I may have purchased the wrong motorcycle

[NighthawkVTX]

I've had my  99 Interstate for a little more than 1 month now, and I'm wondering if it might have been a mistake.
It seems I can't take my bike anywhere without some one  stopping to admire it, and start asking questions.
My favorite, was hearing an old guy tell his wife, "its one of those new Victorys" I think I broke his heart when I told him it was actually a Honda, and a 1999 model at that.

I  was at twin peaks having lunch the other day, Those of you that have not been to Twin Peaks, should know they have dedicated parking for motorcycles and snow mobiles.
As I was eating my lunch I watched 5 HD riders exit the restaurant, they all gathered around my Valk looking at her, not knowing what to make of her, They stood around her for about 5 minutes, then all hopped on their hogs and rode off.

One poor guy just couldn't grasp the concept that the motor was actually not a V twin, but a flat 6.  It wasn't until I told him that it was basically the same motor as a Goldwing that he decided I wasn't pulling his leg.

Well I guess its a cross we all bare, having to ride one of the best motorcycles ever made.

[Firefighter]

Yea, I enjoy riding a massive machine that still looks like a real motorcycle but I don't care to draw attention on me. Once in a while I ride with a group that meets on weekends, and when I pull in I park and walk into the croud, I always see 10 or so bikers around my Interstate lookin close. If I go to town and to a store or people area someone will usually complement me on my Hardly!

[Momz]

You'll really blow their minds if you tell them (or show them) that is "American Made".

[Ramie]

I was once riding back from up north, it had been raining all day and I pulled into a gas station to stretch my legs and use the facilities during a lull in the rain and when I came out an older gentlemen in a big Cadillac had pulled in beside me and was standing next to my I/S waiting for his wife, he must have been in his late 80's his trousers where pulled up to his bellybutton and he couldn't stop telling me how amazing my ride was.  I took a few minutes to explain what it was and he couldn't believe it was a 2001.

[Alpha Dog]

You'll really blow their minds if you tell them (or show them) that is "American Made".

I like to tell them I wanted the best American bike ever made.

[Serk]

I told a dad with a gaggle of kids once, when he asked about the engine, that it was a opposed boxer engine, "Like Porsche uses in the 1911"... Then I hear him telling his wife and kids "He took a motor out of a Porsche race car and put it in a bike!"

Funny, but subtle difference...

[BobB]

It seems I can't take my bike anywhere without some one  stopping to admire it, and start asking questions.

Get accustom to it, happens all the time...

[havoc]

"one of those new Victory's"....lol

[czuch]

I get the knowing nod,
"Yea, a Victory".
"No, a Valkyrie".
"Victory makes a nice bike".
"They do".
Its a curse, worth living with.

[old2soon]

I meet more and more people as I do more P G R missions and usually-NOT always-but usually I have the only Valkyrie there. Mines a 99 with over 116000 miles on it. Have to turn the key on so "they" can confirm the mileage. ABSOFRIKKINLUTELY love the looks on the faces of "they" when they confirm the mileage and I inform them it is in fact a 1999.  If yer shy and retiring like me  YES you ARE on the wrong Motorcycle. RIDE SAFE.

[Oss]

If on a hurry on a 12 hr trip it can slow you down,
all that explaining the bike while at gas stops

Fortunately it only happens just about every time I ride

[CajunRider]

Try making your second bike a Triumph Thunderbird Sport (885 tripple engine)...

Then you get all sorts of guys saying "I used to have one just like that 30 years ago!".  You end up explaining that it's a 2004 model, has an extra cylinder, single rear shock, fully adjustable suspension, etc. etc. etc.   

It becomes a decision of which one would you rather explain at every gas stop instead of which one you want to ride.   

(Not mine, but same year & color as mine)

[sutterhome]

wait till you get how much do you want for it.

[_Sheffjs_]

Pulled into a local Ace hardware store and came out to a couple in their mid 70s having a cow over the 1500 and the lady said, that is the most beautiful bike she had ever seen. Their enthusiasm was surprising, I wondered if they ever rode.

