I bought my '98 Tourer last April, a little over 5 years after I laid my CBR1000F down on some black ice and hung up my helmet. The funny thing was, I had started to feel a certain "emptiness" riding the bike and had been  thinking about getting rid of it, so I figured somebody was just trying to tell me something. The bike was totaled but my insurance more than covered what I had in it, and I was thankful to have the thing out of my life. 

Well, as has happened numerous times in the past, not more than two years went by before I started to feel "the itch." About that time I saw a picture of the (then new) Valkyrie, and knew deep down inside that I'd own one someday. I went 'round and 'round with my wife about it, even making make-believe bets with her for about the price of a Valk in the hopes that she'd see the depths of my desire and give in. But it was not to be that easy. Time moved on, distractions came and went, and before I knew it, 5 years had gone by. I had periodically mentioned the idea of getting a cruiser one day, when I was "retired," and she seemed in no hurry for that day to come. Then, lo and behold, one day she tells me she heard on the  radio about some special financing Honda was offering on new Valkyries! Before you could say "no money down," I was off to the local Honda dealer for a look see. 

Fortunately, the first dealer I visited was asking list plus $500 (!) and the sales guy tried to talk me into an ST1100, so I went home empty handed. I say "fortunately" because, when I brought it up again with the SO, she tried to pretend she'd never said anything. We argued about it for a while, and she finally said, "well, you do whatever you need to do to make yourself  happy." Little did she know that I would take her up on it.  

A few more weeks went by while I tried to find a good deal on the "right" bike. I had settled on Black and Chrome but couldn't find a '98 and didn't want to pay list for a '00. Then one day I looked through the yellow pages  and decided to pay a visit to a dealer I'd never been to before, "just in case." Well, when I pulled into the parking lot what should my eyes behold,  but a beautiful Burgundy and Cream '98 Tourer! I'd never seen that combination before (since revealed to be just about the most common) and fell in love with it. And the icing on the cake was that they were selling  for about $2000 off list! To make a long story short, I rode it home. 

My wife was speechless, and literally did not talk to me for days. I reminded her of her statement regarding my happiness, to no avail. I  resolved to weather the storm, but it was to be 5 months before she would even look at the bike. I quickly found about the VRCC and joined in late spring, but other than reading a few of the articles I didn't really "get into it." And so began a period of intense self-examination, doubt, and more than a touch of "buyer's remorse." The initial novelty of the bike wore off quickly, to be replaced by a sense that something was still missing. Had I done the right thing? My word, I had just spent what amounted (for me) to a small fortune on a motorcycle! I even went so far as to list the bike in the local Cycle Trader, just to see if "I'd get any calls." Thanks heavens not a single person did. 

Finally, come fall my wife's resistance started to show some cracks. She casually mentioned one day that she'd "like to go for a ride." I could hardly contain myself but managed to keep a straight face and just sort of shrugged, pointing out that she'd conveniently "put away" her helmet after my incident with the CBR and hadn't seen hide nor hair of it since. I mentioned that I might be able to find one cheap in the classifieds and we left it at that. 

A week or two later I suggested that we stop at the local cycle shop to see if they might have any deals on helmets, and darned if they didn't have an HJC CL-2 sitting on the shelf for about 70 bucks! It seemed (to me) to take forever to get home, and we proceeded to get suited up together for the first time in over 5 years. She couldn't believe how comfortable the Valkyrie was (since made even more so with the addition of a Mustang seat), and immediately started talking about getting a new jacket and boots. Now, not a weekend goes by that she doesn't at least mention riding, and we have since put at least 1000 miles on the lady together. 

I asked her recently what she thinks about when we're out riding. After admitting that she sometimes just sits back and looks straight up at the sky (at which point I reminded her of how turkeys are known to drown that way in the rain), she said that she didn't really think about anything, that that was the whole point! She simply loves having the opportunity to get away from all her cares and worries and to just watch the world go by. She had never really enjoyed the CBR, but the Valkyrie was a revelation to her.

We have since grown closer than we've been in quite some time, and I owe it all to 700 pounds of metal, plastic and rubber. That and something else, something indescribable but nevertheless something we have all felt. How can an inanimate object possess such magic powers? How, indeed. Long live the Valkyrie! 

Todd H. (a.k.a. Bossman) 
VRCC #4128