Fingers crossed ....All seemed well...Shake down ride

Took off this afternoon to see if I've finally got this bike " fixed " :-\ I put a new rear tire on and did the final drive service last week before we took off for Florida. The morning we was leaving out I pulled it out of the garage and the rear brake was dragging ( not the first time ). Good thing about having another bike is I did'nt have to mess with it and ruin the planned trip so I pulled it back in the garage and rode my Interstate to Florida. Worked on it all day the other day only to find out after putting a new rear brake on that on the test ride my front ( R ) brake was dragging ( not the first time ). I took both fronts apart yesterday and cleaned everything and installed new pads. Seemed to be working great now ... Fingers crossed...Rode about 75 miles today just checking it out .Took a few pictures to share...Norris Dam just up the road from my home.








I've shared this story before but I'll add it again ...My grand-father helped build Norris Dam and hired on during the war and worked here for 44 years. My ridin' bud Gordon ( Lucky 13 ) Grand-father also worked here when they was building this and was killed when he fell into a rock crusher Norris Dam was part of the New Deal and TVA's first project .As stated above my Grand-father had 44 years with them and I'm working on my 25th year with them. TVA is the nations largest power provider serving over 9 million customers in 8 southern states....They told us the other day that all the powerlines we lost in the April and May tornados thisa year cost 38.9 million to get the lines hot again


All the material needed for concrete was took from this wall on site.






I've been here so many times over the years and today was the first time in many years I've looked at this...WOW I sure hope the dam is doing better than this sample






" The Money Shot " taken just below beautiful Norris Lake at the 18th Century Grist Mill .

Good luck with your brakes!

Very nice looking bike and nice pics you posted.

I got in a 152 miles this afternoon, run down 411 and across 360 and back to Ktown. Didn't see but one other bike on the road.

CutterDuck wrote:Good luck with your brakes!

Very nice looking bike and nice pics you posted.

I got in a 152 miles this afternoon, run down 411 and across 360 and back to Ktown. Didn't see but one other bike on the road.

You live in Knoxville ? I'm in Clinton ....We ride year around with several weekend road trips throwed in throughout the year...We are going to Mt. Mitchell , NC ( Highest point east of the Rockies ) on New Years Day ....Bring It...LET'S RIDE

I like the blackout pipes until it gets to the chrome! Nice!

twin1300 wrote:I like the blackout pipes until it gets to the chrome! Nice!

Thanks Bobby those are Cobra 6x6 and single wall pipes they blue up pretty much right out of the box. I have to touch these up from time to time with 1500 degree stove paint. I have this same exhaust on my other two Valkyrie's as well ( nothing sounds better on a Valk IMO ) one of them I have Rivco header covers ( nolonger made and worth their weight in gold ) the other I had Jet-Hot ceramic coated years ago .

1500 degree stove paint



Rivco header covers.






Ceramic coated.

Joe, hope your brakes stay under ya brother ..... man I love seeing your pics and your stories. Can't wait to share the wind with you brother.

And them dragons are some beautiful examples of riding machinery.

See you out there
Smokey

For those that have never heard a shit pot of valks with this exhaust firing up for a ride just don't know what you're missing. One sounds sweet ...a shit pot of them .... well, that's nirvana


See you out there
Smokey

My favorite tune is the drone of a pack of Harleys, but each to their own. Something about the sound that goes where you can FEEL it, not just hear it.

I like the sound of 3 or 4 fully chromed out Goldwings firing up....



all tuned to the same bitchin' radio station!!!

Yeaa like FINK FLOYD and the DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

00 Doc wrote:I like the sound of 3 or 4 fully chromed out Goldwings firing up....



all tuned to the same bitchin' radio station!!!

How could you hear them over a radio? Hey, I see Smokey has discovered the benefits of hand shields. They rock if you don't
have a fairing.

quadancer wrote:My favorite tune is the drone of a pack of Harleys, but each to their own. Something about the sound that goes where you can FEEL it, not just hear it.

Yep nothing like getting stuck behind a bunch of Harley's in the mountains and hearing them all shift gears 3,000 times tryin' to pull the hills going slow enough to be in a parade...I can't help but think throw some candy and get the f*** out of the way.

Smokin'joeVRCCDS#0005 wrote:

quadancer wrote:My favorite tune is the drone of a pack of Harleys, but each to their own. Something about the sound that goes where you can FEEL it, not just hear it.

Yep nothing like getting stuck behind a bunch of Harley's in the mountains and hearing them all shift gears 3,000 tryin' to pull the hills like they are in a parade...I can't help but think throw some candy and the f*** out of the way.

Hell joe, you could stop and pick up seven bags of candy off the roads and still be stuck behind them shortly.

Drone is exactly what it sounds like .... or is it groan that I do getting stuck behind em.

