer, got it up and running this summer. The rear brakes are disc and are effective along with the OEM front brake. The only thing I don't like about my ride is it rides rather stiff unless there's a load on it like a passenger or luggage. It's independent suspension with heavy coil-over shocks plus a thick stabilizer bar, meaning in a turn/curve you get minimal lean which is nice. But, hit a pot hole or heavy tar snake and you feel it.

[old2soon]

    Maybe a lighter rate coil John?? A Better balance tween loaded and 1 up? And the air ride on mine Is Spoilin me!    With parts and labor bit over 2 G But well WORTH it!  John does your revewrse work off the starter? The 88 GW and the 12 GW both work off the starter. RIDE SAFE.

[LadyDraco]

@DIGGER
I will also reply , Even thou I'm not Bruce or John...

I have NEVER had an issue with Not having reverse on my trikes.
   Like everything with out even thinking you scan a parking lot.
And never pull in on a nose dive , They roll so easy , they can roll back in to spots.
   Also if ya ever make an Oops ,
again they roll easy, Just put your rump to the rear fender and push one hand on the hand brake.

[John Schmidt]

Maybe a lighter rate coil John?? A Better balance tween loaded and 1 up? And the air ride on mine Is Spoilin me!    With parts and labor bit over 2 G But well WORTH it!  John does your revewrse work off the starter? The 88 GW and the 12 GW both work off the starter. RIDE SAFE.

I talked to the Roadsmith people some time back and they were suprised I thought it rode rough. I told them it didn't have air suspension, they were "oh, well..." and were no help at all. I've considered taking it back to the plant in Many-Soda and have them make some changes. Since I don't really have a method to get the trike up in the air, and then get under it to work on it these days is a bit out of my paygrade anymore.   And yes, the reverse works off the starter, had a chance to use it with both of us on it while backing out of Toni's driveway. Works fine...as does my cruise control now. Usually I approach a parking lot or space like Tracy does, I'll give it a quick scan to prevent a downhill slope. I hate getting off/on due to not paying attention since I'm finding the older I get, the higher that saddle seems to be.

[Pluggy]

John, can you estimate..... After getting the Goldwing engine, how many hours of labor were involved to make the trike have working reverse?

Some owners may think "Just throw in a Wing motor". I know it was much more than that.

[DDT (12)]

Dig,

No reverse, drum brakes, solid axle (Lehman trike kit)... My trike was bought secondhand and that's the way it came. I can't say either of those have presented any problems so far, but... I probably wouldn't know anyway. It just is what it is, and I've adjusted rather easily to it.

I rode two Gold Wings for about five years each that each had reverse (my first GW didn't have reverse). While I did use that feature a couple of times during that decade, I'd made a conscious decision NOT to have to use it if at all possible. My thinking was that I didn't want to spoil myself and forget thoughtful parking practices in case I ever went back to a bike without that 'crutch'.

Tracy has managed for a very long time on trikes without a reverse, so I'm game to give it a try myself. Granted she is an extraordinary rider for sure, but still her descriptions of her experiences seem very much common sense to me, so I'm confident they are therefore manageable... Anyway, that's my story... brief for now, but I do plan to change that!

DDT (12)

[Pluggy]

Tracy has managed for a very long time on trikes without a reverse, so I'm game to give it a try myself. Granted she is an extraordinary rider for sure, but still her descriptions of her experiences seem very much common sense to me, so I'm confident they are therefore manageable... Anyway, that's my story... brief for now, but I do plan to change that!

DDT (12)

In Rural NC, Reverse would be helpful on our gravel parking lots.  Backing up a bike is difficult on an inch and a half of gravel.  At our favorite BBQ, it is easier for bikes to park off the gravel lot.  If my Valkyrie had reverse, I would use it.

 

[old2soon]

     Although I do have R on the 12 G/W I Still pay attention to the pitch of the lot Anywhere I pull in just like I did with my Valkyrie! The R on the 88 and the 12 ain't That strong. NOT reccomended for long R pulls specially uphill R. According to Google the 2012 Honda G/W audio comfort with all fluids at capacity weighs 904 lbs. My trike 12 G/W full of fluids around 1200 pounds and my fat butt adds another 240 lbs geared up. Soooo yer askin a LOT of that starter motor!    RIDE SAFE.

[DIGGER]

My next question......

My 2001 Valkyrie has 134,000+ miles.  Would you have this Valkyrie triked or just find a good used trike of some kind. Which would be cheapest route?

[John Schmidt]

Personally...if I had to do it again I'd probably shop around and buy a good used one, there seems to be a number of them out there. The one I now have was in rough shape and I got it for quite a bit lower figure than he was asking. The fool thing would hardly run good enough to drive home, popping and backfiring along the way. Needless to say, I didn't take I-41 home. If you have yours converted you're still talking about a 5 digit figure. I've noted a number of both Wings and Valks available in the teens $$'s.

As for swapping the motors to gain a reverse function, the motor was offered at a decent price, I was intrigued by the thought of making the change, and I needed a project...much to my wife's dismay. It wasn't an overnight job for sure, it took a few weeks to go through the "new" motor to first make it compatible with the Valk application. During that time I also went through and changed all the coolant hoses, all o-rings and gaskets except for head gaskets, timing belts and pulleys, a fair amount of work. I wanted to make sure I wasn't installing a problem I could have corrected ahead of time. I spent last summer making the swap, working spasmodically. In the end I now have a trike with reverse and cruise control...and a good used motor I now don't need in storage. It's impossible to give an estimate of time and labor spent since it was done over an extended time period. I often joked about it being a thing of labor and love; too much labor and would love for it to be over and done with!   

[DIGGER]

Personally...if I had to do it again I'd probably shop around and buy a good used one, there seems to be a number of them out there. The one I now have was in rough shape and I got it for quite a bit lower figure than he was asking. The fool thing would hardly run good enough to drive home, popping and backfiring along the way. Needless to say, I didn't take I-41 home. If you have yours converted you're still talking about a 5 digit figure. I've noted a number of both Wings and Valks available in the teens $$'s.

As for swapping the motors to gain a reverse function, the motor was offered at a decent price, I was intrigued by the thought of making the change, and I needed a project...much to my wife's dismay. It wasn't an overnight job for sure, it took a few weeks to go through the "new" motor to first make it compatible with the Valk application. During that time I also went through and changed all the coolant hoses, all o-rings and gaskets except for head gaskets, timing belts and pulleys, a fair amount of work. I wanted to make sure I wasn't installing a problem I could have corrected ahead of time. I spent last summer making the swap, working spasmodically. In the end I now have a trike with reverse and cruise control...and a good used motor I now don't need in storage. It's impossible to give an estimate of time and labor spent since it was done over an extended time period. I often joked about it being a thing of labor and love; too much labor and would love for it to be over and done with!   

Thanks for the advice