I have had many people contact me with questions about how I lowered my Valkyrie and questions concerning the Corbin Beetle Bags. A fellow VRCC member suggested I write an article for all to read, so here it is!
While attending a rally in KY I saw a Valkyrie that had been lowered. At the time I was riding a Gold Wing trike. The Valkyrie belonged to FDR Honda or one of their employees. I fell in love with the bike the minute I sat down on it, but the $19,000 price tag was more than I could spend. I questioned the salesman then, and made another trip to FDR to ask some more questions & take notes. The gentleman that customized the bike was very nice and didn’t mind sharing what he had done, and I now share it with you.
The first thing I did before even riding my bike was to replace the stock tires with Avon low profile sport bike tires. I used a 120/70/17 on the front and a 180/60/16 (Fat Freddie’s bro) on the rear. This was an improvement, I could stand the bike up no problem, but was not flat-footed on it. My husband had ridden the bike with the stock tires and he said the low profile tires made the bike handle quicker in the turns. I installed a Sigma Sport BC 800 trip computer to keep track of my mileage & speed since the smaller tires caused the stock speedo to be off.
I had seen the Rood Saddle Modification article on the VRCC website and proceeded to do my own version of it by cutting out lots of foam & inserting a gel pad. This made a bigger difference in the height than changing the tires. I have since purchased a Corbin Gunfighter seat. I had it custom made with what they call a “nose job” (narrows the front of the seat) and extra foam in the seat & backrest to move me forward. I also installed Chrome Specialties (#CS110182) 6” pullback risers. I did have to re-route my brake & throttle cables to use these risers.
I still have the stock shocks on my bike. Both Progressive & Works told me I should do everything else I could, to lower the bike before getting shorter shocks.
I purchased Corbin side covers & Beetle bags from Targa. They were able to pre-paint them to match the stock purple/pearl white color of my bike. The lights that come in the Corbin bags leave something to be desired, so I purchased 2” bullet lights (purple of course) from a truck stop. These lights also had a small bulb. I drilled the back of the light out to 1 1/8” so it would work with an 1157 bulb. I then purchased the sockets (GM vehicles 1994-82) at Auto Zone. They fit snugly into the existing holes in the bag & I mounted the bullet lens with the screws that Corbin had used. I now have purple running lights and turn signals. I keep a spare set of red lens in my bag just in case a law enforcement official would decide he didn’t like my illegal purple lights. I have not yet been stopped for that reason.
To clean up the look of my back fender, I removed the stock turn signals & license plate bracket. I cut the reflectors off the bracket, turned it upside down and mounted an Arlen Ness turn signal license plate frame to it. I found a license plate light at Auto Zone that fit perfectly over the hole in the lower part of the fender and it also illuminated my plate fairly well.
Other items I have added are:
Cycle Comm CB & Stereo Chrome 12V socket from JCW J&M Handlebar speakers Highway Hawk Tail Light Chrome
Aeromach V Stacks KuryAkyn Spark Plug Valance
Rattlebars Tube Toppers KuryAkyn ISO Grips & throttle boss Rattlebars Water Pump Cover KuryAkyn 7976 Offset Dually Pegs Kisan Pathblazer & Tailblazer Rattlebars Chrome Engine Hanger
Wayne’s World Lady Grille Purple Mini strobes on side & rear