[The emperor has no clothes]

Pulled into a local Ace hardware store and came out to a couple in their mid 70s having a cow over the 1500 and the lady said, that is the most beautiful bike she had ever seen. Their enthusiasm was surprising, I wondered if they ever rode.

That is a beautiful bike  If you ever get tired of those Euro badges I will take them off your hands. 

[4sarge]

I got Lots of Head Turns an Admiration on the way Back from GOTF 16. Everywhere I stopped I got the Comments or head turns. I had to Stop in Dyersburg, Tennessee for an extra layer of Clothing at the Wal-Mart and the little Boyz along with the Grandma's were duly Impressed/ By the way, I was Shocked at the Politeness of people in the South, NOT that I Claim to be a Northerner, I mean Yankee 

[MAD6Gun]

 That is for sure. If you don't like attention you are riding the wrong bike.  Happens to most of us.  Once when my brother and I were going to Canada we stopped at the last US gas station before you cross the Ambassador bridge when this attendant came up to me and asked if it was a three cylinder. I said nope there are three more on the other side.

[cookiedough]

do what I do:  buy a black cycle and do not wash it, then the gawkers don't gawk around it as much being dirty in 2 weeks once after cleaning it up.

Once cleaned up though, look out since black and chrome shine real nice for all to admire. 

I finally got my cycle out today first time to ride to work in 2016, was VERY nice and since was cleaned up (won't be cleaning it again until mid-summer),  I had all kinds of cars looking on over my way today.   

It almost makes you want to go to work just to ride the bike there and back, well almost??   

[RP#62]

Yes, its a burden we all bear.


-RP

[20over]

---- Only if you want to remain anonymous ----- getting noticed is the price we pay to ride a unique,awesome looking, 1 of-a-kind machine.----- Since I got mine in back in 02, I've had people come up to me with questions about it,tell me how it looks and/or to BS about bikes a bit almost every time I stop somewhere. Over the years I've been pulled over 6 times by friendly cops that just wanted to ask what it is or get a closer look. ---- Scared the H__ out of me every time.
    --- Japan "out Harleyed" HD many years ago with their cheaper, more reliable V-twins. Without looking at the name badge, it's nearly impossible to tell one V-twin from the next.  Is it a Honda-Davidson, a Yama-Harley, a Kawa-Harley, an HD or ????
   I saw a great T-shirt a few years back. On the front it said : "I'll only ride America's best built,most reliable air cooled V-twin" and on the back it says: "Briggs & Stratton" with a picture of a hopped up riding mower. --- been looking for 1 ever since -----
     An old friend who owns a HD once told me. HD's are the smartest motorcycles ever made.  They enjoy life without the hassle of having to work for a living. They rarely leave their warm,dry garage unless the weather is nice and then only once or twice a week,for a short,leisurely cruise to the local Hooters parking lot to hang out for a few hours with their friends and relatives and right back home. If they take a trip, they only travel 1st class, and do their sight-seeing from the comfort and safety of a Chevy pick-up bed.  ----

[Black Pearl's Captain]

One poor guy just couldn't grasp the concept that the motor was actually not a V twin, but a flat 6.  It wasn't until I told him that it was basically the same motor as a Goldwing that he decided I wasn't pulling his leg.

Two words: Nickel trick.

[MarkT]

About 8 years ago, I was heading East towards Elizabeth on Deerslayer. A local sheriff who was manning a radar trap on state Hwy 86, chased me down and pulled me over.  Knowing I wasn't speeding (and can prove it with my GPS log) when he asked if I knew why he pulled me over, I couldn't resist the smartass response, "No, I was hoping you knew, you have the gun."  He brushed that off and said it was because I was using the lanes improperly, driving in the oncoming lane.

"Whoa" I said, "I'm an advanced riding class instructor for the M.O.S.T. motorcycle training classes; very safety focussed*.  I'm on heart medication, I have had to adjust my Metoprolol in the past due to dizziness with AFIB.  If I have a blackout problem I need to know immediately. Please tell me what you saw."  

"Well after you cleared the hill you went into the oncoming lane and stayed there for a couple hundred feet for no reason."

"Did you see the Harley I passed - legally I might add?"

"What Harley?"

