Topic: Let's see your non-SOHC4 on the road

[desertrefugee]

Ha ha, thanks Darrell, sounds to me like you're suffering from "Sellers remorse"

<  snippage   >

The Valkyrie is way underpowered compared to either of the Rocket III's that I've owned.

- Definitely suffering seller's remorse.

- I suppose at the end of the day, when saying the valkyrie is underpowered a compared to the rocket 3, it's not such a bad slam. I mean schidt,  look what you're comparing it to.. LOL

- I tuned into the video expecting a factory or third party review. Was pleasantly surprised and had several good laughs over that. Thank you for it!

[PeWe]

About Terrys new Locomotive !
Checked this?
https://www.magnumtuning.com/en/detail/dyno-boost-motorcycle-performance-chip/honda/gold-wing-valkyrie

More inspiration
https://www.motorcyclecruiser.com/202-horsepower-honda-valkyrie-from-archives/

[Trevor from Warragul]

I headed into the hills on my big Suzuki.  Enjoyed the cool morning breeze.  Got home just as the weather started to get warm.

[Terry in Australia]

Ha ha, thanks Darrell, sounds to me like you're suffering from "Sellers remorse"

<  snippage   >

The Valkyrie is way underpowered compared to either of the Rocket III's that I've owned.

- Definitely suffering seller's remorse.

- I suppose at the end of the day, when saying the valkyrie is underpowered a compared to the rocket 3, it's not such a bad slam. I mean schidt,  look what you're comparing it to.. LOL

- I tuned into the video expecting a factory or third party review. Was pleasantly surprised and had several good laughs over that. Thank you for it!

Ha ha, no worries mate, the Valk is a nice pleasant tourer that does lots of things very well, as I said before, the Rocket has just ruined really big bike ownership for me.

[MauiK3]

I've never ridden one but the Bandit has always looked to me like it's a great bike.

[ken65]

I headed into the hills on my big Suzuki.  Enjoyed the cool morning breeze.  Got home just as the weather started to get warm.

Nice Bandit.  I like them. I got a 2010 model. Never lets me down.

[ekpent]

 Green 1999 1200 Bandit over here. Only had 7500 miles on it when I bought it. Rode it a lot from mid summer to late fall this year. One of those nice bikes where you can ride it all day and never hardly go above 5k on the tach and still go fast ! Over 5k things happen fast and your hitting 100 mph before you know it. Used and in good shape these bikes are a bargain for good usable power,handling and brakes.

[Terry in Australia]

I’ve always liked Bandits, they were a smart move from Suzuki putting a detuned GSXR engine into a naked street bike frame. They used to be everywhere here going cheap, but I think folks have been hoarding them of late as I don’t see as many for sale as I did a couple of years ago.

When I sell the Valkyrie I might buy another Yamaha FJR1300, sportsbiike like power and handling with luggage for a long haul.

[MauiK3]

FJR1300, another great bike.
I think some of the early ones had a valve issue of some sort, not sure if it was solved.

[Terry in Australia]

I bought a minty 2000 “First Gen” in 2016 for the “Sofa King low” price of $2000 Steve, it had 223,000 Km (139,000 miles) on the odometer and the owner, a teacher at a Christian school in Western Victoria was selling it to buy an older Honda ST1100 as he was riding 500-600 miles per week and was worried that the Yamaha was on the way out.

I fitted new tyres and brake rotors, a taller windshield and some handlebar risers, and rode it for another 14000 Km (9000 miles) and traded it up for another Triumph Rocket III in February, which I’ve just traded to Spotty for the Valkyrie.

I wasn’t aware of any issues with them, the guy who I did the trade with took it to a shop for a Roadworthy inspection said that it needed a new cam chain, but according to the guy I bought the FJR from the engine had never been apart. I’d definitely buy another one, my only gripe is the footpeg position is a bit high for a fast tourer, and that it stole my 10mm socket when I was replacing a blown coolant hose, and didn’t gave it back…..

[ken65]

I know many of the FJ1200 boys here in south east Queensland. A few of them jumped on the FJR1300's and where blown away by them . I've never heard a bad word from any of them.

[Terry in Australia]

Yeah mate, I owned an FJ1200 when I bought the FJR1300 and just decided that I had no further use for the 1200, the FJR1300 just did everything better. I donated the FJ1200 and GL1200 to charity, as the FJR1300 had both the sporting pretensions of the FJ, and touring capability of the ‘Wang. Two bikes for the price of one…

[Kelly E]

I've spent some time on my buddies FJR1300 and I really like it. It rides very similar to how my 94' Concours set up except the FJR is a bunch faster after 100mph

[Terry in Australia]

Yep, the FJR1300 is faster than my Triumph Rocket III. The Yamaha will happily do 150 MPH whereas the Rocket has both a rev and speed limiter, and won't go past 140. The Rocket would still blow the FJR1300 away in a straight line drag, but the Yamaha would eventually creep past at "Go straight to jail" speeds.

[Stev-o]

I’ve always liked Bandits, they were a smart move from Suzuki putting a detuned GSXR engine into a naked street bike frame. They used to be everywhere here going cheap....

I'm not in the market for one but still very cheap around here...

https://houston.craigslist.org/mpo/d/bryan-2000-suzuki-bandit-1200/7414799311.html

[Terry in Australia]

Nice bike Steve, and luckily for me, too far away or I’d be banging on his front door with a fist full of dollars…..

