Musings About My Valkyrie...

[Tfrank59]

Don't know if this belongs on the tech board, but if not administrators please redirect...

Well this past week I picked up another motorcycle – a little pony in my corral for a while– and it has really punctuated some things about my Valk.  This back-up motorcycle is a 2006 Kawasaki 800 Drifter – the 1941 Indian knock-off tribute bike -- whatever you want to call it – and it's actually quite a nice bike.  It's a chain drive (no shaft on the 800 Drifter), powered by a liquid cooled, single overhead cam V-twin, and it has the counter balance shaft so it doesn't vibrate…as much.   But that's why I'm blurting out all this stuff– this week I've been riding the Drifter lots of miles, several hours, and then this morning I got back on my Valkyrie and took a short leisurely ride on it.  Man what a difference!  I forgot how smooth a Valkyrie is.  The difference between a Valkyrie and a V-twin (and I'm talking one that's pretty smooth compared to a lot of Harleys out there) is like the difference between a luxury Mercedes and an old Dodge truck.  And then talk about power -- man there's just no comparison.  Well the little 800 is just that, it's half a Valkyrie, but it's really less than half because the thing is 500 pounds which is only about 250 less than my Valk, and so it's two thirds the weight but half the horsepower and torque.  Anyway these are just some of my reflections this beautiful Saturday afternoon towards the end of summer in Western Washington.  It's really easy to get used to the smooth power delivery of our flat six, shaft driven, awesome motorcycle, until you get on something else and then realize how lucky you are that you drive a Valkyrie--hands-down the best motorcycle ever built, but then again we are a little biased, aren't we? 

[Jess from VA]

Frank, I had a fuelie Kawi Mean Streak when I got my first Valk.  With an air kit, PCIII, perfect map and two-into one pipes it made 80 HP, and was just a wonderful and fun bike to ride.  A little bit thumpy but really very smooth.  Just a sport shield and no storage of any kind, and was a nice alternative to my new-used-cherry interstate for day riding, esp in hot weather.  But after a season, every time I went out to ride, I wanted the Valk.  I didn't need the money, but sold it 'cause it just wasn't getting ridden. I also had a storage problem.  



In fact, I sold several.

[Tfrank59]

Speaking of smooth running, about a week ago I decided to do the nickel trick on my Valkyrie but couldn't find one so I grabbed a penny and it actually stood there while she was idling and didn't fall, then I revved it a little and it still didn't fall. 

[Ramie]

Frank, I had a fuelie Kawi Mean Streak when I got my first Valk.  With an air kit, PCIII, perfect map and two-into one pipes it made 80 HP, and was just a wonderful and fun bike to ride.  A little but thumpy but really very smooth.  Just a sport shield and no storage of any kind, and was a nice alternative to my new-used-cherry interstate for day riding, esp in hot weather.  But after a season, every time I went out to ride, I wanted the Valk.  I didn't need the money, but sold it 'cause it just wasn't getting ridden. I also had a storage problem.  


In fact, I sold several.

Just sold my VT1100 Spirit for the same reason.

[srteach]

traded a VTX 1800 for my Valk. My valk is not nickle trick smooth (yet), but it is much smoother than the VTX.

[8Track]

I went for a ride on my Valk a few weeks ago with a good mate who rides a Triumph Thruxton. He's ridden and raced all sorts of bikes So I trusted him enough to offer him a ride of my Valk.

We swapped bikes and rode about 10 miles before swapping back. When he got off my bike I could see the penny had dropped for him. He's never experienced a cruiser that had power, handling and comfort in equal measure like the Valk has.

It is truly a wonderfully balanced motorcycle. The only things that show the Valk's age are the brakes and suspension. I've overhauled both aspects of my bike, but they just aren't up to modern standards.

[Tfrank59]

Interesting, because the bike I had before my Valkyrie was a triumph Bonneville – pretty much the same bike as the Thruxston just not as sporty – and even though it was a 2009 fuel injected it had its issues, and in terms of power delivery, cornering, and even braking it couldn't compare to my Valkyrie.  As far as suspension goes, the Bonneville was a 500 pound bike so yeah it took bumps better than a Valk.

[BonS]

The only "vibes" that I like are from the V-Max. It has a counter balancer so the remaining vibes are well controlled and aren't tiring and never leave me with a tingling hands. But for the long miles it's all Valkyrie!

[Lyle Laun]

8Track
Check out this bike spec website. It looks like our Valks will actually out brake the new Valks.


http://www.mcnews.com/mcn/articles/2015_01PerfIndex.pdf

Regards
Lyle

[dconstruct55]

I had my 2006 Kawasaki V2K 2 years before I bought my '99 Valk. Love them both, both big, bad to the bone bikes.
There is no doubt about which one is smoother, but for sheer power, the Kawasaki kicks some serious ass.
On the freeway though, gimme six cylinders all day long.