Cruise Missile
CRUISE MISSILE
CYCLE WORLD TEST
Honda launches the F6 Valkyrie
IS BIGGER BETTER? JUDGING BY THE PROLIFERATION OF MEGA-CRUISERS HITTING the marketplace, one would suspect as much. Time was when a 1000cc liter-bike was considered huge, but these days, all four Japanese manufacturers have followed Harley-Davidson's lead by building boulevard bruisers displacing 1300cc or more.
Unlike in years past, however, they're not all V-Twins: Last fall, Yamaha debuted the Royal Star, whose V-Four motor was plucked from the Venture Royale touring bike. And now, Honda has trod a similar path by stuffing the horizontally opposed six cylinder engine from its GL 1500 Gold Wing into an early-release 1997 model dubbed the Valkyrie. ____
Predictably, the motorcycles themselves have grown to accommodate these larger powerplants. Back in 1985, the Brazilian-built, Volkswagen-powered Amazonas was a veritable laughing stock, its 846-pound dry weight and 68.7-inch wheelbase reckoned to be beyond reason. But while the 704-pound Valkyrie isn’t quite that heavy, it isn’t a whole lot shorter, measuring 66.5 inches between its axles. Any way you look at it, that’s big.
1997 HONDA VALKYRIE
That the Valkyrie is big is no surprise. That it’s fast, is. How fast? Well, our testbike blazed through the quartermile in just 12.03 seconds at 110.58 mph. Compare that to the Royal Star’s 13.92-second pass at 90.28 mph, or to the Kawasaki Vulcan 1500’s 14.60 at 90.09, and it’s plain to see that the new Honda is no slouch, performance-wise.
The results of our top-speed testing were equally impressive: The CW radar gun caught the Valkyrie at 128 mph, 24 mph faster than the Vulcan and 27 mph faster than the Royal Star.
What gives the Valkyrie such a huge performance advantage? Simple: Where Kawasaki and Yamaha (and even Honda itself, with the ACE Shadow) detuned their megacruiser motors to give them a certain sound and feel, Honda went the opposite way, hopping-up the 1.5-liter GL mill. The last Gold Wing we tested made 78.8 horsepower and 87.9 foot-pounds of torque, yet the Valkyrie boasts more than 100 on both counts. That’s impressive.
There’s nothing magical about that power increase, however, as Honda’s engineers employed fairly traditional hot-rodding tactics. They fitted a half-dozen 28mm Keihin carburetors in place of the Wing’s pair of 36mm mixers, swapped the Wing’s hydraulically actuated valves for threaded adjusters, dropped in hotter cams, revised the ignition timing and bolted on a freer-flowing exhaust system. The result is an engine with a higher redline, a broad, virtually seamless powerband and a much throatier exhaust note. The downside is that you now have to adjust the valves every 12,000 miles-call it the price of performance.
Because it was originally intended to be hidden behind a touring bike’s expansive bodywork, the motor was also updated visually for use in the Valkyrie. Many of the external engine parts are chromed, and whatever isn’t chromed is polished. The same holds true for the chassis; everything from the headlight visor to the tombstone-shaped taillight got the gleam treatment. Unattractive parts, such as the alternator, the rear-brake master cylinder and its fluid reservoir, are hidden behind chrome covers. One ugly exception is the black-plated horn, which juts out in the breeze beside the radiator.
Like the Royal Star and Vulcan, the Valkyrie’s model name is spelled out in huge lettering on the side of its fuel tank. Unlike the other two, however, its maker’s name isn’t printed on easily removable stickers or hidden on the underside of the footpegs; the Honda name is right there on the tank badge. Look above that and you’ll see a logo that reads “F6,” an abbreviation for flat-Six, the common term used to describe a horizontally opposed, six-cylinder engine.
As for the name, Valkyrie was one of the maidens of the mythological Norse god Odin who hovered over the field of battle choosing those to be slain and conducting the worthy heroes to Valhalla. Somber stuff, but to be honest, riding our big, purple-and-white testbike made us feel more like cartoon characters than viking warriors-rather like Roger Rabbit cruising Toontown. There’s nothing at all subtle about the bike.
Overall, the Valkyrie possesses an odd blend of styling cues. The nostalgic-looking valanced fenders and chromed headlight nacelle contrast markedly with the futuristic aerostyle mag wheels and inverted fork.
No surprise, then, that opinions varied widely regarding our testbike’s appearance. Unsolicited commentary ranged from “pretty bike” to a disapproving shake of the head. Most staffers had mixed feelings, saying that while the overall styling worked, there is simply no way to make that huge lump of a motor look lovely.
Fortunately, whatever misgivings we had about the Valky’s form were eradicated by its function. This is the first retro-cruiser we’ve ridden that positively gets with the program: It’s more Magna than Shadow; more Eliminator than Vulcan; more V-Max than Royal Star. Yet none of the GL1500 motor’s traditional charms were lost in the hot-rodding process.
Pull on the handlebar-mounted choke lever, thumb the starter button, and the big Six springs to life, quickly settling into a steady purr. Warm-up takes perhaps a minute, after which you can shut off the choke and ride smoothly away. Calling the Valkyrie’s engine “torquey” is like saying that Pamela Anderson Lee is “busty”: a complete understatement. There’s so much low-end power on tap that, with some deft clutch work, you can ride away from a standstill in fourth gear without giving it any throttle at all. Try that on most any other motorcycle and it will stall immediately.
