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Honda Valkyrie

cruiser motorcycle

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJun 6, 2026
Entity authorityQ1420449
Source-derived summary

The Honda Valkyrie is a motorcycle that was manufactured by Honda from 1997 to 2003. It was designated GL1500C in the US market and F6C ("Flat Six Custom") in other markets.

In the 1990s there was a resurgence of interest in cruiser motorcycles, that generally feature a V-twin engine. The idea of an American cruiser styled motorcycle featuring a flat six engine came from Josef Boyd.

The Valkyrie engine is a 1,520 cubic centimetres (93 cubic inches), liquid-cooled, horizontally opposed flat-six engine shared with Honda's Gold Wing 4th generation model, unlike the V-twin engine commonly found on "cruiser" style motorcycles. In its transplant from the Gold Wing, the most notable engine changes were the camshaft, use of solid lifters (instead of hydraulic lifters as the Gold Wing) and the change to six individual 28 mm carburetors, one for each cylinder, changes which increased power and torque.

The Valkyrie was offered with a reverse gear in Japan. The Valkyrie was made in the United States at the Honda motorcycle plant in Marysville, Ohio.

Other models

Standard, Tourer and Interstate

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

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Honda Valkyrie” is cruiser motorcycle. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Honda, Valkyrie and cruiser, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1997, 2003—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, Honda, Valkyrie and cruiser is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “cruiser motorcycle” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 6, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1420449. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1997 and 2003.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Honda Valkyrie”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Honda Valkyrie primary sources, Honda Valkyrie archive and Honda research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Honda Valkyrie”?
  2. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
  3. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Honda Valkyrie” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.