Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

1999 Valkyrie Interstate GL1500FT By Kit Palmer or a while there, the Valkyrie Interstate had me confused. I just couldn't decide whether I was riding a scaled-up Valkyrie cruiser or a scaled-down Gold Wing tourer. Initially, I subconsciously drifted toward the - "scaled-down Gold Win~" way of thinking; after all, when I hear the name "Interstate," I can't help but think back to the discontinued Gold Wing Interstate tourer. And when I see Gold Winglike niceties found on the new Interstate - such as a full audio system, a large travel trunk, a cushy seat, a large windscreen, and, of course, that one-of-akind, six-cylinder, horizontally opposed engine that hauls it all down the highway - again, I think Gold Wing. But if the reactions of my cruiser friends who swarmed all over the Interstate - including the one guy (a cruiserbike owner himself, it turned out) who followed me across town in his pickup truck and ran at least one stoplight just to get a closer look at it - are any indication as to what most people might think of it, maybe the Inte~state could be recognized as a pure cruiser with a stereo. Honda, however, describes the Valkyrie Interstate a a custom tourer, a bike that they say "redefines American tyling touring, taking the best elements . of its predeces ors and keeping the emphasis squarely on performance." So just why did Hor,da - a .. (Above) Dressed to • impress is the new Valkyrie Interstate, shown here fully donned In Honda's own accessories. (Left) The forkmounted fairing provides excellent wind protection. company that already produces the long-reigning king ~. of touring, the Gold Wing - add another long-distanc~ tourer to its fleet? Because the company felt there was enough room in the market for something with different style. "The idea to make the Valkyrie a serious tourer was actually just an idea that we had right here (in America)," Martin Manchester, project director at Honda R&D Americas, said. "It was just kind of natural, we felt, because the Valkyrie is based on a touring platform, and it's the best custom platform for touring. It was a natural extension of the Valkyrie Tour." With the Valkyrie Interstate, Honda is also hoping to perhaps attract more younger riders into the touring market by enticing them with the Valkyrie's trendy retro styling and modem performance. As Martin says, the Valkyrie Interstate is an extension of the Valkyrie Tour. Some of those more-obvious extensions include the addition of a 49liter rear passenger backrest/trunk, which is large enough to store two fuIlcoverage helmets. Attached to the back of the trunk are taillights that look like they came straight off an automobile built in the 1950s. And then there's the all-important fairing. Knowing quite well that the .'; Interstate's fairing would play a major role in determining the . bike's styling character, a lot of thought went into its design and .' function.. "What was crucial was the headlight area and the chrome, the trim and so forth, the breakup of materials," said Manchester. "That's largely kind of the bike's face and gives character to the machine. So the focus of our design work was developing the front end." But Honda designers found themselves with a little bit of a,. dilemma: How were they going to build a fairing large enough to offer Gold Wing-like protection without compromising their desired styling - or handling, for' that matter - if they went with a fork-mounted (a must for that retro look) design? They finally did settle on moun ting the fairing to the fork and, according to Honda, still achieved what they were looking for,' but not without a great deal of cooper- . ation between the engineers and the)' styling designers. And a lot of windtunnel testing. The designers also ended up going with a retro-styled, chrome-hooded twin-headlight system, and gave the Interstate a bit of Gold Wing ch.aracter by decorating the base of the windshield with a large chrome trim. Nestled inside the fairing is a retrostyle instrument display panel that features an analog speedometer with elec- tronic pickup, an analog tachometer, an LCD odometer, a fuel-level gauge, a clock and an audio display. Mounted to the left handlebar is the control module .for the audio system (which includes CB and intercom). Honda designers were also challenged by the Interstate's "lowers." The lowers, of course, had to have that retro look and be small enough not to block the view of the engine, but they also had to be large enough to pr9tect the rider's leg from the eJements - not to mention redirect air into and out of the engine's radiator area. In the accompanying photos, you can see what they came up with. Nice job. With the addition of the trunk, fairing, lowers and audio system, among other ,... - . (Above) The lowers are '.; stylish yet effective.. (Right) The Interstate's: chair is very comfortable .~ for both rider end .:: passenger. ::. things, the Interstate gained some 60 pounds in weight, which adds up to a hefty 771 total pounds. This is Honda's claimed dry-weight figure, mind you, so it's safe to say that the Interstate tips the scale at well over 800 pounds by the time you actually hit the open highways. As a result of this increase of weight, and the likelihood that you'll be carrying a passenger with you on your long journeys, the chassis featur.es added gusseting in key areas to increase strength as well as beefed-up suspension setting , and they have installed larger brakes. And the motor has also been tweaked here and there to com· pen ate for the surplus. Engine modifications include revised camshaft timing for higher rpm capability, new carburetion settings, different ignition timing, and a new free-flow.ing, six-in to-six exhaust system. For 'your added comfort, a rubber rear ,engine mount replaces the standard yalkyrie's solid mount to minimize engine vibration. To extend stops between fill-ups, . the Interstate's fuel capacity has been .,inG~.~.,,!~edt~ 6:9 gallons, which is

• Cover