Once in motion, there’s really no need to change gears; you can just click it into fifth and leave it there for any speed higher than 15 mph. Strong power is available from the very bottom of the rev range, with peak torque on tap between 4000-5000 rpm and peak horsepower just shy of 6000. The rev limit comes at 7300 rpm-1000 higher than on a Gold Wing.
Because their opposed pistons counteract one another, flat motors are inherently smooth. Very little vibration seeps through at any rpm, in spite of the fact that where a Gold Wing employs vibration-damping rubber motor mounts, the Valkyrie uses solid mounts. This was done in the interest of increased chassis rigidity, and it works: Coupled with a stout, 45mm Showa inverted fork and massive aluminum triple-clamps, the Valkyrie’s frame displays no flex whatsoever. Steering inputs achieve the desired effect without any chassis winding.
Unlike the majority of cruisers currently on the market, the Valkyrie’s seating position isn’t at all chopper-like. The buckhorn handlebar sweeps back to meet your hands, and your feet fall naturally to the footpegs, which are almost wide enough to be called floorboards. This comfortable riding position is no accident, because the Valkyrie’s seating position duplicates the Gold Wing’s almost exactly. As such, long-range comfort is high.
Like late-model GL 1500s, the Valkyrie is endowed with a very low, 29.5-inch seat height. But while that figure may sound appealing to shorter folks, anyone under about 5-foot8 will be overwhelmed by the Valkyrie’s immense size. As we said at the get-go, this is a big motorcycle that takes a lot of muscle to maneuver at slow speeds, or to manhandle out of a parking space.
Most of that heavy feeling disappears at speed, however, thanks to the bike’s low center of gravity. Steering is surprisingly light, brakes are impressively strong, and cornering clearance is very good by cruiser standards. Stability, as expected, is positively train-like. Our only serious complaint concerns the old-fashioned twin-shock rear suspension, which gives a bone-jarring ride over bumps. Conversely, the modem inverted fork is excellent.
Given its enormity, it’s easy to forget that the Valkyrie is, at its very essence, a “stripper.” Honda has peeled the veneer off the GL1500 to create a different beast altogether. Considering the quality of its execution, there’s little reason to believe the Valkyrie will be anything but a success.
Quite probably a huge one.
EDITORS' NOTES
JUST WHEN I WAS THJNK[[NG THE JAPANESE manufacturers had prudently agreed to curb cruisers' power output to match their handling limitations, Honda dis proves my theory. While the 1294cc Yamaha Royal Star and reworked Kawasaki Vulcan 1500 both lack the stump-pulling torque one expects from motors of such displace ment, I honestly don't feel a need for more speed when riding either of those machines. But the Honda Valkyrie has changed my way of thinking. Not only does the Valkyrie offer more power and accelera tion than I previously believed a cruiser could need, but its solid-handling chassis is well up to the task of putting that power to the pavement. Perhaps the thing I like most is the Valkyrie's active rid ing position. With that much power on tap, I want to feel in total control. The laid-back, feet-up posture of many cruis ers makes me feel like I should have a beer in one hand and the TV remote in the other. I have to say, Honda's Valkyrie is the best heavyweight cruiser I've ridden to date. -Don Canet. Road Test Editor
Do you KNOW WHAT THE SNAIL SAID while riding on the turtle's back? "Wheeee!" This joke came to my mind more than a few times while sitting in the Six's saddle. Because depending on your per spective, the Valkyrie can be two total ly different turtles.. .er, motorcycles. A CBR900RR pilot, on one hand, will wonder how the same company that built his compact crotch rocket could devise something so friggin' big. A Gold Wing owner, on the other, will consider it a stripped-down hot-rod. The truth, of course, lies some where in between. Personally, I'm not a big fan of the cruiser movement. But labels aside, and judged purely on its merit as a motor cycle, the Valkyrie has a lot going for it: a smooth-running engine, seamless powerband and nimble handling, to name just a few. I may not agree with the concept, but I can't fault the execution. Call it a cruiser that moves me. -Brian C'atterson, Executive Editor
HONDA CALLS THE VALKY A "POWER cruiser." Technically, not true. This is a retro-styled cruiser that just happens to make power-lots of it, too. And can I get a hearty Amen! for that? This thing damn near dips into the 11 `s at the dragstrip and churns out an honest 100 foot-pounds of torque at the rear wheel. No other production motor cycle, and very few built-to-the-hilt per formance machines, can make that claim. Sounds great, too, especially near redline, where the exhaust takes on a lovely, mini-Porsche growl. Just wait `til aftermarket pipe-benders get ahold of this baby. Market trends dictated Harley-esque styling cues for the Valkyrie, which is too bad, really. Early design sketches had much more of a stripped-down, hot-rod feel-sort of like a Magna 750 with a car motor crammed into the engine bay. Now, that would have been a true power cruiser. How `bout it, Honda? -David Edwards, Editor-in-Chief
HONDA
VALKYRIE
$12,799
