What Happened?

[philo111]

Newbie here.
I have just discovered this bike.
Wht the heck did Honda stop production?

[Slammer]

V-Twin mania and possible reduction in Goldwing sales.

[shank]

well they stopped making the vtx 1800 too. so wtf are they thinking?  and the rune that was a let down

[us385south]

Newbie here.
I have just discovered this bike.
Wht the heck did Honda stop production?

Meth!

[Willow]

Wht the heck did Honda stop  production?

You'll get as many different opinions as you have people to answer.  Maybe we could really find out if we asked the right person at Honda, but even then I suspect we'd hear many different answers.

One reason may be that it's a great bike for us, but maybe not the best money maker for the manufacturer.  We've a handful of Valkyries around here over 200,000 miles and most of our people are doing their own maintenance.

I'd buy a new one if it were available.

[Spirited-6]

Bottom line; Honda is more into four wheels than two !!!!! They have more on thier plate than most. 

[Fla. Jim]

Simple...They were not selling...Why?...Too big,scary looking,too much bike for the cruiser crowd,not a V-twinkey, poor advertisement, they were not selling. Many bought 98 models in the crate in 2000 and later. Just glad I got mine when I did.  As it's going to be my last, and best! Don't Ya Know!!

[czuch]

Design was too good to support the post sale dealer maintenance program.
They just dont break. I live on a dirt road. Outta 67k miles I believe I've put 10k on dirt.
Dont need another bike. The Valk fills all the needs.

[Serk]

IMHO, there was a lot of this involved:



As to who specifically can be argued all day long. Honda management? Honda marketing? The buying public who want V-Twinkies? Who knows...

[larryd]

I agree with czuch. If it does not break, you cant sell parts. If you can fix it yourself, you do not need the steeler. Thus no money in it after the inital sale. Well we can't have that now can we. Also owners liked them and usually did not see the need to trade up. They fill most riders needs. Big companys look to the bottom line..Profits.  We are just not profitable to them. That is my take on this. That being said it is not all bad. If you want a Valk you can't go down and buy a new one. I don't need to tell you what that does for the value. Supply and demand. Too many bikes a few years old are worth less than the crate they came in. Not so with the Valk. I got mine and I am keeping it. If I could fit it into my casket, it would go with me...lol. End of my soap box. I will let someone else pick it up. Ride safe. Ride often.

[Highbinder]

Simple...They were not selling...Why?...Too big,scary looking,too much bike for the cruiser crowd,not a V-twinkey, poor advertisement, they were not selling. Many bought 98 models in the crate in 2000 and later. Just glad I got mine when I did.  As it's going to be my last, and best! Don't Ya Know!!

You hit the nail on the head.....I spoke with one of the biggest dealers here in the U.S. who had made many trips to Japan to talk about production and advertising and he said the bike simiply did not sell well...they had warehouses full of them when they stopped production...the bike was orginally designed to be a sport cruiser, a replacement for the aging sportbike rider...it didn't happen.  Also the biggest promoter Joe Boyd passed away and that didn't help either..

[Valker]

Yeppers, it was Joe Boyd's baby. When he died, there was no project leader at Honda for the Valkyrie. They don't do ANYthing without a project leader.

[BigAl]

Between 1997 and 2003 Honda had what was declared the "Cruiser of the Decade" in a Flat 6 Valkyrie. The problem that I believe that it is no longer in production is that the man responsible for it was killed in a motorcycle accident and no one at Honda wanted to take the ball. The following is a letter that was printed in another magazine that will explain: A letter posted at motorcycle consumer news on line.

"Interesting that maddjack would note that "Honda never really marketed the Valk." I'll tell you a story, strictly from my own perspective as a "kind-of" insider:

Of course, Honda did market the Valkyrie, but I agree, never with the kind of enthusiasm they often show for other bikes in their lineup. The Valk was pretty much the brainchild and "baby" of one guy at Honda who really believed in it. His name was Joe Boyd, but around Honda they called him "GL Joe," because of his love of Gold Wings.

