Looks like the garage still has space...
I've modified my fleet
many times over the past couple of decades, and I'm finally very content with it (for now
).
I've ridden sportbikes, standard bikes, cruisers, touring bikes, adventure bikes, dirt bikes, and have had a blast on all of them. I honestly cannot recall a single motorcycle that I hated: some were certainly more fun than others, but even the less appealing ones were still fun.
We have a tendency to get so hung up on small details that we forget that we're living in a period of time that has an incredible selection of motorcycle available for us to pick from, and many can be bought (used) for a very reasonable price.
Here is a quick overview of the current fleet, along with my comments on each bike:
2001 Honda Valkyrie StdThis is the bike that I ride the most. It has custom-sprung Shock Factory shocks, RaceTech fork springs, 14" XFMT apes, Barnett Custom stainless steel lines, Cobra exhaust, Mustang seats, Stebel Nautilus air horn, Cobra floor boards, saddlebags (brand unknown), EBC (rear) and Vesrah (front) brake pads, Shifter buddy, Blackbird shift lever, has been desmogged and had its carburetors fully serviced & rejetted in 2023.
It rides like a dream and may be the best-handling cruiser I've ever ridden (including other Valkyries). People in the Valkyrie community have strong opinions about the loud Cobra pipes, but to me it is one of the best exhaust notes in the motorcycle world.
The only missing piece is an Interstate tank, which I have sitting in my garage. It just needs to be cleaned and painted, which I will do...one of these days (don't rush me
).
2000 Honda Valkyrie InterstateWhen I sold my Harley Electra Glide, the bagger slot became open. What better way to fill it than with the dresser-version of the bike that I ride the most? I picked up this 2000 Interstate from a local Valkyrie rider, then slowly customized her and made her mine.
OEM suspensions on most motorcycles are garbage even when new, so it is usually one of the first aspects that I like to address. Since the suspension setup of my '01 standard is amazing, I opted for a similar setup on the big girl. She received custom-sprung Shock Factory rear shocks and RaceTech front springs, this time sprung slightly stiffer to compensate for the extra weight of the Interstate. She also received the same XFMT 14" apes that the standard has. Due to the fairing, this required aftermarket risers, which in turn required boring the mounting holes in the upper triple tree. All control cables were replaced by stainless steel Barnett Custom cables.
I replaced the head bearings and wheel bearings (front & rear) with OEM bearings for a ride that is smooth as silk, and rebuilt the rear brake caliper and threw EBC brake pads at it. The previous owner was nice enough to farkle her out a fair amount, with various chrome covers, Kuryakyn highway pegs & mini floorboards, heel-toe shifter, a short black windshield. I opted to stick with the (tipped) OEM pipes for this girl to avoid rejetting. She has been desmogged and the carburetors were serviced in 2023.
The fuel gauge does not currently work, but I was able to source OEM replacement parts in Germany, which are now ready to be installed. The only thing left to do is the seat, and I'll probably go with either a Mustang or Ultimate seat. The OEM seat is not terrible, but Mustang seats in particular are just tits.
Its interesting to me that the additional weight & bulk of the Interstate makes a significant difference in the ride of the Interstate. She is smooth as glass, quick (my butt dyno says she's a hair quicker than the standard, probably due to having retained the OEM pipes), but you can feel the extra weight and bulk in the twisties. She still handles better than most comparable dressers, but I do prefer the standard Valkyrie if I'm just tooling about. For touring and bad weather, the Interstate has no competition in my fleet.
I do confess to having a love-hate relationship with the pods of the Interstate. They make a perceivable difference in the aerodynamics of the bike, but the 25-year old plastic has become rather brittle, and has tendency to crack if you frown at it. Given the lack of available replacements, I wonder how many Interstates will still be rocking their pods in 15-20 years.
