It's just nuts and bolts. I would suggest a service manual.
I have one concern, please help.
Okay, I love this motorcycle. It's a 2014 Honda Valkyrie. Sometimes I scratch my head and look at it and wonder how I am going to do some basic maintenance? Like changing out the air filter and what not. I'm not too mechanically inclined. The most I can do is an oil change, let alone remove all the crazy fairings to do some basic maintenance. Am I crazy or...?
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hgl, bingo! you will figure it out. if you really want to.Okay, I love this motorcycle. It's a 2014 Honda Valkyrie. Sometimes I scratch my head. Am I crazy or...?
I can relate. I felt the same way. Every response you received above is dead-on. Get the service manual. It has info you need and will use. I think I paid a bit over $50, read it cover-to-cover when it arrived, and only referred to it a few times since. You won't spend $50 anywhere any better.Okay, I love this motorcycle. It's a 2014 Honda Valkyrie. Sometimes I scratch my head and look at it and wonder how I am going to do some basic maintenance? Like changing out the air filter and what not. I'm not too mechanically inclined. The most I can do is an oil change, let alone remove all the crazy fairings to do some basic maintenance. Am I crazy or...?
I came to realize that most of my hesitance to delve into the depths of my bike, like I've done on every bike all my life, was all about the plastic bits. I'd never dealt with push-pins, plastic tabs (that are OH-so easy to snap off, either in taking things apart AND putting them back together), and electronics that I'm not familiar with. I went to my local dealership to speak with them (another thread to come sometime soon as to the way I was treated and the suspected rip-off I got when buying oil, filters, crush washers, etc.) and walked away with 1) no confidence in them nor in their desire to treat me fairly, and 2) a new determination that NOone was going to mess with this perfect bike. Well, no one but me, and then I'll know who to blame. Get serious about your bike, be willing to learn from it, and enjoy it all the more!
Ok. Thanks guys. A few questions. What is the hardest regular maintenance item to do? Would it be changing the air filter?
Nothing hard to do on our bikes. Somethings just take time to get done. Take pictures as you take stuff off to make sure that they go back on.
In this age of "everyone has a camera on them almost all the time", it amazes me that more people don't do what Bscrive suggests. It's so easy and makes mistakes disappear before they happen. In my landscaping business I would use this technique to help create ornate designs in brickwork patios, etc. I would sometimes have to have something dismantled in order to do the project, and then re-assemble whatever the structure was. How did we do this stuff before no-film/no-developing cameras that are affordable and small enough to always have with us? Anyway, what he said. You can't take enough photos and they cost you nothing. And the confidence they will instill in you to be able to do the job is priceless.Nothing hard to do on our bikes. Somethings just take time to get done. Take pictures as you take stuff off to make sure that they go back on.
I work in the mechanical trades and teach a lot of young techs problem solving diagnostic methods. the cam/phone in their pocket is their best tool. also use good protocol on disassembly and reassembly.
a fellow I work with in my shop recently acquired a "beater" bike for dirt cheap. it is filthy and been sitting more than a year or two. so systematically I am having him (I don't touch his project) I just tell him what to do next and how, he takes it apart completely. he takes pics as he goes. Most importantly he is putting every Bolt and Nut back in/onto whatever it came off of as he disassembles. that way he never has to guess what bolt or nut went where with each piece. He takes parts home a couple nights a week and cleans them and preps them for reassembly. all pieces are put in marked boxes so nothing turns into a clusterfuck pile. at present all he has left on this project is the motor sitting in the frame. he considered pulling the motor and I said "what for"? he is not doing any internal motor work, yes he is completely flushing it and cleaning it up. but this bike only has 4k miles on it and there is no need to take the motor apart. Carbs need to come off and get rebuilt next, they are filthy.
For a guy who hasn't had a bike and wants one and has next to zero mechanical experience, he is having the time of his life going thru this process and getting intimate with all the nuances of this particular sled. its kind of like a bonding moment. when he is done and he breathes life back into this beast (it is). he will have something to be exceptionally proud of and its not just the bike that got rebuilt as much as it is him.
a fellow I work with in my shop recently acquired a "beater" bike for dirt cheap. it is filthy and been sitting more than a year or two. so systematically I am having him (I don't touch his project) I just tell him what to do next and how, he takes it apart completely. he takes pics as he goes. Most importantly he is putting every Bolt and Nut back in/onto whatever it came off of as he disassembles. that way he never has to guess what bolt or nut went where with each piece. He takes parts home a couple nights a week and cleans them and preps them for reassembly. all pieces are put in marked boxes so nothing turns into a clusterfuck pile. at present all he has left on this project is the motor sitting in the frame. he considered pulling the motor and I said "what for"? he is not doing any internal motor work, yes he is completely flushing it and cleaning it up. but this bike only has 4k miles on it and there is no need to take the motor apart. Carbs need to come off and get rebuilt next, they are filthy.
For a guy who hasn't had a bike and wants one and has next to zero mechanical experience, he is having the time of his life going thru this process and getting intimate with all the nuances of this particular sled. its kind of like a bonding moment. when he is done and he breathes life back into this beast (it is). he will have something to be exceptionally proud of and its not just the bike that got rebuilt as much as it is him.
I work in the mechanical trades and teach a lot of young techs problem solving diagnostic methods. the cam/phone in their pocket is their best tool. also use good protocol on disassembly and reassembly.
a fellow I work with in my shop recently acquired a "beater" bike for dirt cheap. it is filthy and been sitting more than a year or two. so systematically I am having him (I don't touch his project) I just tell him what to do next and how, he takes it apart completely. he takes pics as he goes. Most importantly he is putting every Bolt and Nut back in/onto whatever it came off of as he disassembles. that way he never has to guess what bolt or nut went where with each piece. He takes parts home a couple nights a week and cleans them and preps them for reassembly. all pieces are put in marked boxes so nothing turns into a clusterfuck pile. at present all he has left on this project is the motor sitting in the frame. he considered pulling the motor and I said "what for"? he is not doing any internal motor work, yes he is completely flushing it and cleaning it up. but this bike only has 4k miles on it and there is no need to take the motor apart. Carbs need to come off and get rebuilt next, they are filthy.
