2004 Honda Valkyrie Rune
STORY BY BLAKE CONNER
Onr the top? Not If It IIctuaIly
worIca, which It does.
I
ntroverts shouldn't buy a Rune. If
keeping quietly to yourself is of paramount importance to you, if you
like hanging in the shadows of life (
letting others make the noise,
don't buy this bike. It gets way too
much attention for you.
I've ridden lots of bikes that
attract attention, some loud,
some flashy, some ugly, but the
Rune gets attention because
it's, well, pretty over the top.
Even to those who don't
know the difference between
a Harley and a Hayabusa,
the Rune stands out as a
completely larger-than-Iife
motorcycle. Reactions to it differ from those of any other custom on the road. The Rune is
more like driving the freakin' Batmobile down the street with the
afterburners lit. Come to think of it, if I
didn't know better, I'd swear the Rune
was some sort of one-off movie
machine that a comic-book character
would roll up on to save the day.
HOW IT CAME TO BE
The thing that separates the Rune
from almost every other custom
32
JULY
23,2003'
eye
...
n
eVIl's
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cruiser on the road is that it isn't a
customization of something else at
all, it's purpose built. If you look at all
of the cottage custom bike makers
out there, for the most part they have
one thing in common, and that's their
direct relation to the classic American
cruiser. They are just face-lifts on a
tried and true formula.
Even Honda's own line of cruisers
pay reverence at the alter of classic
cruiserdom, but not the Rune; it's
completely unique.
The thing about concept bikes is
that they are just that, design
concepts, a place for motorcycle designers to strut their
stuff. It also gives the
designers a way to
explore new ideas, even
though they know the
ideas may never see
the light of day. Many
of the concepts and
ideas that go through
this process eventually make it into production,
especially
styling exercises, but rarely
does the entire package make it.
That is what separates the Honda
