The Confessions of a Changeling

Recently, I traded off my 1999 Valkyrie Interstate (black, of course) for a 2001 Gold Wing (also black).  It is with a lot of sadness, and some regret, that I bid goodbye to one of the two finest motorcycles that I have ever had the pleasure of owning; the other being a 1997 Valkyrie Tourer.  As some of you know, I have maintained this Valkyrie WEB site for several years, and I have advised hundreds of people about Valkyries.  In fact, I have likely sold more Valkyries for Honda than any Honda salesman.  So, to anticipate your questions as to why I am now moving back to a Wing, after all these years, I submit the following explanation and rational.

This story should properly start with an explanation of why I quit on the Gold Wing many years ago, even though I believe that the Honda flat six, nee flat four, is by a wide margin the best motorcycle engine ever built.  The original Gold Wing was a landmark achievement.  In one preemptive strike, Honda re-defined what a comfortable sport-touring bike could be and should be.  And, by the way, it was a screamer. 

Then came the inevitable evolution away from the original concept of the bike,  the evolution to the two-wheeled minivans that were the last of Gold Wing SE models.  To me, the Gold Wings of recent vintage were not really motorcycles.   I don't mean to imply by that a "real" motorcycle has to shake like a Swedish sex appliance, leak oil, and emit ugly mechanical noises.  However, as the Wing evolved it sprouted more and more plastic until that beautiful motor was all but hidden, it grew trailer hitches out its back end, it grew cutesy plastic toys on its trunk lid, and it sprouted more switches and gadgets than the flight deck of a 747.  In short, it was "your grandfather's motorcycle," and it was most comfortable when herded sedately and vertically down the freeway, pulling a trailer loaded with enough stuff to furnish a three-bedroom house.  That doesn't work for me.

Then in 1997 Honda introduced the Valkyrie.  For me, it was a dream come true.  A brute of a motorcycle, based on that superb flat six, and harkening back to the greatness that made the original Gold Wing one of seminal achievements in motorcycling history.  I purchased one over the phone in the middle of a Minnesota winter, long before there were any on the street.  The first time I ever rode a Valkyrie, I owned it.  In one masterful stroke, Honda returned to what made the original Gold Wing great, and they did it with style.

Did the Valkyrie achieve perfection?  No, but it was a whole lot better than whatever was in a distant second place.  So, those of us that bought and loved the Valkyrie accepted its little failings because the overall result was spectacular.  It was easy for us to be happy and secure with our bikes, because we were riding a bike that had no serious competition.

With the introduction of the 2001 Gold Wing, the world has suddenly become more complicated, at least it has for me.  My take on the 2001 Wing is that Honda has taken many of most compelling features of both the Valkyrie and the Gold Wing, eliminated some of the most egregious faults of both bikes, and created yet another masterpiece.

At this point, the faults of the Valkyrie no longer seem quite so tolerable.  For example, the gas tank on the Valkyrie Standard and the Tourer is much too small; no self-canceling turn signals, no emergency flashers, and no center stand.  The Tourer, the best of the line in my opinion, is discontinued.  The Interstate has all of the above problems save the gas tank problem, and suffers from a lack of design integrity; you get the feeling when you look at the bike that it just doesn't all fit together as well as it should.  The fairing, the trunk, the side bags, and those air boxes are not examples of Honda's best work.   The Interstate fairing, for example, is a pretty sloppy piece of work, and the design of those air boxes is "Polish engineering" at its most outrageous.  Of course, that totally bizarre switch pod sets new standards for both complexity and bad design philosophy, and the appearance of the LCD display could charitably be described as unattractive. 

But, before the introduction of the 2001 Wing, all of these little faults seemed insignificant because they were a small price to pay to ride the best bike on the planet.  We could all smile knowingly, and say that these little things gave the bike "character."  Of course, we could also ask why Honda never seemed interested in fixing any of the above problems, all of which are pretty minor.   And, it is a bit hard not to feel that Big Red has abandoned us.  What is going to happen to the Valkyrie line?  No one seems to know, although rumors abound.

Finally, I am an old man with sufficient resources to do pretty much as I please.  At this juncture I would like to try the new Wing for a bit.  If Honda decides to do for the Valkyrie something as amazing as they have done for the Wing, I will be back in a heartbeat.  I still think that the Valkyrie is, without a doubt, the most smiles per buck available today; the new Wing, properly equipped, is hideously expensive. 

My biggest concern is all the wonderful people that I have come to know in the Valkyrie community.  I hope I am still welcome at the coming VOAi meeting, even on a Wing.  I have been to the first two national VOAi meetings, and while I am no longer quite as certain as I once was what the best bike on the planet is, I am still absolutely certain that the VOAi members are, as a group, the best people on the planet.

John Marshall 
Hurricane, UT
February 9, 2001

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