1998 Honda Valkyrie Tourer, 7,900 miles, Lots of extras, showroom condition,

This bike is beautiful. It is a boulevard cruiser or a cross country tourer. Includes a Saddleman saddle, riginal front and rear seat, EM studded front seat, hort windscreen and touring windscreen, eather tank cover, obra six pipes plus OEM pipes. Lot of chrome and tastefully farkled. The Brake Away Throttle Lock is the best I've ever seen. I am the third owner. The bike had 3,618 miles when I bought it. It now has 7,900 miles (I'm still riding it). The carbs have been recently tuned. All fluids were recently changed. It runs strong, tarts easily and sounds great. It idles like a Chevy V-8 and screams like a F-1 car if you get on it. This is a beautiful example of a classic cruiser. You will draw a lot of attention and turn heads.

• Kuryakin highway pegs.
• Brake away throttle lock
• Saddleman Saddle
• Short Windscreen
• Touring Windscreen
• Cobra Pipes plus stock pipes
• Leather Tank Cover
• Studded OEM Seat
• Original Studded OEM Seat
• Hondaline passenger backrest
• Honline rider backrest

balance. That is the word that best defines Honda's Valkyrie flagship cruiser. Painstaking refinement that crafts wide-spectrum motorcycles is a Honda hallmark, ut the Valkyrie is exceptionally versatile. Although its roots in the full-boat Gold Wing tourer lead many to anticipate a bloated, umbersome motorcycle, he Valkyrie belies its size. It handles more nimbly yet more steadily than most other brands' cruiser-line leaders, ut it retains the comfort and stateliness of the full-dress motorcycle out on the open road.

The Valkyrie's claim on power-cruiser status is almost as much visual as it is mechanical. The big, iquid-cooled, pposed-six bulging from the engine room isn't designed to flow with the cruiser mainstream, ut it isn't intended to be ignored, ither. As with any good hot rod, he engine is the centerpiece of the machine. Six cylinders, ix chrome-capped carbs, nd six headers heading for two pipes sharing six outlets make sure no one but the absolutely uninitiated will mistake this for another me-too V-twin. (An aside: Every Valkyrie we have tested has brought at least one query of "Is that a Harley?" Onlookers haven't a clue what they are viewing, ut they've been told Harleys have big impressive engines and this machine definitely fits the bill.)

Knowledgeable types look at all the hardware serving the engine and know it's not just for show. The power hungry begin to salivate. Horsepower is definitely on the menu. It's not quite as hard-hitting as the explosive motivation of the V-Max, ut you can easily light up the rear tire coming away from a stop if you get aggressive with the throttle and clutch. Power delivery is also more linear than the Yamaha, ithout the surge of V-Boost to keep you awake as the tach needle swings toward redline.

Although it's hardly what you'd call pokey, onda's six won't hurtle you through a quarter-mile in less than eleven seconds the way the V-Max can. In fact, ecent Valkyrie test motorcycles make noticeably less power than first-year versions. These days, ou have to be pretty sharp to launch the Valkyrie hard enough to get it down the quarter-mile in less than 13 seconds. Honda says nothing has changed, ut dynos and seats of pants say otherwise.

Even if the motor has lost some of its edge up top, t still makes great power from below 2000 rpm right up to the 6500 redline. Carburetion is precise and responsive, nd uninterrupted by abruptness or flat spots. You can burble around town with minimum slippage from the light, mooth clutch with the throttle barely cracked; plenty of acceleration is just a twist away.

And, ou know it's smooth. The horizontal design cancels vibration before it gets started. Counterrotating components, uch as the alternator, revent any torque reaction when the throttle is blipped. The engine's exhaust note definitely speaks of performance; not the low-key, ots-of-sound-little-fury cadence of a big twin but the quick-revving, ard-running rhythm of a high-performance engine.

The engine mates to an equally flawless drivetrain. The clutch is light and, nless flogged long and hard, mooth in take-up. The five-speed shifts smoothly and there is no lash as power makes its way through the final drive shaft.

The Valkyrie is long. That 66.5-inch wheelbase means additional mass, hich slows it down. The length stifles wheelies too. But it also makes more room for rider and passenger. In comparison with the Valkyrie, he V-Max feels almost cramped. The saddle is long and wide, nd stays comfortable for many hours on the road. Passengers like it too.

Some riders complain about the footpeg location, nd if it doesn't suit you, ou can't do much except add highway pegs. The placement of the engine means you can't move the pegs forward. The handlebar is slightly high and wide for long stints at highway speeds, ut a windshield remedies this comfort flaw. With that addition, he Valkyrie makes a great tourer and Honda has, n fact, erived two traveling machines from this starting point. The Tourer is the same machine with windshield and hard bags added, nd the new Interstate gets more extensive mods in addition to its luggage, tereo and windshield.

Perhaps the biggest surprise is how well this giant of a machine handles. Few cruisers can keep pace on a twisty road. Carefully selected steering geometry makes the steering responsive without compromising stability, nd the suspension is topnotch. It even has generous cornering clearance. This all comes together in a package that is quite a bit of fun to ride when the road begins to throw turns at you. Although the reach to the ground is longer than the distance of some other big bikes, he Valkyrie is easy to handle at low speeds where you are barely balanced. Braking keeps up with the weight and speed of the bike, roviding superior power and control.

Two flaws, n the eyes of some potential buyers, re the unique style of the engine and the cobby appearance of some components in the engine bay. We were also sorry that our big, ad musclebike came in black over a sort of pale pink that looked like it had been lifted from some dorky early '80s luxury car. It makes this hot rod look like it's trying to be a family sedan.

Although it's included in this Power Cruiser section because of its musclebike status, he Valkyrie's all-around excellence has already distinguished it in other venues. A year ago it grabbed the lion's share of votes when we compared the flagship cruiser models of eight manufacturers. The Tourer model has twice been the favorite when we compared it with other baggers. No matter what you ask it to do, he Valkyrie quickly makes its way to the front of the pack.

That's balance.

Also published at eBay.com