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Anybody take pause at that title? No? Well, I thought I'd post this note for a couple of reasons. 1)To show off a little... 2) and to let folks know that Honda never made a 1997 Valkyrie Tourer with the Black/Yellow Bumblebee color combination. It was only offered on the Standard.

So, I had to make one. I'm pretty sure there are only a handful in the world. And I have one!

I bought my '97 way back in 2015. Sold my '84 Aspencade right after buying it. (I kept the black '78). Purchased from a Mesa, AZ police officer, I was shocked to find he had the popular Cobra 6 into 6 pipes on it...with NO BAFFLES! They looked great and I liked them, but the very first thing I bought for this bike was a set of baffles for those pipes.

Here's how it looked the day after I bought it. Maiden voyage if you will. LeatherLyke bags and Tourer windshield came on the bike. For a while, I ran the full naked solo look. But Mama liked riding this bike and I got tired of switching back and forth between solo and rear seat and rack. Besides, this is a road bike and a road bike needs carrying capacity. The next summer, a buddy and I took a trip to Colorado and I grew to hate two things on that trip. The Cobras and the aftermarket LeatherLyke bags. So, I set about seeing what I could do about that. As luck would have it, an older local gentleman was "triking" his Tourer and was selling all the take-off stuff. I made out like a bandit - except for the color. At the same time, I had an opportunity to buy a very desirable set of Viking pipes that would go great with the Tourer bags. While the bags were out for paint, I installed the Vikings. To be honest, neither the guy selling them nor I realized what they were. I just knew I was getting large diameter equal length ceramic coated pipes with 36" glass packs. $150! Used, they go for almost a grand. Like I said, I made out like a bandit. Imagine my surprise when I realized this!

I also put on a Mustang seat and a few farkles, but that's pretty much it. Oh and I've put on right at 30k miles.

Couple of "as she sit" shots. For some reason, they wouldn't attach to the previous post. I have also added a set of Progressive 430's that lowered the rear about an inch and a half. The lake shot is before lowering. The Grand Canyon is after...

The paint guy duplicated Honda's color and pinstripes to a T!

Oh! One other VERY important, no essential, addition to ANY Valkyrie is this

Yep, a Phat Ghurl just HAS to have a Dragon somewhere. I have one on the front of the rear fender on each side...

That is a cool bike desertrefugee! Can't wait to climb back on my 99 tourer come spring, that is except for my 78 GL1000 for shorter runs. You have stirred up my wanting to get out and go.

beautiful bike. I walked past a standard just like it for 2 years every time I went to my local bike shop..
still kicking my ass for not buying it.

Desertrefugee you have planted a seed in my brain. I have a black rat that needs some work, and I was wondering what to do, but now I know. I am currently getting set up to do painting, as in setting up a painting room in one of my disused sheds.
I am taking pictures of my spray room construction and maybe I will post some pictures here, just to bore everyone to oblivion.

That is a GREAT paint match!

Personally, I went with a rhino theme. The black & grey color scheme was calling for it.

Very nice paint job. Is that a pearl or metal flake?

Liam - look forward to your paint shop and paint project. Nice to know what other people used for their paint project, paint gun, etc because I painted my '95 1500 - Pearl Glacier White and '85 Limited Edition Gold Wings - two tone gold/brown metal flake with pinstripe.

The black and yellow is probably my 2nd or 3rd favorite paint scheme the Valkyrie came in, and only because I can't quite place where "overall black" belongs on the list.

The only stock colors I would consider better are the purple and cream. Mostly for the audacity of owning a purple motorcycle.

Curious to know why you didn't like the Leatherlykes? Was it because of looks or function?

Sagebrush wrote: ↑Sun Jan 31, 2021 11:11 am Curious to know why you didn't like the Leatherlykes? Was it because of looks or function?

1) They leaked like a sieve.
2) The tassles buffed the area behind them smooth (from the constant scrubbing in the wind).
3) They developed stress cracks and needed to be reinforced. (Mount holes).
4) Hokey lower support consisted of a piece of nylon (or some white polymer) that rubbed/rode on the shock.
5) Didn't really care for the look.

Rednaxs60 wrote: ↑Sun Jan 31, 2021 10:54 am Very nice paint job. Is that a pearl or metal flake?

Thanks Ernest. It's a very fine textured pearl. I was surprised and pleased he was able to match it so well.

Liam wrote: ↑Sun Jan 31, 2021 7:07 am Desertrefugee you have planted a seed in my brain. I have a black rat that needs some work, and I was wondering what to do, but now I know. I am currently getting set up to do painting, as in setting up a painting room in one of my disused sheds.
I am taking pictures of my spray room construction and maybe I will post some pictures here, just to bore everyone to oblivion.

I think Mother Honda got it right on the Valyrie two-tone paint scheme. I suspect it'd translate well onto similarly configured bikes. I have a friend with a gorgeous pearl dark red and pearl cream '98 Valk.