[Terry in Australia]

Davey's 1984 FLH-P got delivered on Wednesday. Sadly 32 years in high humidity and a couple of years of neglect when Davey's illness precluded him riding or wrenching had taken it's toll. I'd fixed the wet sumping issue last week and replaced the battery today, plus I gave it a good wash and degrease, and then rode it over to the self storage unit. I'd put a gallon of fresh fuel in it to mix with the God-knows-how-old fuel that was in it, so it missed and farted all the way over to the storage unit, but didn't conk out, so that was a bonus.

Davey’s FLH 4 Dec 2021 7 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I then jumped on my Triumph Rocket III and did a fast 100 miler. I had to laugh at a couple of young blokes on bikes, one on a big "Naked" and one on a sportsbike who were riding together. At one stage they decided that they should overtake the old fart on the "Cruiser", and were horrified when I matched their overtaking speed, then pulled away from them at highly illegal speeds. They didn't attempt to overtake me again......

Terry’s Rocket III 4 Dec 2021 2 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

[MauiK3]

Terry
What is the bike parked in front of?

[PeWe]

Look like typical Aussies playing around!
Or a fun show thing for children?

[MauiK3]

Sometimes I think it’s always party time down under!

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks guys, it was some farmers Christmas decorations, I had to stop and get a pic!

[grcamna2]

Thanks guys, it was some farmers Christmas decorations, I had to stop and get a pic!

Good thing that Rocket III has brakes Terry ! 
Did you put lot's of room between yourself and those other 2 powerful bikes?
Did they really try to beat you ?

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks guys, it was some farmers Christmas decorations, I had to stop and get a pic!

Good thing that Rocket III has brakes Terry ! 
Did you put lot's of room between yourself and those other 2 powerful bikes?
Did they really try to beat you ?

Thanks Bill, yep, even though I was doing a few MPH over the posted speed limit they came up behind me and passed me in the overtaking lane, but as there was no-one in front of me I just twisted the wrist and "Rocketed" past them again. The great thing about the big Triumph is that it's massive 147 foot pounds of torque is available from 2200 RPM (60 MPH in 5th gear) and that means that you don't need to change down a gear to go from 60-120 in 2 or 3 seconds, so I guess those guys decided that they weren't gonna shame me on what they were riding, and disappeared in my mirrors. I'm glad I wasn't riding the Valkyrie, or I would have been eating their dust.

[grcamna2]

Thanks guys, it was some farmers Christmas decorations, I had to stop and get a pic!

Good thing that Rocket III has brakes Terry ! 
Did you put lot's of room between yourself and those other 2 powerful bikes?
Did they really try to beat you ?

Thanks Bill, yep, even though I was doing a few MPH over the posted speed limit they came up behind me and passed me in the overtaking lane, but as there was no-one in front of me I just twisted the wrist and "Rocketed" past them again. The great thing about the big Triumph is that it's massive 147 foot pounds of torque is available from 2200 RPM (60 MPH in 5th gear) and that means that you don't need to change down a gear to go from 60-120 in 2 or 3 seconds, so I guess those guys decided that they weren't gonna shame me on what they were riding, and disappeared in my mirrors. I'm glad I wasn't riding the Valkyrie, or I would have been eating their dust.

  Lol 

[Terry in Australia]

Well I woke up this morning (the start of any good blues song ever written) and logged into the ol' virtual salt mine. Bit of bad luck though, turns out an upgrade was gonna take it offline all day? Dayum! What to do, what to do? I spent all day yesterday sitting on muh butt watching the world's best car race, the Bathurst 1000, so I didn't go for a ride. Hmmnn.

Okay, I drove over to the secure storage place to 1. check that the Harley isn't puking oil all over the floor, and 2. to select a bike for a ride. I decided to roll the Valkyrie out and give it another chance. I didn't like the clear screen fairing on it, and as the weather is warming up now, don't need it anyway, so I undid 3 bolts (should be 4 but 1 was missing) and took it right off.

Valkyrie 6 Dec 2021 9b by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I expected a lot more buffeting without the clear plastic sail on the front, but no, it wasn't too bad at all. I don't know if the fairing had any effect on acceleration, but it felt a bit more peppy without it, and I found myself cruising at 80-90 MPH. Like most of these big land barges, it is a mile eater, and I only stopped to have lunch in the gardens in Yea (pronounced "Yay") and had a chat with a couple of Guzzi riders, who were probably more interested in the Valkyrie than I was. They were amazed when they asked me "How many Cylinders?" and I said it had 6, neither of them had any idea that it was a 1500cc 6.

Valkyrie 6 Dec 2021 5 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I had my crappy lunch, then took off again. I rode north towards Seymour, then west, into Tallarook. I haven't been thru this place since 2014 (on the Rocket III) and it hasn't changed at all. When I sell the Valkyrie I'm gonna advertise it as "Belongs to an old man who only rides it to church on Sundays, and I'll furnish this pic as proof.

Valkyrie 6 Dec 2021 8 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr   

My right shoulder and arm has been really giving me some grief on my last few rides, so I stopped once more before I hit the freeway and hot footed it home, just to give my arm a rest.

Valkyrie 6 Dec 2021 6 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Valkyrie 6 Dec 2021 7 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

And that was it, another 180 miles under my tires, and back to the ol' saltmine tomorrow, but only 4 more sleeps before I take 5 weeks off for my annual Christmas leave, so I'm looking forward to even more rides.