valkyrie rescue

[ShiningHorse]

Seems I can't turn the old girls away that show up at my door. This old VILF(F as in fix) suffers   from disuse more than most , born of the 1997 vintage, she still a looker, but has some age related issues that are standard to her nature. Apparently the previous caretaker left her for another and she sat neglected in the corner for many years, all the while developing a hardening of the heart 'so to speak. Anyway as it is now I've been showering her with attention in the hopes that some day she'll run with the pack again, but this is where I could use some guidance in her resurrection. The condition as she sits is, seized pistons, stuck throttle drum, and fearing a possible hydrolock I checked the starter and associated gears, and all is well. Next I removed the  plugs and filled bores with MMO let it marinate for two days, then in 5th gear tried to slowly roll her back and forth, appears I have movement, so that looks good. I'll let the pistons sit in this new position with fresh MMO for a couple days before I push her a little harder. So now I focused on the stuck throttle shaft, and went ahead and removed the carb bank to do an cleaning as I'm pretty much sure their in need of a little love, now here where I  was thrown for a bit of a loop, as I was removing the carbs, I went to plug my intakes bores on the heads with rags to prevent any intruders and noticed that a couple of the air intakes were filled to the brim with antifreeze. While this caught my attention as odd, I was consumed with the task at hand in removing the carbs, which by the way are resting on the bench waiting. Now that  I've had a couple of days to pour over the vast amount of Valkyrie insight here and micro filch it seems to me, she may have blown a gasket as well, strange though on both heads. Ponder this

[Attic Rat]

If you find that you need another engine I have a very low mileage one just setting under the bench.

[The emperor has no clothes]

She may be beyond help. Or at least not worth pouring money and effort into getting it right. I think I would take Attic Rat up on his offer.

[ShiningHorse]

Thanks for offer Attic Rat, but I 'm thinking shipping cost to Hawaii might be kinda crazy. Although I'm in no rush and this is #4 in the stable(they seem to breeding) I'll take her so far as cost allow, then pack her up as a donor. But I was curious that this might be a classic example of a blown head gasket symptom.

[Pappy!]

Have you drained the oil and had a look at it yet?

[ShiningHorse]

Yep, pretty much a soup of gas, oil and some sort of secret sauce, but nothing that resembled water or coolant, about 3 gallons worth. Funny, the coolant in the head intakes was fresh bright green, not contaminated at all.

[Skinhead]

With Pistons siezed, and fluids in places they shouldn't be, it sounds like a catastrophic failure magnified by allowing to sit in that condition.  I would look for cracked castings and siezed rings so a major tear down and inspection at a minimum.

[Hoser]

Any thing can be repaired, Good luck with it.  Sound as the engine sustained most of the damage.   Hoser

[Pappy!]

Since you found a bubblin' brew in the crankcase I would second the offer of the engine.
Would hate to see another old Valk parted out vs. restoring her to her former glory and letting her feel the wind again.

[Momz]

You could get a 97-2000 GoldWing motor cheap and use just the lower end.

[signart]

Oil and coolant makes a great recipe for secret sauce!

[ShiningHorse]

So as it appears now, it's not looking like a possible freeing pistons - rebuild carbs situation and hoping for the best. I'm pretty sure a donor motor will be the easier and less costly(I like the Goldwing tip, that expands my options). But I will continue tear down for curiosity sake and learning curve, cuz I'll need to accumulate the necessary tools, skills, and replacement parts here, due to limited access to reasonably priced Valk stuff( shipping most times cost more than the product, if they'll ship to here at all). All in all a small price to pay to own and ride one of the greatest mechanical machines of our times. Aloha and Thanks

[Bighead]

Keep us updated and post some pictures of the beauty queen when you can

[tank_post142]

if you go with wing motor make sure you get one with reverse.