The last flight of the valkyrie

[Savago]

As some forum members may recall, my bike had a bad alternator and I botched the fixing job by breaking 2 of the 3 bolts.

I needed a long distance ride motorcycle so I bought a ST1300@2009 with just 8K miles. As a result the valk was collecting dust for about 1 year.

Turns out that this week I finally got the bike fixed (hopefully) and was able to ride the old fat lady this afternoon.

It is pretty funny: it will never be as fuel efficient as the Vstrom or as fast as the ST1300 (or even flickable).

It is a 19 years bike, with 80K miles and quite a few scratches and 'battle' scars. Damn! If it was a car, I would have sold it a long time ago!

But there is an inherently great feeling in riding it. Is it the torquey engine? The wide handle bars together with the riding posture that gives you the impression that you embracing the road? The throaty sound of the pipes?

Dunno. But I know it feels good.

When I was leaving the mechanic shop in Fairfield (CA), as I had the bike running and playing music from my cellphone, as I was wearing my gear (gloves and helmet) to take off, an old gent parked his truck, contemplated the old lady for about 30s and approached me saying: " _ You know, I have a wing but I always wanted to have a valkyrie too. Have being looking for a good one for quite a while..."

Which I replied: " _ They are great bikes!".

I decided to ride to Woodside (CA) and have a burger at Alice's restaurant. I parked the bike and decided to snap a few photos of my bike.

As I left the bike and was in my way to the restaurant, I noticed a couple approaching the bike and snapping a few photos of it. The man pointed to engine and started laughing (I guess the metal sign I have on it that reads 'SIZE MATTERS' is always a good reason for a good laugh).
 

I had my burger and after some coffee, got ready to roll back home.

It feels good to ride a Honda Valkyrie again.
 

But now at night, getting ready to sleep, I start to ask myself... should I sell it? It doesn't offer the same weather protection as the ST1300, it is too old and no longer reliable for long trips. It will never be as fuel efficient as the vstrom or capable of riding bad roads... Neither it is as fast as the ST1300, that still makes solid 42 to 47mpg in the highway...

What happens if I need to perform more costly fixes?

A soothing voice (maybe an angel?) joined the conversation and added: "_ Nah... no sense. Enjoy the good things of life while you can."

I guess the old lady is a keeper.

[Hook#3287]

I believe you made the right decision  

As a footnote, I'd ride any of my ladies across the country and back, anytime.
 ( except the bobber)

[The emperor has no clothes]

  I'm hoping to make a stop at Alice's in a couple weeks. Need a new shirt, mine is wore to shreds.

[Valker]

Well, I had an ST1300 as a second bike so I could still ride when I worked on the Valk. I kept it for 4 years and 50,000 miles. The Valk has 162,000 so I feel I have adequate experience to make a comparison. ST is much more fuel efficient at almost any speed. It does top out faster than a Valk. Weather protection is better. They tie in a side by side drag race and top gear roll on contest (up to 100 then the ST starts to pull away). BUT, I like to work on my own bikes when I can. The ST takes 2-3 hours to take off the plastic before you can even get to the bike to work on it. That is if you are fast. I can have the Valk taken down to just engine and frame before I can get to the wiring to add lights on the ST. Shop time at $100/hr makes it very expensive to have worked on. I just sold my ST to one of my sons. I still wanted a second bike, so I bought another Valk.

[solo1]

My experiences were the same.  I traded an ST1100 in on the Valkyrie.  The ST got better fuel mileage by far, seemed to want to run faster, handled great, BUT was a PITA to change oil and do just about any work to it, and used a non standard headlight bulb.  The worse thing was that the ST put my hand to sleep but I found out that was me, not the bike.

The Valk was more fun across the board, big everything, smooth, wide handlebars, and attracted attention. The downside for me was the weight and having to go with not so good fuel mileage.

When I changed to the Vstrom, that bike did everything that I wanted it to but my age caught up with me.

[cookiedough]

been thinking of looking at a honda st1300, good info.
I thought though the st1300 is faster off the line than our old Valkyries?
stats show it faster, maybe not though in real life?

Yah, the valk draws attention and to me, comfort is king, the heck with mpg....  35-36 mpg is good enough for me high of 50 and low of 32 or so.  Still better than my V8 truck at 17 mpg.  Think about it,  not many 4 cylinder cars get more than 36 avg mpg. 

[Jack B]

My ST1300 was faster than any of my Valkyrie's it was a speeding ticket waiting to happen.
I don't remember the oil change being difficult and the air filter change was also easy but it was a pain to take the plastic off. Same with a Goldwing.

