Biker to triker again.

[Tynker]

Hello folks. I am 76 years young,and have been riding bikes for 60 years. I just sold my 03 Honda 1300 VTX,and bought a 99 Valkyrie IS trike , Motor Trike conversion. I love it,except it does not have easy steer. 3 of my friends ride trikes,2 of them have easy steer,and you can really tell the difference. I still love riding 2 wheels, but a year ago my wife had a stroke,and she could not ride the 2 wheeler any more. I have been looking for a Valkyrie trike,as I don't like all the plastic on the Gold Wing trikes. That is what my 3 friends have,and I do all the service work on them. My trike runs great,and has just 69K miles on the clock. I live In Manvel, Texas,it is just south of Houston.

 

[cScjhb]

Welcome to TT. There are A LOT of Texans here. Watch for the annual get together at Kerrville. I haven't been but think it will be on my calendar this year. Hope our paths cross. Ride safe..... Jim

 

[Tynker]

I did contact Poppa Zook, he said he has none in stock,and new orders for one is several weeks out. I will order one from him after Christmas or so.

 

[Gorilla]

welcome earl. papazook is located just outside of houston. he will do you well on the rake kit

 

[paws]

Hey Earl! Kudos to you for deciding to keep the two of you in the wind! I see you joined in 2016 so you’ve been thinking about buying a trike for a while.

As earlier stated watch for threads out here that have KERRVILLE in the headline. There hasn’t been a date chosen yet for the TrikeTalk gathering in 2021 but keep an eye out. It’s a good time riding the hills and kick’n tires!

 

[Tynker]

Hey Earl! Kudos to you for deciding to keep the two of you in the wind! I see you joined in 2016 so you’ve been thinking about buying a trike for a while.As earlier stated watch for threads out here that have KERRVILLE in the headline. There hasn’t been a date chosen yet for the TrikeTalk gathering in 2021 but keep an eye out. It’s a good time riding the hills and kick’n tires!

Before my wife had a stroke, we used to go to the hill country a lot. She loves Bandera,and

All the roads around there. We like running the river road(highway 170) and the Marfia area.

 

[Uncle Fester]

Welcome from Southern Maryland!!

 

[paws]

Before my wife had a stroke, we used to go to the hill country a lot. She loves Bandera,and

All the roads around there. We like running the river road(highway 170) and the Marfia area.

Oh golly! I haven’t ridden the River Road out there in Y - E - A - R- S !! I lived in west Texas for 48 years. I have actually seen the Marfa Lights in person.. 1971 it was. We used to motorcycle camp at Fort Davis...a LOT.. when we weren’t riding to the Hill Country. Hope to meet up with you two one day soon here at Kerrville.

 

[Tynker]

Oh golly! I haven’t ridden the River Road out there in Y - E - A - R- S !! I lived in west Texas for 48 years. I have actually seen the Marfa Lights in person.. 1971 it was. We used to motorcycle camp at Fort Davis...a LOT.. when we weren’t riding to the Hill Country. Hope to meet up with you two one day soon here at Kerrville.

Maybe you should go ride it again. I really like the 80 miles from Terlinga to Alpine, and the pass from Marfa to Alpine. Pretty country.

 

[paws]

Maybe you should go ride it again. I really like the 80 miles from Terlinga to Alpine, and the pass from Marfa to Alpine. Pretty country.

We used to call it The Last Frontier in Texas... then it was “discovered”... lots of twits out there now...plus now they are oil/gas drilling at Balmorhea area... messing up the night sky for McDonald Observatory... a real shame.

 

[LadyonaMission]

Earl, welcome aboard from San Antonio. :wave4:

 

[Tynker]

Earl, welcome aboard from San Antonio. :wave4:

Thanks for all the welcomes, great to be back. 4 years ago I was here with a Tri Glide. Got cancer,and had to sell it. Got in remission,and started riding my 2 wheeler again. Then in Feb. 19 my wife had a stroke,and could not ride any more. Now she is ready to ride a trike again,it was hard at first to get on and off. She is left handed,and that is the side that is affected. She rode 120 miles today,with me,and is doing great. Thanks again folks.

 

[Jack Klarich]

Thanks for all the welcomes, great to be back. 4 years ago I was here with a Tri Glide. Got cancer,and had to sell it. Got in remission,and started riding my 2 wheeler again. Then in Feb. 19 my wife had a stroke,and could not ride any more. Now she is ready to ride a trike again,it was hard at first to get on and off. She is left handed,and that is the side that is affected. She rode 120 miles today,with me,and is doing great. Thanks again folks.

That is a great story :clapping: So happy for you and your wife to be together again in the wind.

:welcome:back to Trike Talk

 

[radismukes]

:welcome: Back To the Trike Talk Family! FROM SOUTH

Angleton, TX

Howdy Earl:wave4:Welcome to the group.

 

[rhino 2]

Welcome to Trike Talk......Earl

 

[BrokenBackJack]

Good to hear

Good to hear you got a Trike so your bride can ride with you again.

Great news!

 

[rogerm60]

Welcome Earl - I just sold the Harley Street Glide and now I'm down to the trike only, but no worries, the wife and I love the comfort and feel of the Roadsmith Honda Goldwing. Like you, I've done the "twisted sisters" many times and love the river road out of Big Bend. It's a great ride from Terlinqua to Marfa. Hard to beat the rides around Big Bend, Fort Davis, and the Hill Country. Hope to see you on the road one day!

