What Was Honda Thinking?

[Bill Havins]

I’ve been putting my Valkyrie back together today.  I want to ride it while I’m fiberglassing my test fairing.

Creating the model of the fairing has been a very dusty process.  So I pushed the Honda out onto the driveway to give it a bath before I reinstall the windshield I’ve had on it.  Got my bucket, got my sponge, got my spray bottle (that’s how I rinse it), and got my microfiber chamois.  Rub-a-dub-dub.

As I washed my way down to the levels of the radiators I found myself asking again, “What was Honda thinking when they designed these cowls?”

I know this has been cussed-and-discussed on the forum many times, but I still don’t understand why a manufacturer would build a “naked” motorcycle that prevents owners from adding the wind protection they want.  Especially a motorcycle with a 1832cc engine and drive shaft!  The design obviously “painted” Honda into a very, very small market corner (the number of bikes sold attests to this opinion).

I absolutely love my Valkyrie as a “potential touring platform.”  What a machine!  I’ll test and finish my fairing and then I’ll have the wind protection I want us to have.  I already have the cruise control I want (Thanks, Brian!) with an excellent control module on the handlebars.  Once I have the fairing like I want it Judy and I will do some serious rides!  There are places west of here where the speed limit is 85 MPH on the way to the mountains.  Here we go!  Zoom!

Next winter I’ll design the panniers I really want for this bike.  I’ll build them similar to the Corbins I have now, but with half again as much internal (and useable) space.  I’ll do a bit of adjusting on the pillion seat and then I’ll be finished.

I know the motorcycle market has been hurting since the 2008 recession.  But I don’t understand why Honda would release a “naked/cruiser” that is darned near impossible to adapt because of the radiator cowls (and the headlight).  Maybe it's "project fatigue"; building this fairing has been a killer.  But I keep asking myself, "What were they thinking?"

Okay – back to putting my scooter together.

Bill

[AdrianR]

I don’t understand why Honda would release a “naked/cruiser” that is darned near impossible to adapt because of the radiator cowls (and the headlight).  Maybe it's "project fatigue"; building this fairing has been a killer.  But I keep asking myself, "What were they thinking?"
Bill

The reason is the F6B... 

[sleepngbear]

I've owned Honda's almost exclusively as long as I've been riding, and as far back as I can remember, they've never been big on supporting customizing and personalizing. Even 'blank canvas' models like the Shadow and VTX's had minimal factory accessories. Some models like the Valk just don't lend themselves to easy customizing at all. Totally different mindset in that regard from HD -- it's like they have zero awareness of the idea that a lot of owners like to tweak. Luckily my desire to tweak is usually limited to the simplest and most generic of mods like you'd likely find in a Kuryakyn catalog.

[Bill Havins]

[snip]....as far back as I can remember, they've never been big on supporting customizing and personalizing. Even 'blank canvas' models like the Shadow and VTX's had minimal factory accessories. Some models like the Valk just don't lend themselves to easy customizing at all. Totally different mindset in that regard from HD -- it's like they have zero awareness of the idea that a lot of owners like to tweak....[snip]

"Take it or leave it", eh?  That's a plausible explanation.  What a shame.

[Robert]

Quite honestly Bill you are not thinking in Japanese. When the 1500 was produced it was the vision of one man in Honda that got it done. Honda is an excellent engineering company and the Japanese in general make things work and work well. As for creators and especially in having ideas for the open road doesn't really compute in their world. If you look at the Rune its a great example of the type of bike that to the Japanese is a wild bike appealing to many, but as we all know it was a flop. Not because the engineering was a flop but because they missed the market, lacked market awareness and really didn't grasp the idea of the open road. Flash forward to our bikes and they have many styling ques from the Rune and even from the Evo but we can see the consistency of the design. A design I might add that can miss very easily. So our bikes are no surprise at all. I would say that Honda the purity of design is worth more than the adaptability of the bike. As stated before take it or leave it. To Honda Im sure they decided that the design would not be able to be improved on so why would they worry about adaptability?

[Kidd]

I just do not see  Honda or any manufacturer designing a bike  for after market stuff.

It's the other way around
It's the after market  people/companies  who has   to figure it out
The after market folks design  stuff  for the bikes  , the more popular , the more stuff .

Besides , Bill did it ( made a after market fairing ),  so , what's the problem ?

[Robert]

Besides , Bill did it ( made a after market fairing ),  so , what's the problem ?

 

[Bill Havins]

You must excuse me.  I haven't been around Japanese motorcycles since I traded off my 750 Yamaha in 1979.  I'd forgotten all about the Japanese mindset.

I'm going to turn my Valkyrie into the touring machine Honda might have considered.  I'll keep some of their styling, but I'll blend it into a design that says Roadster!  Seems more fitting to my needs.

[barney fife]

Road mine from Houston to Maine and also to Colorado with just a boulevard windshield.  All the touring bike I'll ever need.

[AdrianR]

Road mine from Houston to Maine and also to Colorado with just a boulevard windshield.  All the touring bike I'll ever need.

Impressive!  Up the Irons mate!!

[Moofner]

I'm thinking they didn't want to stray too far away from the Goldwing double radiator setup, so they made some aggressive styling to appeal to a market that didn't show up to buy. Redesigning the cooling system to remove the radiators would have been a bigger, more costly risk.

You are right on it limiting the options for aftermarket stuff, but I don't think they really cared when you look at their design for the stock shield.

It is weird that all of us 1800 owners now might have a bike that is seldom seen as a Rune.

[Kidd]

That's a long rode ,,,,,,   glutton for punishment

Road mine from Houston to Maine and also to Colorado with just a boulevard windshield.  All the touring bike I'll ever need.

[barney fife]

Glutton for fun.

[Law Dawg]

My 2014 Honda Valkyrie is Awsome, Barney Fife is a 30 year buddy of mine and he bought his first, this is One Bad Ass Cruiser, has all the power one would ever need, been to the Texas Hill Country, Big Bend and numerous long day rides..We get lots of looks and questions..I've add a few Honda parts and aftermarket...Besides, when I was looking for one, I got a brand new 2014 Still in the box and drive out the door was $9,999, this was not to be passed up!
This is one of Honda's Best Crusiers....

[woofred1832]

You are right. When I got my 2014 valk there was very little ad ons avail. So I modified a windshield I got on line, added my own driving lites again from on line. I did use the back rest from honda then added brackets to mount a viking trunk for long trips. Also made my own rear rack to add extra carring room, the trunk sits right behind me to use as a backrest. I added hwy pes off the case gards. Painted the rad grills, the strip on the valve covers and the lower plastic side covers, and added extra fins off the lower fork tubes. Put red accents on the top of the honda leather bags and added dragon wings to the bag sides. It is good for the trips I take now. I love the bike and get plenty of comments on it where ever I stop. I ride my original 1975 GL1000 for fun day rides but the motor on the valk cant be beat.