[..]

been thinking of looking at a honda st1300, good info.
I thought though the st1300 is faster off the line than our old Valkyries?
stats show it faster, maybe not though in real life?

Yah, the valk draws attention and to me, comfort is king, the heck with mpg....  35-36 mpg is good enough for me high of 50 and low of 32 or so.  Still better than my V8 truck at 17 mpg.  Think about it,  not many 4 cylinder cars get more than 36 avg mpg. 

ST1300 is faster from the green light. Definitely.

The plastic removal is easy once done a few times. Many forum tips on workarounds so as to remove minimal bodywork.

Oil change is not quite as easy as the Valkyrie.

Air filter is SO EASY.

Removable saddlebags which are enormous.

I did a shim check at 32 and 64,000 miles and all were in spec.

By the time the bike said good bye to me the mileage was 135,000 and it rolled like new.

[Serk]

I've got a Valkyrie and an ST1300 side by side in my garage right now...

Very seriously thinking about selling the ST to fund the purchase of a backup Valkyrie (Maybe an Interstate this time.)

On a spec sheet the ST 1300 is superior in just about every way, except for one. I don't enjoy riding it as much as I enjoy riding my Valkyrie.

The ST stays plugged into a battery tender, the Valkyrie does not.

[Jess from VA]

Savago, that bike does not look battle scarred at all from the photo you provided.  It looks damn sharp.

I'm kind of enjoying my 19yo bikes aging along with me.  Both they and I are a little nicked and scarred and rubbed and faded, and I no longer worry about making them look like new anymore, which is perfect for my lazy ass retired life style. 

Both of us clean up reasonably well, so long as you are standing about 20 feet away when doing the inspection.   

And BTW, there is really no reason it should not be reliable on long trips, if you do your part.

[Savago]

I'm hoping to make a stop at Alice's in a couple weeks. Need a new shirt, mine is wore to shreds.

Hey, let me know when you are in the Bay Area, we can go and have a beer!
 

[old2soon]

Old(er) tech but on da udder hand I are an older guy in my own right. Was NOT and I am still NOT worried bout fuel mileage. Even when said quantities of 87 octane were 4 bucks a gallon or a tad more. But I git a kick when I splain to someone it is in FACT 19 years old. I've put a smidge more than 90G miles on her and bout near as much fun the last mile as it were the first mile. IF I could figure a way ta have nuff O2 available I'd Truly ENJOY rollin with DDT and Ali. And the where withal to roll. The spirit and the Phatt Ghurl be willin but the wallet be weak!   I've stated before and I WILL say it again-600-650 mile days in her saddle do NOT kick my ass near as bad as I thought they would. There IS something bout throwin a leg over her-after checks for OUR Safety-and hittin the start button and snickin her into gear and easin the clutch out and ROLLIN! These Older Valkyries were in Fact-I M H O-designed for long distance touring with a gig ole silly GRIN.   RIDE SAFE.

[Savago]

@Hook: thanks man! I thinks this are amazing machines built with love and they deserve to be well maintained and ready for riding.

@Valker: I agree that removing all the tupperware in a ST1300 is a pain in the ass. It is much easier to work in a valkyrie for the regular maintenance (oil change, spark plugs, coolant flush, etc).

@cookiedough: The ST is a dangerously smooth and deadly quiet bike. I have to keep watching myself while riding, you may be at 90-95 miles/hour and it feels like 75mph in any other bike. The V4 engine that mother Honda made for this bikes is amazing (not to mention the 7.7 galons gas tank, which leads to a fuel autonomy of 300 miles or more).

@Britman: great report on ST ownership, it is good to know that mine should be good for the next 120K miles.
 

@Serk: I think they are complementary, different rides. But it truly depends on your needs, I will keep my I/S because is the only motorcycle that both my daughter and my wife actually enjoy riding with me.

@Jess: thanks man! I can't say I baby it, as I ride it as it was stolen but I do my best to keep it well taken care off. The whole issue is that I was stricken 3x by it (first the final drive + rear rim, next the gear shifter lever oil leak, then the alternator which required 2 changes), so I'm unsure if I would trust it as I used in the past. Maybe that will change in the future?
 

[The emperor has no clothes]

I'm hoping to make a stop at Alice's in a couple weeks. Need a new shirt, mine is wore to shreds.

Hey, let me know when you are in the Bay Area, we can go and have a beer!
 

Will do if I can. Only going to be there a couple days visiting my brother.