"AHA!  There was a Harley puttering along well below the limit so when the road was clear, I passed him.  We have seen this before - the Valkyrie is so slathered with chrome and so unique it captures the eye to the detriment of all other visuals.  Another officer called it an 'Attractive Nuisance'.  You have just become a V.A.N. victim and thus did not see the HD I was passing."

With a puzzled look he shook his head, handed back my license and said "Have a safe day."


*OK stretched the truth a little.  Didn't mention I was an unpaid Assistant Advanced Riding Instructor and only did it once when the official instructor asked me to demonstrate some riding manuvers in class.
 

[DarkSideR]

I inherited my bike from my Dad, and he warned me about attention the bike gets. I was with a guy on a 2015 BMW R1200 Adventurer (truly an awesome bike) on the ride to the GOTF. At just about every stop people were tripping over his bike to come and look at or ask me about mine.

It's just the way it is.

[woofred1832]

                              Just yesterday at a stop lite a guy in shorts and a tee shirt, smoking a cig  pulls up to me on his Harley, and said..... thats the new Valkyrie,right?     I, of course, said, YES,    WOW, he said, that is a beautiful machine. Thanks I said,he turned left I went straight.   You get a Harley rider one,on one,and they can be friendly, its only when they are in a group that they act like Harleys are the only motorcycle on the road......If they only REALLY knew....RIDE ON !!!!!!!!!!!

[old2soon]

                              Just yesterday at a stop lite a guy in shorts and a tee shirt, smoking a cig  pulls up to me on his Harley, and said..... thats the new Valkyrie,right?     I, of course, said, YES,    WOW, he said, that is a beautiful machine. Thanks I said,he turned left I went straight.   You get a Harley rider one,on one,and they can be friendly, its only when they are in a group that they act like Harleys are the only motorcycle on the road......If they only REALLY knew....RIDE ON !!!!!!!!!!!

           If THEY really knew we would play seven different kinds of hell finding the 1520s. I was in the Military and worked for a couple of large corporations. Our Valkyries are one of the better kept secrets I've been privy too.  RIDE SAFE.

[lordofchaos]

My favorite story is still the time I was riding down I-66 in Northern VA. Got passed by this beautiful red Ferrari. As soon as he got past me, he slowed down so that I caught back up to him and his girl had her phone out to take a picture of my Valk.

[Willow]

My favorite story is still the time I was riding down I-66 in Northern VA. Got passed by this beautiful red Ferrari. As soon as he got past me, he slowed down so that I caught back up to him and his girl had her phone out to take a picture of my Valk.

I've had similar things happen to me.  I was never quite certain whether it was me or the motorcycle.    

[The emperor has no clothes]

My favorite story is still the time I was riding down I-66 in Northern VA. Got passed by this beautiful red Ferrari. As soon as he got past me, he slowed down so that I caught back up to him and his girl had her phone out to take a picture of my Valk.

I've had similar things happen to me.  I was never quite certain whether it was me or the motorcycle.    

oh you can trust us, it was the motorcycle 

[heavyd]

Best reaction I have seen to mine:

I am standing on the sidewalk behind my bike talking to some buddies at a small rally, My Purple/White Valkyrie is parked in the middle of 200 random v-twins. Little boy walking down the street with his mother spots the cobras 6x6's, drags his mom over by the hand pointing and yelling "Look Mom, six pipes".

Second best part of this was looking at my buddy parked a few bikes down after 20-30 people stopped to look at the Valkyrie and asking him how many people were looking at his black on black Harley. He just hung his head and walked away.

[Willow]

Today I rode over to Bobo's for lunch.  I was sitting at the counter of the not too crowded shop eating something that probably wasn't that good for me, a double Spanish cheeseburger with jalapenos, when I noticed a gentleman my age or a few years older conversing with the cashier.  She pointed in my direction.  He came over to me and asked, "Is that your motorcycle?"  I answered in the affirmative and a conversation ensued.  We talked about the six cylinders, miles, that the Valkyrie hadn't been made since 2003, and the three various models of the beast.  I mentioned that my Standard had over one hundred ninety thousand miles on it.  He seemed greatly impressed so I told him I have a friend with over a half million on his.  We talked about how heavy, but how smooth the Valkyrie is.