The majority of the marketing experts at Honda never believed the Valkyrie concept would work, but Joe used his considerable influence and personal charisma to push the project through. Of course, the Valk became a success. Never a huge one, but a success nevertheless. And I personally believed that since Joe had proved so many people wrong, that those same people were reluctant to aid in the Valkyrie's rise. Not that they intentionally stymied it, but I just don't believe the project ever got the kind of all-out support it deserved, just because Joe had stepped on so many toes in his headlong push to make it a reality.

Around the time the new 1800 GL was becoming a reality, Joe was killed in a tragic accident at the Honda test track. With his death, the prime motivating force behind the Valkyrie project died, also. I personally believe we'd have an all-new, radical, Valkyrie 1800 today, if Joe had lived. Not the Rune, as amazing as it is, but something much more practical and affordable.

AS a side note,I would like to add that Honda paid a quiet, yet memorable tribute to Joe, for several months after his death. I rode with Joe a number of times. We were casual friends, and used to ride across the Mojave Desert together, as we both loved the old backroads out there. Along the way, one of Joe's favorite things was to stop in at the tiny town of Amboy, at one of the last remaining original Route 66 tourist stops, Roy's Cafe, and get himself a chocolate milkshake.

If you remember, for about six months, several years ago, in virtually every major motorcycling magazine in the country, Honda carried a full-page ad with a picture of a Valkyrie, sitting under the Roy's Cafe sign in the Mojave, with a setting sun in the background. It was a quiet, memorable tribute to the man, that was easily understood by those who knew him.

Often, a radical or interesting new bike is developed primarily because one person, with the influence, drive and passion to see it built, puts his weight behind the project. Love it or not, such was he case with the Rune, which had Honda VP Ray Blank as its "Angel." One could say the same of Pierre Terblanche, and the Ducati 999. And such was the case with Joe Boyd and the Valkyrie. Whether such bikes are a design, marketing or financial success is really irrelevant -- I think -- What is important is that we have an industry in which such things can happen, because they push the envelope. True innovation rarely comes from a committee decision.

Enough of my maudlin remembrances. Just thought you might find it interesting. Fred Rau"

Now if Honda had continued to market the Valk I believe that it would run circles around all the V-Twin Harley want-a-be's. There is an unlimited amount of customizing that can be done to them where they don't look just like the one down the

[eric in md]

   great story little guy ..

[BigAl]

[ArmyValker]

The majority of the other riders I talk to have the same reaction to the Valk. "Holy crap, that thing is HUGE." I think that's probably why Honda decided to move on....  alot of people like the looks, but I'd venture to guess that the size is a major turn-off/limiting factor for a lot of riders.

[Stanley Steamer]

The majority of the other riders I talk to have the same reaction to the Valk. "Holy crap, that thing is HUGE." I think that's probably why Honda decided to move on....  alot of people like the looks, but I'd venture to guess that the size is a major turn-off/limiting factor for a lot of riders.

I get that a lot from the women.....hard to get them to move on though.....

[alph]

The majority of the other riders I talk to have the same reaction to the Valk. "Holy crap, that thing is HUGE."

brought my cycle to a friends house, parked it next to his harley sportster.  got the same reaction.  he said it was just like highschool, after football practice, we'd all take a shower, same thing..... 

[Quicksilver]

It's a machine built for those who have the confidence to go their own way, they are as rare as the Valkyries they ride.

[ArmyValker]

The majority of the other riders I talk to have the same reaction to the Valk. "Holy crap, that thing is HUGE." I think that's probably why Honda decided to move on....  alot of people like the looks, but I'd venture to guess that the size is a major turn-off/limiting factor for a lot of riders.

I get that a lot from the women.....hard to get them to move on though.....

 

[Momz]

Honda needed the production facilities to produce the all-conquering DN01.