Since I’ve told this story.
I was active duty AirForce in 1997 when the Valkyrie made its debut. Me and a Chief (friend of mine) fell in love at first sight with this new bike. We both knew we had to have a Valkyrie. I wanted a bee, he wanted a red and white.
We spent our breaks in the Chief’s office looking at his Valkyrie brochures. Lol. Well in 1997 I had two kids, one in high school and one going into high school. My wife at the time was not going for it.
Fast forward to 2002, one kid out of HS and the other a senior. Wife says ok, you can start looking for a Valkyrie.
Ok, so I settled down, ready for an extended internet search. I figured a couple of weeks at least. I mean I wanted to find the right bike the first time.
So the kids are in bed, I go out to the computer and type in “used Valkyrie Florida”
BOOM! Up pops Pompano Pats in South Fl somewhere. I think Ft Lauderdale. They had two Valkyrie’s. One was a black ‘99 with like 10K and a red and white with 5K on the clock. I immediately knew I wanted the red and white. But, hold on, I’m 5 minutes into my search for my dream bike. Could this be it, really!
So I show my wife this picture and she loved it
So, with sweaty palms I call the shop. The lady was really nice. I wanted more pictures, she emailed them immediately. I wanted to hear it run. They started it and held the phone.
To make a long story short she said “If you want it you have 5 minutes. My driver is leaving and we can put it on the trailer and you’ll have it tomorrow.
Holy crap!! I wasn’t ready for this. After shipping, a Hondaline windshield and the usual tax and license the cost was $ 9,990
So, having somewhat of an out of body experience I hear myself say yes, I’ll take it. I’ll overnight the paperwork.
After a sweaty sleepless night I had to wait until 1000 to call to see if my paperwork got there. No not yet. “Wait I hear a truck”. She says has my driver got there. No. “ wait I hear a truck” both trucks show up at the same time.
Now it is Valentine’s Day. As the truck approaches I see a sea of trashed bikes. Looks like they are on the way to a junkyard. My heart sank!
It was a long trailer. At the very end was a bright shiny red and white beauty. The truck stops and this huge biker dude covered in tattoos and piercings jumps out and rolls the valkyrie off the trailer like it was a kids toy.
I’ll never forget his raspy voice as he said ”happy Valentine’s Day”. Lol
This is me that day. First day of owning a Valkyrie
And that is the story of how I got my first Valkyrie.
Almost 20 years and 175K later this is the same bike
