I will openly admit that this bike has
slowed me down. Strange, I know, but unlike my old Vulcan it feels stable, tractable and reactive at almost any speed you wish to travel, slow or fast. It's entirely up to the operator to choose how to ride the bike and the bike responds no matter what; with the Vulcan I was always trying to stay on pipe and if it fell out of its zone, going up a hill or wanting to do a quick pass, the engine would leave you feeling like it wasn't there for you. So you were constantly keeping an eye on that tach, constantly shifting and constantly keeping a careful eye on what situation you were putting you and the bike into to make sure you could get out of it if you had to ("aggressively defensive riding" is what I call it).
The Valkyrie's engine just doesn't care. Puttering along one moment but need to pass the next?? Who cares, twist the throttle and it's done!
And that carefree competence has made me mellow out, not worrying about exactitude. Putt-putt-putt-enjoy the scenery-blow away some loser who's tailgating-putt-putt-putt
