I saw it and sat on it during Daytona Bikeweek. In my opinion this bike is in search of it's own identity and design is confusing. What is it, a cruiser or sport tourer or maybe a version of a standard? Here is why:
Cruiser riders want a chromed bike with metal tanks, fenders etc. Cruiser riders want to see an engine exposed and as little plastic on the bike as possible. And most of all cruiser guys love their v-twin motors the most. This bike is all plastic, motor is very hidden and what's exposed is very boring to look at. It has very little chrome (I actually prefer the blacked out version in blue). Also, leg position for a cruiser is all wrong. Cruisers are made to be stretched out and comfy for slow riding (hence cruising) around town, which usually means feet forward. This bike felt cramped in comparison (I'm 6') and due to engine design it is impossible to stretch your legs further without putting legs very apart. Also, cruisers have either no radiator or it is nicely hidden in the middle. This bike has two of them with unattractive huge plastic shrouds around them making the bike look like it has very broad shoulders in the front, making the headlight look small in proportions. As far as 'power cruisers' go there is again too much plastic as well as engine being hidden from view where the whole purpose of having a muscle engine is to display it and make you excited to see it.
Sport tourer? Because this bike is really half a F6B when you think about it. Same engine and transmission, nothing really new here, and the bottom half looks very similar. Hell, I think that the plastic shroud arond the engine with fog light mounts is the same or extremely similar to the one on F6B. Even the fog lights cutouts are square with no square lights offered yet by Honda to fit there! The smoothness of this engine makes it a great sport touring ride, provided of course that Honda comes out with windshield and bags for it. I'm actually surprised to see Honda revealing this bike without these items showcased right away, I think that is a marketing mistake. It would seem that the legs have great protection from the elements, but somehow the top half of the body is left totally exposed. I think with bags and some kind of windshield or even fairing this bike will defeat it's purpose as a cruiser and be closer to F6B mission as a sport tourer. But there already is F6B, which does this much better.
Standard Bike? I'd say yes, more so than a cruiser due to upright seating position, not very forward pegs and also no wind protection to upper torso at all. In fact, I believe this is where this bike belongs the most. But, we all know standard bikes don't sell here much, so we better call it a cruiser as they are the number one selling category of bikes in the US.
So, a conflicting design with no real improvements over the existing designs. However, it should be a great riding bike, because of the upright comfortable ergos, powerful yet smooth engine and transmission and great Honda reliability and quality. I think this is a bike that can eat Harleys for breakfast in every department except the looks but I don't believe it will be a big seller for Honda due to one big fact- Harley guys, hell all cruiser guys really ultimately want a Harley. People that will buy this Valkyrie in my opinion will not be converts from the Harley fold, not much anyway, due to it's looks and other things I mentioned earlier. I also believe that many previous Valkyrie owners will not buy this version in drones as it is much different in design elements than the previous ones. I also don't see many GW and F6B converts. I think that people buying it will be existing Honda guys and GW/F6B/Older Valk owners that want to add this one to their stable due to their love of engine and Honda proven reliability. Some will buy it so they would be different from a typical cruiser rider.
But to me, as nice as this version of Valkyrie is, it is not very attractive looking and it seems like a half of F6B, in fact an F6B without fairing and bags. Which is not enough for me to buy one now. I believe their price will drop with time as some will sit in dealerships after a while and be sold at discounts. I think they are overpriced, hell they almost cost as much as F6B (I paid $17,350 out the door for mine new Standard Black) and the true price should be less than $15,000 to sell decent.
I do applaud Honda for making it and not blindly following the Harley mainstream design like so many other manufacturers. It should prove to be a great riding and reliable bike with more power than most cruisers out there. I am looking forward to seeing some customized versions in the future addressing some design shortcomings, such as an abundance of plastic covers etc. Hell, I may even get one in the future when the price is much lower and after I see the windshield and saddlebags looks first.
Sorry for the long post but you asked!