97 Valkyrie Carb Question
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Thread: 97 Valkyrie Carb Question

  1. #1
    Senior Member Tbone56's Avatar
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    97 Valkyrie Carb Question

    I know several of you have previously or currently own a Valkyrie, so I have a question about a carb problem with my '97 Valk. A friend of mine has been riding this bike the last 2 years, in hopes he could buy it. However, due to finanaces and health issues that did not happen so, I now have the bike back in my possession. The bike will only start in full choke position, and you have leave the choke partially closed to get the revs up to get it rolling. However, once you are going 10-20 mph, you can open the choke all the way, and it then runs like normal, and cruises through all gears and at all speeds without hesitation or any kind of carb problem. At first I thought it was a carb sync problem, so I pulled the intakes off and checked the butterfly position of each carb just to make sure one of the butterfly valves was covering one-half of the first of those four tiny holes. (Read that on the internet)

    About two years ago a service station attendent accidently put diesel in the tank, so my buddy says. He had a back-yard mechanic friend clean it out somehow and got it running. Not sure if he remove the carbs and clean them or what. He says, it has been running fine since then. But, I don't think he really rode it that much, just couple times a month. I have owned a couple other Valks before and on one bike had the carbs cleaned and rebuilt and it was super responsive and fast, but very expensive at about $700. I might also try to run a couple cans of Seafoam through it to see if that helps.

    It is hard to find a good Honda shop around here that has a mechanic that knows how to work on a old carburated Valk, so I am hoping someone on here can lead me in the right direction. There is a guy from Arkansas that has a number of good videos on Youtube and I might try cleaning the carbs myself.

  2. #2
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    I had a '99 Valk Interstate and I wanted to see how far I could go on a tank...............big mistake, sucking fuel from the bottom of the tank introduced some foreign particles into the carbs. It didn't run too good and by lightly touching the pipes I could tell a couple of cylinders were colder than others. To make a long story short after a couple of tanks with carb cleaner through it, it got better. Your problem is alittle different, after sitting for awhile your low/idle jets have gotten gummed up from old fuel...............if you are lucky try the above it may clean out those little guys. I have a couple of old CB750/550 and when I screw up and let them sit too long I get what you describe, need choke to idle. I pull the carbs drop the bowls and spray carb cleaner in the jets and carefully run an acupuncture needle down it followed with a little shop air, this works every time. I have learned to use Sta-bil in every tank and ride as often as possible. Good luck.

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    Sounds pretty normal to me for a 97 Valkyrie...My 99 did similar things on occasion and I put a 1/2 bottle of Seafoam in tank a couple of fill-ups and the thing ran fine until I traded it a couple years later.....Not discounting other things may be wrong, but my son-in-law in Oklahoma rides a 99 Valk which has 28,000 miles on it and he is now having carb issues and the dealer has also quoted him a pretty steep price to re-build/calibrate the carbs...I suppose that is why most bikes today have FI which seems to be much less hassles......

  4. #4
    Don't mess with my 'pepper' Scotrod's Avatar
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    Will it idle after running?

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    Admin - Chief poop scooper Phantom's Avatar
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    DO yourself a favor and use TECHRON , buy 2 bottles just in case. Try Auto Zone or Sam's Club. It does a better job than Seafoam.

    OR if you have a connection with a auto repair facility, the BEST carb cleaner is BG 44K Fuel System Cleaner , you may not ever heard of it, but that is because it is not sold directly to the public through retail stores. You can find it on e-bay. I have used this and it is NOT cheap but a lot less than a rebuild, the results are amazing.

    One of the quotes from the below link "well kept secret as BG only supply Dealerships, no auto parts supply stores have access to it"Read the following comments including post #8 ....

    http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsc...m-cleaner.html


    Find a dealer near you that MIGHT be willing to sell a can over the counter ... http://www.bgfindashop.com/locator/index.php



    Successful people build each other up. They motivate, inspire and push each other. Unsuccessful people just hate, blame and complain.

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    Admin - Chief poop scooper Phantom's Avatar
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    Successful people build each other up. They motivate, inspire and push each other. Unsuccessful people just hate, blame and complain.

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    Senior Member Tbone56's Avatar
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    91 Valkyrie Carb Question

    Quote Originally Posted by Scotrod View Post
    Will it idle after running?
    No, I rode it for about 30 minutes at highway speed and when I got home, it still would not idle without the choke half way closed. Even running at highway speed, I could pull in the clutch and let off the throttle, and it would die.

  8. #8
    Senior Member Tbone56's Avatar
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    97 Valk Carb

    Quote Originally Posted by Phantom View Post
    DO yourself a favor and use TECHRON , buy 2 bottles just in case. Try Auto Zone or Sam's Club. It does a better job than Seafoam.

    OR if you have a connection with a auto repair facility, the BEST carb cleaner is BG 44K Fuel System Cleaner , you may not ever heard of it, but that is because it is not sold directly to the public through retail stores. You can find it on e-bay. I have used this and it is NOT cheap but a lot less than a rebuild, the results are amazing.

    One of the quotes from the below link "well kept secret as BG only supply Dealerships, no auto parts supply stores have access to it"Read the following comments including post #8 ....

    http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsc...m-cleaner.html


    Find a dealer near you that MIGHT be willing to sell a can over the counter ... http://www.bgfindashop.com/locator/index.php
    My brother-in-law is a parts manager at the Ford dealer, so he may have it. Thanks.

  9. #9
    Senior Member 1951vbs's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Phantom View Post
    DO yourself a favor and use TECHRON , buy 2 bottles just in case. Try Auto Zone or Sam's Club. It does a better job than Seafoam.

    OR if you have a connection with a auto repair facility, the BEST carb cleaner is BG 44K Fuel System Cleaner , you may not ever heard of it, but that is because it is not sold directly to the public through retail stores. You can find it on e-bay. I have used this and it is NOT cheap but a lot less than a rebuild, the results are amazing.

    One of the quotes from the below link "well kept secret as BG only supply Dealerships, no auto parts supply stores have access to it"Read the following comments including post #8 ....

    http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsc...m-cleaner.html


    Find a dealer near you that MIGHT be willing to sell a can over the counter ... http://www.bgfindashop.com/locator/index.php
    +1 on the TECHRON Saved the former owner's neglect on my Norton carb. Cleaned up the ethonol induced issues with my Vincent carbs and fixed my stalling problem with my BMW K1200GT....Really!

  10. #10
    DarkSider#1617 Steve 0080's Avatar
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    The BG product is very good... your low idle jets are gummed up.... drive around at low speeds.... under 45 and that will help clean the low speed jets... after about two tanks pull her down, if not running right, and D & C .... and ALWAYS use Stabil
    " Truth is often deemed rude, blunt and to the point which is why so few make their friend " Freddy Hayler ..352-267-1553 Sanford, FLA Gutterman6000@Gmail.com

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