2017 Triumph Rocket III RoadsterShe's powerful, British, and has a big rear end. Also, there is this cool motorcycle...
I first test rode a Rocket III around 2010, and thought it was the craziest bike I had ever experienced. This 146 hp monster produces 163 lb⋅ft of torque at 2,750 rpm! You basically hit the powerband as you pull out of your parking spot. If you rev the engine while sitting at a light in neutral, the bike will yank to the side due to torque steer. At the time, the Rocket was well out of my price range, but I never forgot how illogical and ridiculously fun the bike was. A few years back, I finally decided that life was too short to continue to living without a Rocket, and picked up this 2017 Roadster.
The previous owner had put one of those tiny, short exhausts on the bike, which I thought was absolutely hideous. I replaced it with a David Platt exhaust from the UK, which still to this day remains the most expensive exhaust I've ever purchased for any vehicle. I also replaced the heat shields, got the new ones ceramic coated, and replaced the stock handlebars with a custom-built T-bar from the UK. The rear fender and light assembly were removed and replaced by a custom fiberglass fender that is much shorter, which shows off the 240-tire rather nicely. This meant I had to redo the lighting and associated wiring (front & rear), but it ultimately turned out nicely.
Finally, I removed the OEM air box and replaced it with a Ramair air filter kit. The bike was flashed with a BT Moto tune, and now produces an estimated 170 hp. The 1st-gen Rocket III (2004-2017) has a special place in my heart, because it still retains a classic, old-school flair: minimal electronics and zero rider aids. This also makes it gnarly as hell, and it'll spin the rear tire in third gear if you do dumb sh!t. The only thing keeping you alive is the nut between the handlebars, which is ironically refreshing and endearing.
Compared to the Valkyrie, the Rocket III is a completely different animal. It is a powerful muscle cruiser that loves the straight line. It handles ok in the twisties, but cannot compete with the handling of a Valkyrie. On the other hand, the Rocket will beat up on the Valkyrie (and most other bikes) in any gear with brute force to the point where its not even close. If you come off a Valkyrie and then jump on a Rocket, your eyes will be as wide as dinner plates, and you will be both excited and terrified.
Its not for everybody, but everybody should ride a Rocket at least once in their life.
2021 Triumph Rocket 3 GTIn 2019, Triumph released the 2nd generation of the Rocket, and designated it as the Rocket 3 (Arabic, rather than Roman numerals). Since the 1st gen had 2,300 cc's, it only made sense to up the ante to 2,500 cc's in the new generation. Its still an inline-triple engine configuration, but the whole bike has been redesigned in a futuristic Mad-Max sort of way.
The bike comes with a full array of modern electronics, including a full color TFT display, traction control, cornering ABS, heated grips, hill assist, and quick shifter. It also lets you choose between multiple fuel maps (road, race, rain, etc.) to tailor the power & traction control to your riding style. For a while, I was stuck trying to decide between this and the 2nd gen VMax, but ultimately decided that the 2nd gen Rocket gives you a lot more bike for the money.
This is the first bike that I've decided to largely keep stock. I replaced the stock exhaust with a Competition Werkes exhaust, but otherwise kept it as is. I'm still torn about that rear fender, and may end up eliminating it at some point. The bike received a BT Moto tune, which puts it at around 195 hp with North of 163 lb⋅ft of torque.
This bike is sheer insanity, and will catapult you into the triple digits with an obscene amount of torque. It handles better than the 1st gen, and can be a real force even in the twisties. If you're old school like me, then the electronics can be a bit overwhelming ("I just wanna ride"), but once you have set it up to your liking, you can pretty much ignore most of them.
The one piece of electronics that deserves a real kudos is the quickshifter. I used to run quickshifters back when I used to race, but that was on sportbikes in officially scantioned races, so I was pretty skeptical about having a quickshifter on a muscle cruiser. Turns out, the quickshifter is butter smooth and does a phenomenal job shifting up or down. No need to pull the clutch, just shift. At full throttle, it makes you sound like a pro rider, as the bike is seamless shifting through the gears. Its so easy to get used to it that I have subsequently engaged the non-existent quickshifter on one of the Valkyries after riding the Rocket 3 (
). Of course, you do have the option to simply shift in the traditional way, so there is nothing lost.
