As not to hijack another thread. I figured I would start a new one.
As many of you have read I was offered a bike for free, I just had to ship it from CA to NY. This is an older bike 98' Honda Valkyrie 1500 Tourer with 3600 miles on it. My former business partner took it with him to CA when he retired 10 years ago. 19 years ago I helped him pick out the bike I went with him to look at at I even drove it before he agreed to buy it, I actually wrote the check for it and paid for it from the business. Fast forward close to 20 years to today and he found he hasn't been using it enough to keep it running well. He only put 300 miles on it in the last ten years since he moved to CA. I received a phone call and he asked me if I wanted it and jumped at the opportunity! Before he let me ship it to NY he brought it in and had it serviced yet again to make sure everything was in good working order. The mechanic rebuilt the carbs and gave it a good once over. A year ago the bike was somewhat overhauled carbs tires fluids and flushed brakes and radiator. I have been riding most of my live and very familiar with the older bikes I started riding as a kid at 12 and only stopped several years ago mostly due to other interests and the fact that my wife wouldn't ride with me, I was more into sports cars at the time and maybe still. I fully understood that a 20 years old bike that has been sitting would likely need some service or repairs but I'm no stranger to a wrench so I'm really not too worried about minor stuff, Minor to me may seem more major to others.
The bike arrived almost two weeks ago we have had a lot of rain and not a lot of riding weather. I did a good systems check and then a decent cleaning and hit the road nothing crazy but have put over 200 miles on the bike. At the 180 mark I ran into a problem with the petcock I consider this a minor setback however someone in another thread made it sound like this was a big deal and that I made a bad choice "BUYING " this bike I'm not sure what his issue is? Anyway I have replace the part changed the oil twice and just to be on the safe side changed the timing belts while I was working on it and had my tools out. I have since put another 30 - 40 miles on it and all seems well. I hope to enjoy the bike for years to come. This is not my daily driver it is just a toy to enjoy when I have time. I'm really enjoying the 6 cylinder smooth power that this bike provides it is unlike anything I have every owned in the past. My last bike was a Kawasaki Vulcan 1500 big V-Twin this was a great bike but it like Harelys have a thumbing heart beat that you feel every time you hit the throttle which is cool and exciting in the beginning but gets old. The Valkyrie is like a Lexus I can crack the throttle sitting on the seat in neutral and the bike doesn't shake of even vibrate slightly! It reminds me of the old Lexus commercial where they stack glasses on the hood of a car and nothing spills or even ripples. This bike is a beast I'm sure it will be fun for a while. I was a little concerned before I got back on it that I wouldn't feel comfortable on the streets again but after a few miles maybe hours I'm loving riding again. There is actually a forum just for Valkyries I have find some good info there regarding maintaining this bike. There are members of that forum that have put well over a 100k miles on these bike without issues I guess I have about 96,000 mile to go. BTW the manual suggests "checking" the timing belts at 100,000 miles I figured based on age I would just replace them.
I hope this answers the couple of questions that some have asked. I know there are plenty of people here with both older and newer bikes all enjoying what they have, not sure why someone would question my choice as if I made a mistake but I don't take kindly to it!
As many of you have read I was offered a bike for free, I just had to ship it from CA to NY. This is an older bike 98' Honda Valkyrie 1500 Tourer with 3600 miles on it. My former business partner took it with him to CA when he retired 10 years ago. 19 years ago I helped him pick out the bike I went with him to look at at I even drove it before he agreed to buy it, I actually wrote the check for it and paid for it from the business. Fast forward close to 20 years to today and he found he hasn't been using it enough to keep it running well. He only put 300 miles on it in the last ten years since he moved to CA. I received a phone call and he asked me if I wanted it and jumped at the opportunity! Before he let me ship it to NY he brought it in and had it serviced yet again to make sure everything was in good working order. The mechanic rebuilt the carbs and gave it a good once over. A year ago the bike was somewhat overhauled carbs tires fluids and flushed brakes and radiator. I have been riding most of my live and very familiar with the older bikes I started riding as a kid at 12 and only stopped several years ago mostly due to other interests and the fact that my wife wouldn't ride with me, I was more into sports cars at the time and maybe still. I fully understood that a 20 years old bike that has been sitting would likely need some service or repairs but I'm no stranger to a wrench so I'm really not too worried about minor stuff, Minor to me may seem more major to others.
The bike arrived almost two weeks ago we have had a lot of rain and not a lot of riding weather. I did a good systems check and then a decent cleaning and hit the road nothing crazy but have put over 200 miles on the bike. At the 180 mark I ran into a problem with the petcock I consider this a minor setback however someone in another thread made it sound like this was a big deal and that I made a bad choice "BUYING " this bike I'm not sure what his issue is? Anyway I have replace the part changed the oil twice and just to be on the safe side changed the timing belts while I was working on it and had my tools out. I have since put another 30 - 40 miles on it and all seems well. I hope to enjoy the bike for years to come. This is not my daily driver it is just a toy to enjoy when I have time. I'm really enjoying the 6 cylinder smooth power that this bike provides it is unlike anything I have every owned in the past. My last bike was a Kawasaki Vulcan 1500 big V-Twin this was a great bike but it like Harelys have a thumbing heart beat that you feel every time you hit the throttle which is cool and exciting in the beginning but gets old. The Valkyrie is like a Lexus I can crack the throttle sitting on the seat in neutral and the bike doesn't shake of even vibrate slightly! It reminds me of the old Lexus commercial where they stack glasses on the hood of a car and nothing spills or even ripples. This bike is a beast I'm sure it will be fun for a while. I was a little concerned before I got back on it that I wouldn't feel comfortable on the streets again but after a few miles maybe hours I'm loving riding again. There is actually a forum just for Valkyries I have find some good info there regarding maintaining this bike. There are members of that forum that have put well over a 100k miles on these bike without issues I guess I have about 96,000 mile to go. BTW the manual suggests "checking" the timing belts at 100,000 miles I figured based on age I would just replace them.
I hope this answers the couple of questions that some have asked. I know there are plenty of people here with both older and newer bikes all enjoying what they have, not sure why someone would question my choice as if I made a mistake but I don't take kindly to it!