"Are there any for sale?  Where would you look to find them?"  I suggested Craig's List and mentioned we have our own Classifieds message board.  I gave him one of my cheap cards with the VRCC website on one side.

"Do you mind if I look at it?"

"No, not at all."

I resumed my work on the double Spanish burger and he went outside to inspect, rather in detail, the green Interstate.  The gentleman across the counter engaged me in conversation about motorcycles and several of the folks inside Bobo's commented to me on how interested he was.

He came back in and picked up his order to go.  "Do you mind if I take a few pictures?"

"No, not at all."

He went out, put the sack of food on the hood of his cage and began taking a considerable number of photographs.

I finished the burger.  There are some things in life which one must consider when choosing what one will or will not be willing to do.  Talking about the Valkyrie is one.  It comes automatically with riding the Valkyrie in public.  Double Spanish cheeseburgers with jalapenos may be another one.  Life is good.  Some of my choices may have contributed to that.

      

[cajunito]

Nice thread, just like everyone here, I enjoy the attention either one of mine get. But after Waco I won't go anywhere near a Twin Peaks, whether they have the current  Spurs game or not.

[Moonshot_1]

Can't believe your bogus post there Willow. There is empirical data to prove conclusively that Double Spanish Cheeseburgers WITH jalapenos are, in fact, good for you.

It's the jalapenos that makes it healthy!

[cajunito]

That they are, but they have a tendency to put a hickey on the `ol hemmies..... 

[Willow]

Can't believe your bogus post there Willow. There is empirical data to prove conclusively that Double Spanish Cheeseburgers WITH jalapenos are, in fact, good for you.

It's the jalapenos that makes it healthy!

Ha ha!  That they do.  I have come to believe and practice that presence of peppers and strong spices tends to offset whatever carbohydrates they are wrapped in.   

[Gryphon Rider]

My favorite story is still the time I was riding down I-66 in Northern VA. Got passed by this beautiful red Ferrari. As soon as he got past me, he slowed down so that I caught back up to him and his girl had her phone out to take a picture of my Valk.

I've had similar things happen to me.  I was never quite certain whether it was me or the motorcycle.    

oh you can trust us, it was the motorcycle 

I dunno about that, meathead, people take pictures of all kinds of unusual things.  Otherwise there would never be sites like People of Walmart.  ???

[The emperor has no clothes]

My favorite story is still the time I was riding down I-66 in Northern VA. Got passed by this beautiful red Ferrari. As soon as he got past me, he slowed down so that I caught back up to him and his girl had her phone out to take a picture of my Valk.

I've had similar things happen to me.  I was never quite certain whether it was me or the motorcycle.    

oh you can trust us, it was the motorcycle 

I dunno about that, meathead, people take pictures of all kinds of unusual things.  Otherwise there would never be sites like People of Walmart.  ???

Now you've done it ! Insinuating Willow is one of the Walmart people is probably against the Rules of the Road. 

[Psychotic Bovine]

I have said in the past:  If you are in the witness protection program, DO NOT RIDE A VALKYRIE!

[jdp]

I think the best part is when you tell them how much I paid for the bike and how old it is, most just shake there heads

[Savago]

Very true, indeed.

This is a collection of some of the funny questions I've being asked while riding my 99 I/S (bought it almost 2 years ago with 64K miles, now with over 77K miles and counting):

" _ How old is it? I bet 3 or 4 years tops!?"

" _ Whaaat!? Six cilinders? That is impossible!"

" _ A 1999? You got to be kidding!"

" _ There is no way this bike has over 77K miles."

" _ Ok, but you own it since new, right?"

" _ Too bad was made in Japan. Oh wait, really?"

" _  That is a big gas tank! How many gallons? Maybe 5?"

And when I explain that it has 6.9 gallons: " _ HOLY crap!"
for which I explain why it is called the interstate: Because it was built to go the distance.
:-)

Savago

[Jabba]

That happened some with my 1999 interstate... but it's almost never that I go somewhere unaccosted on the 2002 Standard.



Jabba