Even with all of that power and modern electronics, I still prefer the 1st gen Rocket III over the 2nd gen. There is something about the style and old school feel of the 1st gen that is pretty damn alluring. Both bikes make people stare at you like you're an alien, and both will easily destroy most other bikes in a straight line battle. The 2nd gen handles better and is faster than the 1st gen, but the 1st gen is just a sexy beast.
2016 KTM 690 Enduro RWhat. The. Heck.
If you've read this post this far, then you're probably utterly confused about what this dirt bike-looking thing is doing in my lineup. Well, I've got layers
. In 2007, I worked on a research project that involved a lot of road travel in Mexico, and I quickly fell in love with it. Politics will cause a lot of folks to retreat to their personal bias anytime Mexico is mentioned, but if you can get past that, then it is an incredibly beautiful country that has motorcycle rides that would make most other places envious. The sheer amount of twisty roads that are carving their way through the mountains and valleys is impressive, a number of which make the Tail of the Dragon look like child's play. Guatemala is like a more extreme version of Mexico -- the people are even friendlier, the roads are far worse, and the drivers are pretty much insane. Belize is pretty tame, but largely has immaculate, straight roads (due to its geography).
Since then, I have logged well over 70k motorcycle miles in Mexico alone, plus a significant number in Guatemala and Belize. Of course, road quality in Mexico is notoriously inconsistent, so the best type of motorcycle is one that can handle everything. I did a ton of those trips on a Suzuki DR650, which may be the single most reliable platform for that riding style. At one point, I got tired of messing with the carbs and switched to a KTM 690 Enduro R. It may look like a dirt bike to some, but it is actually a high-performance off-road capable rocket ship. At 335 lbs (wet) and 70 hp, there usually isn't a faster vehicle in town, especially since speed bumps are absolutely everywhere. Cars, trucks, and most motorcycles have to slow to a crawl to take these speed bumps, whereas the KTM can take them at 40 mph. Since it is legal (and expected!) for motorcycles to split lanes, you will literally leave everybody behind, making this the quickest way through much of the country.
On the highways, the 690-cc single cylinder engine can cruise at 80 mph, which is plenty for all but the most wide-open desert highways. The downside to a light motorcycle is that comfort is a bit limited. I had to get a custom-made seat, so that my behind wasn't feeling like I was sitting on a can of soup. The whole bike has been set up specifically for adventure riding, and I can easily travel from Texas to Guatemala and spend two months on the road. KTM has established a name for performance all over the world, and so the bike ("Agent Orange") receives a lot of attention in Latin America.
The downside to a KTM is that the high performance comes at the cost of shorter maintenance intervals. For example, for some bizarre reason, KTM decided that an oil capacity of 1.8 qts would be perfect for this bike (probably because it is marketed for aggressive off-road riding, where most riders implement short oil change intervals). After extensive oil analyses, its became obvious that the single-cylinder engine does what most thumpers do -- shear oil. The specs call for 10W-60 oil, which relatively quickly shears down. Based on the oil analyses, I've resorted to doing oil changes every 3-5k miles, but the 10W-60 oil is not easy to find in Latin America. It also contains two oil filters and two oil screens, so an oil change takes a bit longer than it would on most other platforms.
Nonetheless, the KTM 690 Enduro R is an amazing bike and will handle just about anything you throw at it. I've climbed up steep loose-rock switchbacks on the bike, where it definitely performed better than the rider. There is something endearing about riding a thumper, even though single-cylinder engines always tend to sound like any other engine configuration when its broken ("Did somebody dump a handful of
bolts into this engine?").
Thank you for reading this, I hope you enjoyed the little tour through my garage. I certainly enjoyed writing it.
Feel free to post comments & questions.
