To say that the 28 day, 10400 plus mile trip was hard on the Valkyrie is likely an under statement. The Honda itself and all the Honda components, did an outstanding job for a bike that is 12 years old and now has 82,000 miles on her. But to say everything mechanically went well on the trip is also an under statement.
First an foremost we blew a brand new tire in Texas that only had 2000 miles on it and had to have that replaced. Then just 15 or 17 days later we had wore that tire out and had to install the spare on the bike just to make it home. We also blew a shock in Texas and it leaked for at least 8 to 10 days making a mess but did not interrupt our trip. I also had to put new rear brakes on because I forgot to check them before I left home. Oops!Somewhere around Page Arizona my Garmin GPS stopped charging. I took the complete wiring system apart and put it back together on the road and determined that it was either the Cradle or the Garmin itself. Then around Denver the trailer tires had to be replaced, but that had nothing to do with the poor Valkyrie. By the time we rolled into Virginia the shocks were in such bad shape that when I leaned left, the rear tire would rub on the fender well and you could smell rubber burning. My fog lights also stop working somewhere in the last two days of the trip.
Well as of today the Valkyrie is back and she is better than ever. Today I put the final touches on repairs by fixing the burned out blubs where the foglights are concerned. I also installed a permanent outside temperature gauge made by Marlin and it really looks nice mounted on the handle bars. I have already installed brand new Progressive 412 stocks and what a difference they made in the ride. Lori and I both came to the conclusion that the old shocks must have been fading for sometime. Now about that Garmin GPS. Something inside the Garmin got fried and Garmin the company sent me a new unit but not free of charge. It still cost me $150 bucks but when you price a new Zumo 550 Garmin, you will see that $150 was cheap.
I did one more thing to the Valkyrie and that was to run some Quickshot from Amsoil through the gas tank to clean any old deposit in the 6 carburetor fuel system that runs my bike. It is a new product and has already won some awards on best new product. Let me tell you this much, after running just one tank through the system my bike got 40 mpg gallon and I didn’t flip to reserve until 205 miles was displaying on my odometer. Normally I flip to reserve between 175 and 185 riding two up with no trailer. The other things I noticed was the bike ran quieter and I’m not sure how that happened, and it was enough that even Lori noticed it. Engine performance has also increased specially the low end. It idles smoother and takeoff from the line is much smoother. My plan is to run 3 tanks of this stuff through the system and then will see how she runs after.
I’m glad to have the Valkyrie back in riding shape and this week if the weather holds up, I will have to start riding her to work. We also have a planned day ride with Gary an Lisa Mace when they come buzzing through the area. So Mark is happy again that the Valk is road ready.
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