New Bike Test
Words: Justin Law Photos: Stuart Grant
H
onda’s Valkyrie has always been different to anything else and lovers of old-school cruisers had a fantastic alternative with the original back in 1996. What better way to celebrate one of the biggest engines on the market than to strip off its heavy overcoat and let it run naked? The horizontal flat-six is the only thing you’ll find in common between
that first Valkyrie and this new foray into the custom/sports cruiser arena. Even that’s different — and extra 300cc over the 1520cc original. The new F6C is more paint and plastic — at least on our example, which is the metallic blue. You can also get black or red, which come with chrome touches around the fuel tank and engine heads but if you’re looking for a big, rumbling, shiny cruiser, you’re not going to find one here. Remember the Rune that came out Cruiser & Trike
14
in 2003? That was all modern Art Deco with a weird triangular exhaust and loads of chrome. Then Honda went concept with the EVO6 in 2007, which was a nakedbike with again that new 1832cc engine. The F6C is somewhere in between with one distinct styling compromise: the radiator shrouds. The side radiators came out on the Goldwing in 2001, but the Valkyrie didn’t adopt the new engine configuration and petered out in 2003. The Rune and EVO6 had front