For a guy who hasn't had a bike and wants one and has next to zero mechanical experience, he is having the time of his life going thru this process and getting intimate with all the nuances of this particular sled. its kind of like a bonding moment. when he is done and he breathes life back into this beast (it is). he will have something to be exceptionally proud of and its not just the bike that got rebuilt as much as it is him.
Great advice and strategy for mentoring. I love stories like this. I do the same as well. Got a young guy at work that I'm working with that really wants to learn and went to school to learn the trade so he has a pretty good start. Biggest problem he has is over-thinking a situation and over-complicating it. Not really so much an issue since he's young and has a strong desire to learn and he'll eventually get in the groove. My opinion is these trade schools don't give their students enough hands on training, which doesn't really help the kids that have a true desire to learn and excel in their field. That said, I always give kudos to the person that takes a person under their wing and give the guidance they need. A big thank you to you!!!
I live in a small, liberal arts university town in Illinois. There is also a 2-4 year "trade school" college in the neighboring town about ten miles away. The college's landscaping department would assign me an intern whenever I wanted one. This gave him/her the "hands on" experience you refer to. I'd pay them exactly the same as my other employees and they'd also gain experience they could translate into future dollars.
For those more interested in the self-employment/entrepreneurial lane, may I suggest contacting your closest SCORE office. It is a volunteer organization I was a part of for nearly ten years. It began in '64 and is an arm of the federal government's Small Business Administration department. I was the Director for the State of Illinois for the last few years I was involved. It is a free government service that has helped hundreds of thousands of people in all fifty states get their businesses off the ground. They have about 10,000 volunteers who are primarily retired business owners or business executives who simply want to pass along some knowledge and time for free. Thought you should know. It's a free service few know about.
For those more interested in the self-employment/entrepreneurial lane, may I suggest contacting your closest SCORE office. It is a volunteer organization I was a part of for nearly ten years. It began in '64 and is an arm of the federal government's Small Business Administration department. I was the Director for the State of Illinois for the last few years I was involved. It is a free government service that has helped hundreds of thousands of people in all fifty states get their businesses off the ground. They have about 10,000 volunteers who are primarily retired business owners or business executives who simply want to pass along some knowledge and time for free. Thought you should know. It's a free service few know about.
Cb, you use the kiss principle. life doesn't need to be more complicated than it is. John Wayne said "life is hard,, its even harder if your stupid". somebody else said "you cant fix stupid". Darwin said "yes I can".
Kg, pay it forward. everything we have is because somebody else did the hard work. mom, dad, a teacher, etc. you are lucky if you had someone in your life step forward step up and show you the way. today many young kids don't have that anymore. the culture, the gov, the pub ed-indoctrination skools are all taking over and claiming owership of the kids and turning our kids into mushbrains. if you are lucky enough to have charge of one of them even for a short season, step up and show them they matter. a long time from now you will be surprised what your "small" effort turns out to be. proverbs; one plants, another waters, another gives the increase. poncho
Kg, pay it forward. everything we have is because somebody else did the hard work. mom, dad, a teacher, etc. you are lucky if you had someone in your life step forward step up and show you the way. today many young kids don't have that anymore. the culture, the gov, the pub ed-indoctrination skools are all taking over and claiming owership of the kids and turning our kids into mushbrains. if you are lucky enough to have charge of one of them even for a short season, step up and show them they matter. a long time from now you will be surprised what your "small" effort turns out to be. proverbs; one plants, another waters, another gives the increase. poncho
Just make sure tank is almost empty, BEFORE you try to remove it to open the air-box , to change the filter... You will only have to disconnect an electrical connection on the right side , and two hoses . One on each side of talk . You will not have to disconnect the one down low , near the fuel pump.... Then you can slide the tank back... But be careful of scratching.... The tank mounting-brackets are sharp.
iternships are great. and anything that help young people get hands on skills is building the future. but the words FREE and GOV don't belong in the same sentence, paragraph or page of paper. everything on planet earth Cost somebody something, (aka you/me taxes).. So even tho this and many other programs are very instrumental in giving kids a foundation to build on,, please refrain from using those two words together. poncho
It sounds as though KG has already paid it forward many times over. I have never heard of the program before but it sounds very wortwhile and indeed free for those that take advantage of it thanks to many volunteers.Cb, you use the kiss principle. life doesn't need to be more complicated than it is. John Wayne said "life is hard,, its even harder if your stupid". somebody else said "you cant fix stupid". Darwin said "yes I can".
Kg, pay it forward. everything we have is because somebody else did the hard work. mom, dad, a teacher, etc. you are lucky if you had someone in your life step forward step up and show you the way. today many young kids don't have that anymore. the culture, the gov, the pub ed-indoctrination skools are all taking over and claiming owership of the kids and turning our kids into mushbrains. if you are lucky enough to have charge of one of them even for a short season, step up and show them they matter. a long time from now you will be surprised what your "small" effort turns out to be. proverbs; one plants, another waters, another gives the increase. poncho
BTW, I really enjoy John Waynes movies but unfortunately he was also a draft dodger.
I have got myself a service manual for every bike I've owned for the last 20 years. It will pay for itself quickly ! With all the aluminum & plastic on modern bikes everything needs to be torqued so a manual & good torque wrench is a must ........
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