I’ve wanted a Valkyrie since I first rode one in 1998. It was after an all day ride on a rented Harley Fatboy and my behind was sore. The guy I’d been riding with had his new Honda Valkyrie and was fresh as a daisy at the end of that same day’s ride. We were laughing about that and he offered to let me take his bike for a test ride. I said “YEA”!
So I ride about a half mile around the neighborhood and my butt actually felt better afterwards. This is a comfortable bike! I was wowed, sold, whatever. I wanted one! And it was so beautiful too. The proportions, the quiet, the smooth ride, and the power. This bike had it all as far as I was concerned.
A few years prior I’d sold my Honda V65 Magna, my leathers, everything. I missed that bike - long story, and, why the rented Harley that day.
Years go by. Life keeps happening, and I don’t get serious about another bike till 2008 just before my 57th birthday. I’m searching the Net and there is a Valkyrie that looks & sounds very good. A 1998, clean, low miles, extremely well cared for by a guy who actually had two of them. He thought he had it sold but the buyer bailed & so he & I cut a deal over the phone and email. He’d hold it for a week & I’d fly out to see it, and, if it was as he represented, I’d buy it. I was going to ride or truck it back from Idaho to western Washington. I didn’t have that part figured out yet. I interviewed the Honda tech who’d done all the maintenance and it all sounded good - just like the seller said. So I flew out.
It’s mid October 2008 & its cold. I brought some new leathers & such. I was new to cold weather riding. I’d always lived in warm sub-tropical climates so I just made a best guess as to what little to bring. We go for a test ride for about 30 or 40 miles in about 28 degree weather with a 10 mph wind. It was a mostly sunny day, the bike is great, but my leather motorcycle gloves just aren’t happening. Hands are freezing up bad. So I get some ski gloves back in town & they work great. No leather, no padding, but toasty warm. I say to the seller, “SOLD”! We agree to meet the next morning, do the paperwork, exchange money, keys, etc., and I’m gonna leave by mid morning and take a little road trip back to Washington sticking to secondary highways - the scenic route. Make a little vacation/adventure out of it.
I go back to my hotel and wake up to snow - EVERYWHERE! It wasn’t quite a blizzard but it was coming down and it was COLD! I call up the seller and he says “yea, this is the earliest snow in the history of the valley and there are gusting winds over 40 MPH too on the highway out of the valley. Never happened before” he says. I actually did see my own personal comedy in all this. So much for my sunny leisurely ride back home. A ride now would be survival/ suicide.Sean the seller, was great & a man of his word which is all too rare these days. He even offered to put me up at his place instead of another motel stay. His daughter was grown & gone so he now had a guest room. Totally cool. We talked bikes and even readjusted my new bike for me from the stretched out setup fitting his 6’8” frame to one matching my 6’ frame. He also found some other little things to throw in with the deal like helmet (way too big - so with a beanie too), spare parts, disc lock, bike cover, etc. As it turned out, we had a lot in common and still email each other now and again.
The next morning the sun is intense and the snow is melted on the roadways with gusting winds 10 to 15 MPH. I’m thinking I can handle that with such a heavy stable bike. It’s cold though. Still 28 degrees. The Honda tech had suggested I not ride unless it was low to mid 30’s at least because even if there’s no ice on the road, the cold asphalt & concrete will make for really poor traction. Good advice I thought. I wanted to leave by 10 or 11am but ended up leaving at about 1pm, after it had warmed up to about 35F.
The seller escorted me out of town (so I wouldn’t get lost in all the city streets). Again, a nice guy & loves riding his Valkyrie. I headed out with map in my jacket and a lot of open road ahead of me.
It really is a beautiful day and this is SO COOL. Not very many cars out because of the weird weather and only a very few bikes. I wasn’t the only nutcase out there. I had a down vest under my leather jacket so I was actually very warm & comfortable. With the mileage being what it is on the Valkyrie, I’m stopping for fuel every 140 miles and adding 2 oz. of Marvel Mystery Oil each fill up. I love that stuff and so do all my engines. Years ago a Mercedes mechanic told me about it telling of 500,000 mile plus vehicles with top ends that still operate as new!So it’s getting late in the day. The ride has been extraordinary. The sun is going behind the Cascades & I pull into Yakima for the night. That was the plan. I pull into the gas station and as was usual at every stop, people wanted to see the bike & ask questions. But at this place, at that time, the vibe of the place felt off. I looked around and everyone seemed kind of down and out, just hanging around. They weren’t gassing up. And they seemed sort of pissy too. I thought to myself, “I’m going to be worrying about this new bike all night in this town”. Something just didn’t feel right.
I turn to look over my shoulder as I finish filling up and this absolutely HUGE full moon was rising over the desert. It was breathtaking. So there I was in this town full of motorcycle molesters and thieves (in my mind at least), on the one hand, and, on the other hand, this incredible full moon coming up promising a fantastic night ride through the mountains. What should I do? I wonder? I’m not really tired. I love riding this bike. My wife is at home so I can do whatever I want. I don’t have to consider anyone’s comfort save my own. I can ride all night if I want to. The decision took about 1 or 2 seconds. “I’ll just keep going till I get tired”. And who knows when that will be.
The ride was indeed fantastic. The only drag was that the headlight was adjusted a little too far up so my high beams didn’t really light up the road ahead but just shot off into infinity or lit up the back of the car or truck ahead of me like a Christmas tree! Couldn’t see how to adjust the light (not in the manual) but the low beams were fine. I just rode slower. No problem. One beautiful ride later at about 11PM I end up pretty close to home at a Hampton Inn with no worries about the bike or me or anything else. My wife had phoned ahead and they had a room waiting for me. It all felt great. So did the bath & bed. The next morning was an early ride in very light rain, warm (relatively) weather, and in no time at all, I was home - with this great new bike!
Sean had it pretty much tricked out to my liking, but I’ve since added a few little details like a curved Kuryakyn License plate frame, Oil temp gauge, Kisan headlight modulator & brighter bulb, handlebar clock & thermometer & compass, trunk bag, and a bunch of other little nicknacks like center stand, longer Kuryakyn foot pegs, etc.