misc maintanance

[zoltan57]

i have a 2000 valkyrie standard with 30 k  on it.. after almost nine years is it a good time to flush out the brake and clutch fluid? and also i have amsoil syn.10w40 is this a good oil? im kind of hesitant .. so whats the latest and greatest on the mobil brand to use...
thanks..
emrik

[Disco]

Welcome Zoltan,

Now is a good time to change your brake and clutch fluids.  I bought my 2000 standard in 2007 and changed the brake and clutch fluid last summer.  It had about 3,500 miles on it when I bought it and about 12,000 when I changed the fluids.  It was a bit discolored and probably had not ever been changed. 

As for the Amsoil, it's a very good oil.  Some people swear by it.  Others prefer Rotella T.  Others prefer Mobil 1.  (I know I'm leaving some out.)  I'm a Royal Purple guy.  Others prefer not spending the extra $ on synthetic and use "dino" oil. 

The stock Honda filter is a very good one.  There are a few non-Honda filters that are popular - search for Jeff K's Generic Valkyrie Parts List.  I use the Purolator PL14610. 

If you use a good oil, a good filter, and change them at a reasonable service interval, you should be fine.   

[sandy]

If you do your own maintenance, you'll need a brake bleeder tool. The Mity Vac is my choice. Others use a method where they get a large syringe and push the fluid up from the bleeder to the reservoir. After draining all the old fluid out, Refill it with alcohol and drain that out. That gets rid of any old buildup in the lines. I too use Mobil 1 15X50W Extended Life oil. Make sure it doesn't have any friction modifiers in it. The PL14610 is my choice too. I've been changing my oil every 10K for the last 50K miles. Have 105K on the ODO with no problems.

[Thunderbolt]

to change the fluids.  I wouldn't go any longer than a couple of years between changes in the future.  I think that you will find that the brake and clutch work a lot better after you change the fluids.

[wilmont kid]

I also recently bought a used Valkyrie and changed ALL the fluids including lubing the rear splines, brakes, clutch, anti freeze, and  oil. I installed speed-bleeders for the brakes making that job a lot easier. I always use speed-bleeders when bleeding bike systems and am thinking of trying them on cars. The bike was a '98 and I'm sure the brake and clutch fluids were in there from the beginning. Brown with rusty crap in the reservoirs. I'm sure the bike is a lot happier now----

[hubcapsc]

I replaced brake and clutch fluid and put on new brake pads when I got my bike. Then, a year later, my rear
caliper failed...

I remember now that my rear caliper pistons were hard to press in when
I changed the fluid and put on new pads. I probably could have avoided
the rear brake failure (and subsequent missing of last year's Cheaha)
by rebuilding the caliper at the same time as I had changed the fluids.

Rebuilding the caliper is easy, the new parts you should get (seals, booties, etc)
are cheap and well marked in the manual. Most people (including me) remove
the rear wheel to get the caliper off, but I think you can actually take the caliper
off the hanger and avoid removing the wheel...

-Mike

[zoltan57]

thanks for all the helpfull pointers.....
emrik