Valkyrie Interstate - Page 3

 


I don't drink coffee, it makes me irritable.

Coffee is okay for most people in cold weather, but caffeinated
beverages work against you in hot weather, though.

I found that out the hard way, coming home from Las Vegas in 120
degree heat.

The more fluids my body needed, the worse it got, drinking Pepsis and
Cokes.

Then, when I got home, I couldn't sleep either, because I was totally
wired on caffeine.

Another rider told me to switch to iced tea, but I didn't know that I
would get headaches from caffeine withdrawal.

I just assumed that iced tea had about the same amount of caffeine as
coffee but some bottled iced tea (like Lipton's Brisk) have only about
5% the caffeine of coffee.

Then there is the risk of developing *kidney stones* from drinking all
that tea. :-(

Then there are sports drinks, like Gatorade.

My friend's wife, who is a nurse, told me that I would mess up my
body's whole electrolyte balance.

Probably bottled water is the best re-hydrator of all.

 



Sounds like you hit the tail end of the high pressure area that's
moving eastward...

 



Congrats on the new, to you, bike. I have always liked the Valk. I
almost bought one before I bought the Venture.

From what you have said about the brakes I'd be giving is a good once
over before any serious riding.

I wouldn't sweat the fuel mileage.  You didn't buy it as an economy
vehicle. FWIW I can get my mileage on the HD or the Venture into the
low thirties per gallon, riding hard into strong headwinds.I can get
both of them into the high forties riding legal speeds with a tail
wind.

Good luck and I hope you enjoy many safe miles on the new bike.

 


<snip>

On Monday I'm going to order rebuild kits for the calipers and master
cylinders, as well as SS lines for the front and stock rubber lines for the
rear.

I'm going to buy a rear master cylinder and all calipers on Ebay, rebuild
those, then stick them on the bike.  They are fairly cheap, and if I screw
it up I don't have to worry about excessive down time waiting for new parts.

Strange thing, parts for this bike seem to be a bit cheaper than for the RS,
and more plentiful on Ebay.


I can squeeze around 44 mpg out of my Royal Star when cruising at 65 mph or
so.

Commuting to work and back, I get around 30, because I'm eager to get to
work on time, and eager to get home before on time.  In the mornings I have
the whole freeway to myself, so resisting the urge to haul ass is, well, for
me just not going to happen.  In the afternoon the LA freeways turn into
Death Race 2000.

I think the worst I got with the RS was in the mid 20's, during an exciting
yet stupid, never to be repeated ride.

I actually DID buy this to save gas, and parking fees, and gas and time
sitting in traffic uselessly.  My car is a Honda Pilot, which doesn't get
much better than 22 mpg, and doesn't do so well with lane splitting.  If I
can get a reliable 30 to 35 mpg out of it, I'll consider it a success.
Fortunately, I only commute about 25 miles round trip, so it's not going to
affect me much.

I'm sure I can talk my wife into a smaller, less hungry 2nd bike some time
in the future, but not this soon, because I already used that one to get a
bike in the first place.  Maybe in a couple years or so...


Thanks!

CS

 



Good plan, especially if the parts are readily available on Ebay.

That is odd, since we were told not that long ago, the Valk was never
a strong seller.  Are many of the Valkyrie parts common with the same
vintage of Gold Wings? That might explain it.


Considering the difference in our gallons that is pretty much the same
as what I can get with the Venture.

It also has the aerodynamics of a brick. <g>