I bought a new Valkyrie Tourer in 1998. The following year I rode to a VOA rally in Montrose, Colorado. A BBQ was held in nearby Crawford, where Joe Cocker lived. His wife Pam owned a local restaurant and catered the event, while Joe himself handed out some door prizes. There were several hundred Valkyries parked around the small town, and back at the hotel the parking lot was full of vendors selling stuff to make your Valk even more shiny. It was exciting to own such a revolutionary new bike that truly broke with the cruiser stereotype.
Honda still builds great motorcycles, but as I've said before I can't imagine their corporate culture allowing a radical bike like the Valkyrie to be introduced today. I doubt they'd even build something as unusual as the BMW R18. Times change.
A street full of Valkyries in Crawford back in 1999:
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