 

[Tynker]

Hello folks. I am 76 years young,and have been riding bikes for 60 years. I just sold my 03 Honda 1300 VTX,and bought a 99 Valkyrie IS trike , Motor Trike conversion. I love it,except it does not have easy steer. 3 of my friends ride trikes,2 of them have easy steer,and you can really tell the difference. I still love riding 2 wheels, but a year ago my wife had a stroke,and she could not ride the 2 wheeler any more. I have been looking for a Valkyrie trike,as I don't like all the plastic on the Gold Wing trikes. That is what my 3 friends have,and I do all the service work on them. My trike runs great,and has just 69K miles on the clock. I live In Manvel, Texas,it is just south of Houston.

Well yesterday and today, I got to work on the trike. I replaced the fluid in the front brakes, clutch, and rear brakes. Looks like it had not been changed in quite a while. I also cleaned all the heim joints. Greased the universal joints, and splines. Last week, I replaced the rear tires,and the front tire. The rears were down to the wear marks, and the front was not far off.

On another note, the trike seems to want to steer ( pull) to the right a lot. Crown of the road I guess. I will be ordering a east steer from Papa Zook real soon, and an Ultimate seat. I had one on my VTX,and loved it. Oil filter had a chrome filter saver on it,and the 3 set screws were frozen in place and came off with the old filter. Next job, is to see if I can save it somehow. that's all for now...Later,and stay safe.

 

[Tynker]

Welcome Earl - I just sold the Harley Street Glide and now I'm down to the trike only, but no worries, the wife and I love the comfort and feel of the Roadsmith Honda Goldwing. Like you, I've done the "twisted sisters" many times and love the river road out of Big Bend. It's a great ride from Terlinqua to Marfa. Hard to beat the rides around Big Bend, Fort Davis, and the Hill Country. Hope to see you on the road one day!

Well yesterday I pulled the tank and replaced the air filter. It was NASTY !!!! Looks like it had not been changed in years, but the bike ran just great.. I also removed the lower filter box and cleaned up all the mess under there. The pair valve and vacuum hoses ,had already been removed. I replaced the gas line, and the vacuum hose to the petcock, which I replaced also. Nothing left to do,so lets go riding......

 

[CrystalPistol]

All this talk of West Texas makes me yearn ...

 

[PosseRider]

Welcome to TT. The Kerrvile get together is our favorite. We have ridden down from Ohio 3 times for it. This year it was cancelled due to the China Crud, hope for next year. Some of the best people on TT there. Maybe 2021 we can all get together.

 

[Tynker]

Welcome to TT. The Kerrvile get together is our favorite. We have ridden down from Ohio 3 times for it. This year it was cancelled due to the China Crud, hope for next year. Some of the best people on TT there. Maybe 2021 we can all get together.

Well, I just don't now what to do. I went for a ride today,after all that maintenance. I got 1 half mile from home,and engine acted like it ran out of gas. Friend towed it home for me. Thought it might have a bad (new) petcock. replaced it with the old one,went about 1 half mile again,and quit. Went home(Towed) again. Removed the tank, whole air box,looking for a kinked hose,or something,but saw nothing wrong. Checked petcock with a vacuum and it works fine. I am lost. Ran great with dirty air filter. 3 hoses are connected to the bottom of the lower air box, if that makes any difference. HELP please !!!

 

[CrystalPistol]

Well, I just don't now what to do. I went for a ride today,after all that maintenance. I got 1 half mile from home,and engine acted like it ran out of gas. Friend towed it home for me. Thought it might have a bad (new) petcock. replaced it with the old one,went about 1 half mile again,and quit. Went home(Towed) again. Removed the tank, whole air box,looking for a kinked hose,or something,but saw nothing wrong. Checked petcock with a vacuum and it works fine. I am lost. Ran great with dirty air filter. 3 hoses are connected to the bottom of the lower air box, if that makes any difference. HELP please !!!

Did you try opening the gas cap? If that cap's vent clogs and will not let air in, fuel pump will fail to pump enough fuel out to make "road worthy" power.

 

[Tynker]

Did you try opening the gas cap? If that cap's vent clogs and will not let air in, fuel pump will fail to pump enough fuel out to make "road worthy" power.

Yes I did,and I also hooked a spare hose to the vent at the rear of the tank,and could blow through it. Thanks

 

[PosseRider]

Yes I did,and I also hooked a spare hose to the vent at the rear of the tank,and could blow through it. Thanks

Fuel pump ?? Also, yrs ago HD had a problem with the intake hose to the pump cracking ,so no fuel being delivered. I remember, some would run to 1/2 tank of fuel , as the crack was way down the hose. Others would quit with almost a full tank ,as the crack was further up the hose. All I can think of,at the moment.

 

[PosseRider]

Just checked your profile & see it is a HD. May have more replies if you post the problem in the HD forums,rather than a Honda forum.

 

[CrystalPistol]

Just checked your profile & see it is a HD. May have more replies if you post the problem in the HD forums,rather than a Honda forum.

I didn't even look since this was a Honda forum. :laugh:

 

[Tynker]

Did you try opening the gas cap? If that cap's vent clogs and will not let air in, fuel pump will fail to pump enough fuel out to make "road worthy" power.

OK, here was the problem. In my infinite wisdom, I made the new hose to the petcock 2 inches longer than the factory one. Thinking it would give me more room to replace,since the old one made for very little room to lift the tank and remove the hose clamp. I said a prayer for GOD to help me solve my problem. He made me look under the tank where the hose connects to the petcock,and I saw that the extra 2 inches of hose was kinked right at the petcock. I( removed the extra 2 inches and reconnected the hose,and no kink.. GOD saved me. Bike runs great now. I also replaced the plugs with a set of E 3- 36 plugs, and RPM's increased 100 at idle. Bike seems to start and run a little better. THANKS to all who helped,and advise some fixes. Live and learn, I guess. Factory does things for a reason sometimes.

 

[Tynker]

Did you try opening the gas cap? If that cap's vent clogs and will not let air in, fuel pump will fail to pump enough fuel out to make "road worthy" power.