Need your input- would triking a Valkyrie shorten it's life

[Frankj]

Hi, have a standard w/ 68k and was considering triking, but a friend of mine feels that triking my Valkyrie with that many miles would not be good, he mentioned transmission wearing out, the extra weight and your re-configuring the bike for something it wasn't intended for, he predicted a short life for my Valkyrie trike

What are your thoughts and are these valid concerns?, if any of you have triked your with higher miles have you put on a lot of miles since and noticed anything issues

Appreciate your help!

[The emperor has no clothes]

No disrespect to your friend, but I think he doesn't know what he is talking about. Valkyries and Wings are probably the best bikes for triking.

[Highbinder]

My wife has two Valk trikes a 98 and a 99 I/S, the 98 had 78k when she triked it and it now has 167k no problems at all.  The 99 was triked with 1500 miles and now has 190,000 and she pulls a 400 lb. trailer with it and we replaced the clutch at about 98000, other then that no other repairs.
      They both run great, neither one burns any oil and no problems in the drive train.  I wouldn't think twice about triking one at 68k.... It's hardly broke in..

[Gryphon Rider]

For sure it'll shorten the Valkyrie's life.  You'll probably only get 400-500 thousand miles out of it instead of 500-700 thousand miles.

Question:  Has there actually been a Valkyrie wear out from proper use rather than from neglect or abuse?

[scooperhsd]

Question:  Has there actually been a Valkyrie wear out from proper use rather than from neglect or abuse?

Now THAT is a valid question. You could say the same thing about a Gold Wing

[Willow]

No disrespect to your friend, but I think he doesn't know what he is talking about. Valkyries and Wings are probably the best bikes for triking.

Disrespect for your friend is called for.  He doesn't have a clue about the life of Valkyries.

As for the decision to trike my advice is always that it's less expensive to sell your bike and buy a trike than to convert.  The only real reasons to trike a two wheeler you already own is if you have an unreasonably close relationship with that particular bike or if you plan to do something with the planned trike that no one else has done.

[Frankj]

Unfortunately  I do have an unreasonable (or maybe it's reasonable!) relationship with my bike and your are correct it is cheaper to buy one triked, but the paint etc. I have on my bike is what I would want my trike to look like and I only want one bike.

My friend loves Goldwings he's had several, but doesn't seem to grasp the connection between the two bikes. He is genuinely concerned that the Valkyrie will be rendered useless in short time

[¿spoom]

In a pure science sense, triking any bike (or adding a sidecar) will shorten the time between failures of some components because they'll be doing more work. With 3-4x (or more) rear tire footprint, and a trike weighing slightly more than a stock bike, obviously the rubber snubbers, hypoid, clutch, etc will be stressed more on every launch from standstill. (BTW, it's REEEEEEAL fun to launch a trike at a green light.) Even the steering head bearings and front tire will have some scrub/side load that are different than the usual inline force with a two-wheeler, more so if the usual 4°~6° raked trees are added to the trike job.
The problem is by what amount is wear increased/life decreased? .01%? 1%? More? Less?  Then you consider the OEM mean time between failures and if it's already measured in years, the increased wear may be negligible in the real world sense.  

[98valk]

The engine and transmission are bullet proof.

This isn't your father's harley davidson.

[old2soon]

Look up the 100 G mileage thread here. Bruce-a k a DDT-is comin up on 600 G. If I were so inclined And had the coinage I'd trike my I/S with the Only caveat being having a Good Reputable shop do the trikeing. Other than some Well documented shortcomings-NOT many-these Honda Valkyries are bout as near bullet proof as a piece of mechanical equipment can be. BUT don't take the collective on a mere word. RIDE SAFE.

[DavRed]

What is the cost of getting this done? If you don't mind me asking...

[Frankj]

Just around 11k w/custom paint, this is a Roadsmith kit, the poster above is correct the key thing is finding a good installer, I contacted a couple installers and after talking with them I wouldn't let them clean my winshield

[hubcapsc]

Just around 11k w/custom paint, this is a Roadsmith kit, the poster above is correct the key thing is finding a good installer, I contacted a couple installers and after talking with them I wouldn't let them clean my winshield

I don't see where you live. That Honda of Russellville place in Arkansas builds a lot
of trikes... they do a lot of stuff, including some nice paint jobs.

https://www.hondaofrussellville.com/

I live in South Carolina, I'm under the impression that this Indian dealer is a good
trike place, I know they've triked numerous Valkyries, I bought some bags and a
final drive from them...

https://cherokeecycles.net/

-Mike

[old2soon]

Isn't there a place in Minnesota doing a reverse trike thing? Seem to recollect an article bout dat Not too long ago. RIDE SAFE.

[The emperor has no clothes]

Isn't there a place in Minnesota doing a reverse trike thing? Seem to recollect an article bout dat Not too long ago. RIDE SAFE.

Endeavors. He is a member here. He hasn't posted in a while. Some were pretty critical of the looks. I think they looked fine.

[Mn. Norseman]

L&M sales in Glenwood MN. I have no dog in this fight, but I have seen their work. Stopped in once to see about a goldwing drive. These guys were meticulous, wiring, brake lines, everything was " just so". Don't know about price.

[John Schmidt]

There's a number of trikers that have bought the Roadsmith kit and did the conversion themselves in their garage. Cost was well under $10k, I know I'd do my own if I had the coins to buy the kit. They just need to know if you have an I/S or one of the other models, it's so they can set up the rear deck to mount the trunk.