1997 Valkyrie 1500
1997 Valkyrie 1500
CW PREVIEW
HONDA UNVEILS THE WIDE WING
HONDA AND YAMAHA ARE AT war. At stake is leadership in motorcycling’s newest prestige class: mega-cruisers. Late last year, Yamaha led the charge with the new-for-'96 Royal Star, a nostalgically styled cruiser fueled by a raucous-sounding 1294cc VFour. Not to be outgunned, Honda has just fired a blazing strike in the form of a 1520cc six-cylinder custom dubbed the F6 Valkyrie.
Possibly the most imposing production motorcycle since the Volkswagen-powered Amazonas, the Valkyrie is the continuing work of “Project Phoenix,” an in-house think tank organized in 1991-92 to re-establish Honda’s presence in the custom-bike market. This group is directly responsible for the company’s cruiser contingent, from the successful Shadow American Classic Edition to the VFour Magna 750 and the recently re-issued Rebel 250.
But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let’s step back a few years, to 1991. That’s when Honda R&D Chief Designer Makoto Kitagawa penned the first sketch of a six-cylinder power cruiser. Even then, emphasis was on the engine, sourced from the fouryear-old GL1500 Gold Wing.
“Harley-Davidson and Indian were very popular for a long time,” says Kitagawa. “Honda came later to the U.S. market. Weq didn’t start making V-Twins until 1983, so it’s hard for us to have a very original position-an exclusive image-in the market. I wanted to design an original custom using Honda identity. The flat-Six engine is identified with Honda.”
MATTHEW MILES
More sketches were commissioned, all using the Gold Wing powerplant. “The ones that got the most votes were the ones that had the most retro styling,” says Martin Manchester, division director, Honda R&D North America. “A real hotrod in America is a very traditional body with an upgraded powertrain. The more we looked at it, the more the real retro tradition and shapes became appropriate.”
From the beginning, the bike was considered a “bottom-up” project, Honda-speak for an idea that comes from blue-sky brainstorming, not directives from on high. Kitagawa’s concept then caught the attention of the appropriate product managers and work began with engineers dressing the engine, giving it a more custom look.
The greatest concern, however, was endowing the velvety smooth Gold Wing motor with a more powerful, ear-pleasing growl. “Our first ride on the prototype was underwhelming,” admits Dirk Vandenberg, American Honda’s chief product evaluator. “Character, sound and feel were typical Gold Wing-flat as a tabletop. We needed to give it some jazz, some horsepower and sound, liven it up, make it a hot-rod.”
So, unlike the similarly styled Shadow American Classic Edition, which was retuned for sound and feel at the expense of horsepower, the flat-Six received a performance injection to the tune of nearly 10 more horsepower via six 28mm carburetors, hotter camshafts, revised ignition timing and a freer-flowing exhaust system. Honda says the engine produces a maximum of 104 horsepower at the output shaft, which should translate to 90 or more at the rear wheel. “The bike has more G-force acceleration than a CBR900RR,” claims Vandenberg. “Everything is rated 1000 rpm higher (than the Gold Wing). Ignition cut-out went from 6300 rpm to 7300 rpm. Torque is down a bit and peaks at a higher rpm.”
This, in a package that is claimed to weigh 682 pounds dry, 134 less than a Gold Wing SE.
Honda is equally proud of the Valkyrie’s twin-shock chassis. The heavy-gauge steel frame to which the engine is solidly mounted isq carefully hidden behind a 5-gallon gas tank, a plush-looking seat and plastic sidecovers. Only the beefy steering head is readily apparent. Up front, a massive inverted Showa fork with 45mm sliders offers 5.1 inches of travel.
Preload-adjustable shocks supply 4.7 inches of travel. Seat height is 29.1 inches, exactly the same as a Gold Wing’s. “The seat height could be lower,” says Vandenberg, “but to broaden market appeal, and to make (the bike) work better for sportier riding and when you hang a bunch of stuff off the back-saddlebags or whatever-we bumped up the rear suspension stroke 10mm (.4 inch) to give the bike better balance. Because of that, it works better around corners. There’s no hinge in this bike; it’s as stable as a rock.”
Senior Manager Gary Christopher seconds the motion: “The thing that really strikes you, other than the engine, is the chassis and how rigid it is. You can fling (the bike) around comers like you wouldn’t believe. It has real decent bank angle, so you can really fly. Conversely, it has so much torque that you can leave it in fifth gear and drop down to very low speeds and just cmise along.”
Keeping with the performance theme are triple-disc brakes for brick-wall stopping power. Up front, floating rotors are squeezed by twin-piston Nissin calipers actuated by a non-adjustable lever. Anti-lock or linked braking systems, as fitted to the CBR1000F, the Gold Wing and the ST 1100 sport-tourer, won’t be offered on the Valkyrie, at least not at first. Bolt-on parts, however, will likely number 50 or more. “We have cosmetic and functional accessories,” says Christopher.
Set to follow the Valkyrie’s spring ’96 debut is a retrostyle tourer with windshield and saddlebags. “What we’re shooting for is a very functional touring bike, but still not going into that luxury touring area where you’ve got lots
and lots of amenities,” says Christopher. “It’ll be relatively basic and straightforward, but we think it’s going to be extremely capable as a long-distance touring bike.”
When it hits showrooms later this year, priced around $13,000, the standard-issue Valkyrie will mark something of a departure for the cruiser class. For starters, there’s the allure of six cylinders. Just as important, the Valkyrie makes more horsepower, has better cornering clearance and weighs less than the bike it’s based on. The same can’t be said of the Yamaha Royal Star, or Honda’s ACE, or the Magna 750, for that matter.
In the game of mega-cruiser oneupmanship, Honda just played a very big hand. □q