Them valks all sound like pissed off hornets ready to attack ..... thrilling sound.

I would like to find an exhaust that sounds like that for my wing. Love that six into six sound.

See you out there
Smokey

smokey2255 wrote:

Smokin'joeVRCCDS#0005 wrote:

quadancer wrote:My favorite tune is the drone of a pack of Harleys, but each to their own. Something about the sound that goes where you can FEEL it, not just hear it.

Yep nothing like getting stuck behind a bunch of Harley's in the mountains and hearing them all shift gears 3,000 tryin' to pull the hills like they are in a parade...I can't help but think throw some candy and the f*** out of the way.

Hell joe, you could stop and pick up seven bags of candy off the roads and still be stuck behind them shortly.

Drone is exactly what it sounds like .... or is it groan that I do getting stuck behind em.

Them valks all sound like pissed off hornets ready to attack ..... thrilling sound.

I would like to find an exhaust that sounds like that for my wing. Love that six into six sound.

See you out there
Smokey

TJ had a set of Cobra's on his 1800 Wing that sounded bad=ass not sure about anything as far as what he did to them...I'm sure you go to LaMonsters 1800 site ? You should see TJ on there....He crashed again on his Valkyrie not long ago and damn near killed his-self this time...He's also is the one who has the Dark Side stickers for sale....Do you know who I'm talking about ?

I do indeed know who you are talking about. I will PM him there about his pipes.
Thanks Joe

See you out there
Smokey

Smokin'joeVRCCDS#0005 wrote:

quadancer wrote:My favorite tune is the drone of a pack of Harleys, but each to their own. Something about the sound that goes where you can FEEL it, not just hear it.

Yep nothing like getting stuck behind a bunch of Harley's in the mountains and hearing them all shift gears 3,000 times tryin' to pull the hills going slow enough to be in a parade...I can't help but think throw some candy and get the f*** out of the way.

That would be the Harleys we passed...waaaaaaay back there...I'm with you guys; move over or stay home. Not ALL hog riders are pokers, and you know it.

quadancer wrote:

Smokin'joeVRCCDS#0005 wrote:

quadancer wrote:My favorite tune is the drone of a pack of Harleys, but each to their own. Something about the sound that goes where you can FEEL it, not just hear it.

Yep nothing like getting stuck behind a bunch of Harley's in the mountains and hearing them all shift gears 3,000 times tryin' to pull the hills going slow enough to be in a parade...I can't help but think throw some candy and get the f*** out of the way.

That would be the Harleys we passed...waaaaaaay back there...I'm with you guys; move over or stay home. Not ALL hog riders are pokers, and you know it.

Maybe not all are pokers, but there are enough of them to safely make the stereotype legit. Generally all serious hard riders have moved to bikes built more suited to riding like that.

smokey2255 wrote:

quadancer wrote:

Smokin'joeVRCCDS#0005 wrote:

quadancer wrote:My favorite tune is the drone of a pack of Harleys, but each to their own. Something about the sound that goes where you can FEEL it, not just hear it.

Yep nothing like getting stuck behind a bunch of Harley's in the mountains and hearing them all shift gears 3,000 times tryin' to pull the hills going slow enough to be in a parade...I can't help but think throw some candy and get the f*** out of the way.

That would be the Harleys we passed...waaaaaaay back there...I'm with you guys; move over or stay home. Not ALL hog riders are pokers, and you know it.

Maybe not all are pokers, but there are enough of them to safely make the stereotype legit. Generally all serious hard riders have moved to bikes built more suited to riding like that.

Where's the little guy eating popcorn icon?????

Thx. for the write-up and the nice pictures as always.
Can never see enough pic's of a dressed up Valk. Great bike, really hope to own
one in the near future.
Nice post untill Quad dropped in.
Have a good one you all, be safe.

Awww, now you done went an' got all nasty on me....! I expect to put on some 2" over tubes next summer when business picks up - so them dang wingers will quit outcornering me. No hopes to match power tho - yeah, 6 beats 2...'cept in class...

quadancer wrote:Awww, now you done went an' got all nasty on me....! I expect to put on some 2" over tubes next summer when business picks up - so them dang wingers will quit outcornering me. No hopes to match power tho - yeah, 6 beats 2...'cept in class...

Style, power, comfort, cornering, and class ...... I will keep the wing thanks. If I wanted a vibrator I would dig around in the wifes panty drawer.

See you out there
Smokey

Style? To each his own.
Comfort? I fixed what needed it (seat),
Vibrator??? Have you RIDDEN a Twincam? It's like being on a metric, only sounds better. I had to put hard grips on to
get more road feel to the hands. (coming from foam and leather) I almost wish it WOULD vibrate.

edit: https://www.youtube.com/v/nUY-H3vWhzY&hl heheheeeeh!