The Honda Valkyrie is a motorcycle

Motorcycle

A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...

 that was manufactured by Honda

Honda

is a Japanese public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles.Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than...

, from model years 1997 to 2003. It was designated GL1500C in the US market and F6C in other markets.

The Valkyrie engine is a 1520 cc liquid cooled, horizontally-opposed flat-six engine transplanted from Honda's Goldwing

Honda Goldwing

The Honda Gold Wing is a touring motorcycle designed and manufactured by Honda. It was introduced October 1974, and went on to become a popular model in North America, Western Europe and Australia. Over the course of its history, it has had numerous modifications to its design. In 1975 it featured...

 model. This was unusual since most "cruiser" style motorcycles

Cruiser (motorcycle)

Cruiser is the term for motorcycles that mimic the design style of American machines from the 1930s to the early 1960s, including those made by Harley-Davidson, Indian, Excelsior and Henderson. The market for models evocative of the early cruisers has grown to embrace 60 percent of the U.S...

 were based on a V-twin engine design similar to the engine of a Harley-Davidson

Harley-Davidson

Harley-Davidson , often abbreviated H-D or Harley, is an American motorcycle manufacturer. Founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, during the first decade of the 20th century, it was one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression...

. In its transplant from the Goldwing, the most notable engine changes were the camshaft

Camshaft

A camshaft is a shaft to which a cam is fastened or of which a cam forms an integral part.-History:An early cam was built into Hellenistic water-driven automata from the 3rd century BC. The camshaft was later described in Iraq by Al-Jazari in 1206. He employed it as part of his automata,...

 and the change to six individual 28 mm carburetor

Carburetor

A carburetor , carburettor, or carburetter is a device that blends air and fuel for an internal combustion engine. It is sometimes shortened to carb in North America and the United Kingdom....

s, one for each cylinder, changes which increased power

Power (physics)

In physics, power is the rate at which energy is transferred, used, or transformed. For example, the rate at which a light bulb transforms electrical energy into heat and light is measured in watts—the more wattage, the more power, or equivalently the more electrical energy is used per unit...

 and torque

Torque

Torque, moment or moment of force , is the tendency of a force to rotate an object about an axis, fulcrum, or pivot. Just as a force is a push or a pull, a torque can be thought of as a twist....

.

The Valkyrie was offered with a reverse gear in Japan. The Valkyrie was made in the U.S.A. at the Honda motorcycle plant in Marysville

Marysville, Ohio

Marysville is a city in and the county seat of Union County, Ohio, United States. The population was 15,942 at the 2000 census, and the Census Bureau estimated that it had risen to 17,621 by 2006.Marysville's longtime slogan is "Where the Grass is Greener"...

, Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

.

Standard, Tourer and Interstate

On introduction in 1997, a naked Standard and a Tourer model were offered. The Tourer included a windshield and lockable hard saddlebags.

In 1999, the Interstate model was added to the lineup, which included a fork-mounted fairing along with a trunk at the rear of the motorcycle.

As sales eventually dwindled, the Interstate and Tourer models were dropped after 2001, leaving only the Standard model remaining. 2003 saw the Standard offered only in black and was the last year of the original Valkyrie.

Rune

Honda introduced a limited edition model in 2003 named the Valkyrie Rune with a 1832 cc engine. It was a major departure from the original Valkyrie in styling and purpose.

EVO6 concept

Honda presented the EVO6 concept motorcycle at the Tokyo Motor Show 2007. Based on the flat-six 1832 cc engine from the Goldwing, the EVO6 produces more power than its touring ancestor. The EVO6 features Honda's Human Friendly Transmission

Human Friendly Transmission

The Human Friendly Transmission is the name of a proprietary Continuously variable transmission made by Honda for some of its motorcycles. It has been used on the Honda DN-01 and on the EVO6 concept motorcycle....

(HFT) transmission that can be operated in a fully automatic mode or a six-speed manual mode.