Motorcycling: For The Executive Rider- Four Extraordinary Bikes
May 12, 2003
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Valkyrie Rune(Click image to enlarge)
Why would Honda, a company known for mass-producing motorcycles, build the exclusive Valkyrie Rune? Honda Senior Manager Gary Christopher answers the question with a confident smile and a simple explanation. “We don’t want to sound cocky,” says Christopher, “but the real answer is because we can. And we’re probably the only company that truly can make something so intricate into a production machine.”
The Rune began as an over-the-top dream—essentially, a concept vehicle that powered past the usual roadblocks of lawyers, marketers, and bean counters and onto the assembly line in Marysville, Ohio, next to Honda’s mainstream cruisers and touring bikes. Earlier this year, a number of buyers placed orders for the first Runes, which are expected to cost from $20,000 to $30,000, without ever seeing the bike in person.
The heart of the Rune is its massive fuel-injected engine, but its hot-rod body is the Rune’s highlight. Stylish details from its concept forerunner—the T2, a one-off show bike that Honda designed and constructed in 2000—have been incorporated into the Rune’s long, low, and finely sculpted chassis, giving it an appearance reminiscent of a custom bike builder’s one-of-a-kind masterpiece. The bike also features a rear suspension from the team’s world champion GP racer, and the largest brakes that the company has ever fitted to one of its machines.
Why design the Rune with such large brakes? Because, as Christopher says, Honda can. More important, because of its 1,832cc 6-cylinder engine, the Rune needs them. —Bill Heald
Honda, www.hondamotorcycles.com
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