This bike started out as a brand new Honda Valkyrie. I brought her new from Carnell`s Honda dealership in Birmingham. I picked her out the crate myself. These bikes use the ultra reliable goldwing engine with slightly hotter cams and six carbs as standard, and this one certainly came to me at a good price. I rode it as standard for several years. Unfortunatley the British winter was taking its toll and I decided it was time for a change. Having been a student of the rat for several years I took the plunge, and ratted my bike. I started by stripping her down and discarding all the chromed plastic, (which I was never really fond of). As I broke her down to the bare frame I found extensive corrosion on the swinging arm which couldn't be easily repaired. Drastic measures were called for, and I reached for my 4" grinder which is reserved for emergency measures to sort things out. While the rear wheel was off I fitted a new bridgestone tire as the one fitted had squared off quite badly. I was also having trouble with the main starting relay that switched the starter motor. The design of the side panels meant that when it was parked, rain water was channeled onto the electrics. The designers never thought it would be ridden in the rain I think. I decided to hardtail the frame myself and junked most of the original swinging arm, keeping only a few pieces for the shaft drive and rear brake mounting points that I would use again. I fabricated the new rear frame while working weekends using cold drawn steel swiped from work. I paid special attention to the joints I made on the bike to make sure they were strong and safe. I fabricated a new battery box from stainless steel and welded mounting points inside to hold all the electric's together in one place. Previously they were scattered all around the underneath of the riders seat with little thought of protection. The seat itself I had to cut in half and reshape it to suit the new frame. I recovered it using the old material as much as possible.
I tested the electric's out before welding everything in place for permanent. I had to do plenty of juggling to fit it all in and leave me enough clearance for the rear wheel and mudguard. I also had to reposition the expansion chamber for the radiator to a more secure position. I made covers from stainless sheet for the side panels which fit to the frame with clinch nuts. When I was happy with everything I welded a stainless skin 2mm thick on the battery box and fabricated a waterproof lid with a rubber seal. Now everything is tidy and in one safe place and the starting problem has disappeared altogether. I was really pleased with this and think of it as the best work I did on the bike. I brought myself a length of stainless steel to make some new footpegs. You can see the original aluminum ones which I used as a template. I made a set for the rider and an extra set to fit on the front of the bike on the crashbars. The crashbars I made from thick walled steel pipe and they are much stronger than the cheap originals. I replaced the seals in the front and rear calipers and coated the calipers with copa-slip. All the fasteners I used were stainless steel. I also had to machine a whole host of other brackets from stainless to hold the ignition coils and rear mudguard in place securely.
As you can see everything was painted or sprayed matt black and the underside of the mudguards was painted with a wax paint to stop water from rotting it. I tidied up all the wiring on the handlebars and cleaned the switch mechanisms out. I got my sicky paws on a new stainless exhaust for an ordinary Goldwing and adapted the pipework to suit me. I had to buy a few lengths of stainless pipe and shape it to fit which was time consuming. I also had to adjust the fueling after because the original exhaust was a 6 into 6 and the new system was a 6 into 2. The bike sounds much better and pulls good now. I made brackets from stainless to mount the exhaust high up because I wanted some ammo boxes on this bike. I originally mounted the rear indicators as shown but I had to move them as they were too close to the exhausts. I reused a key switch on the right side panel to allow the seat to be removed using the ignition key rather than fixing the seat in place with bolts. I ended up mounting the indicators in the original position and fitting two new rear brake lights to the back cluster. I tidied all the wiring up and waterproofed the instrument cluster with silicone sealant. The back now looks much tidier I think. I fitted a small fly screen originally designed for a Honda Hornet to finish off the front of the bike.
I brought a new top box (yes I know very uncool) with a good lock and a high level brake light in, and mounted it on a stainless frame. I fabricated an extra fuel tank again from stainless steel and coupled it into the bikes fuel system. I used a filler cap from a Jerry can to allow filling of the tank and put 2 small 1/16 holes in the very near top to act as a breather. Finally everything was sprayed matt black to finish it off :) The extra fuel tank has given me a range of about 210 miles on one filling with the reserve tank untouched. I placed a filter inline from the fuel tank to catch any debris which might get into the carburetors. I made 2 frames and attached them to the rear hardtail to accept 2 ammo boxes with locks for storage. I also fabricated and fitted some hand guards to go with some heated grips. I fitted a nitrous oxide kit for extended high speed pursuits :) The last 3 photos above show the bike with a Watsonian Squire chair fitted for winter use. The side car can be removed and refitted in about 40 minuites with someones help. This is now an awesome winter tool.
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