Total and utter insanity! That's the Honda Valkyrie Rune summed up in a nutshell. Seeing one for the first time makes you question your sanity, or Honda's. It's like the deepest, darkest parts of your nightmare psyche have manifested in the flesh. Or in this case, chrome.
It's the look of the thing that first grabs your attention. It's huge, it curves elegantly everywhere and there's just *so* much chrome! This is one Cruiser that knows which target Audience it's aiming at. Big, brash and glittering it shouts 'look at me' with every beat of that throbbing exhaust note.
It's not just a big bike though, it's a heavy bike. It weighs in at about 350kg but the engineers at Honda have done an excellent job of keeping all the really heavy parts down low in the frame which makes her feel balanced and poised when you ride her. She could so easily have been heavy and sluggish but she's certainly not.
The engine purrs and then kicks like a donkey. Turn into a bend and she digs and growls, shooting out of the apex and leaping down the road for more. I'm not saying she's a road racer you understand, but this is a cruiser through and through. The engine is so smooth and the saddle so comfortable you could stay sitting on this dream of a bike for hour after hour. And enjoy every minute.
So why doesn't everyone have one then? Because Honda designed and built them for Americans, who as we know only ride Harleys (or mopeds), and didn't think there was market for them in the UK or Europe. So we have to either import one by ourselves - if we can find one - or hope that they come up for sale and then catch them before they are gone again.
But for one lucky person an opportunity beckons. I've seen one for sale in a shop. Fasttrack Motorcycles in Leicester must have sold their soul to the devil and taken her in part exchange. Who in their right mind would part with one of these once they had one is what I want to know. But part with her they have and now she's for sale.
Seeing a one in the flesh, or chrome, was what prompted me to write this piece in fact. It's not often that a bike stops me in my tracks these days and when they do I can almost guarantee they are hand-crafted custom builds. But the Valkyrie Rune is like nothing else on earth. What an aptly named machine. After all Valkyrie's fly don't they? And so does Joe Dredd's Lawbringer in 2000AD.
But for now she sits there alone with a 13,000 price tag and demands your attention. Not just *your* attention either but in fact the looks and admiration (or consternation) of absolutely *everyone* who walks by. Go take a look for yourself if she's still there and hasn't already been sold. It'll be worth the trip and something you will most probably never see again or ever forget.
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