What caught my attention was the silence in the shadows of Main Street as the bike turned into my path. I could tell by its faint silhouette that it was a custom of some kind; periodically, a streetlight’s reflection would glisten on its engine cases. It wasn’t until the rider stopped ahead of me and I approached the bike that I could see it was a Honda flat six, meaning it was a stripped Honda Gold Wing or a Valkyrie. After a quick glance around the bike, my first thought was how easily a job like this could be completed and yet have so much visual impact.

Mike Cormier had this bike in his possession for close to a year. Dabbling in the buying and selling of motorcycles, he bought it on the premise that he would ride it until it sold, even though it was far from his style of bike. The Valkyrie was a touring model with hard bags, big windshield, wide pullback handlebar and fully valanced fenders. In addition to all that, it sported custom “chrome illusion purple” paint that would turn green depending on the angle it was viewed. The bike never sold, so he figured there was only one thing left to do. Chop it up!

Mike called on his friend Kenny Murphy from Mill Road Metal Works, and together the pair went to town stripping the bike. The handlebar came from a piece of stainless steel tubing he had picked up at a local machine shop, and the handlebar risers came courtesy of a neighbour. At about $22 each, Mike picked the front and rear trailer fenders up at Princess Auto, cutting and modifying them to fit. Finally, Mike banged out some homemade side covers to round out the bodywork. With the new side covers, the coolant overflow tank wouldn’t fit, but with a little ingenuity, Mike adapted a brake fluid reservoir from a New Holland tractor to do the job.

The seat was the biggest surprise. Mike didn’t really know what he was going to do about a seat, and since he was building the bike for himself, he wanted it in just the right spot for a comfortable reach to the bars and the foot pegs. As a temporary seat, he placed the pillion seat on the frame and found out by sheer accident that if you wiggle it just right, it clips into the frame without any modification to the seat pan or the frame. What’s more, it’s comfortable and in the right place!

After just a few days’ work and a flat, black paint job, Mike was back on the road with his bike, now named Thor.

Mike loves the Honda flat-six engine as well as the ride, so he wasn’t about to change anything there. He also wasn’t about to mess with the Two Brothers exhaust headers and mufflers that came with the bike. “If I’m on the highway with a full-face helmet on, this bike sounds just like a Ferrari.”

Mike’s Valkyrie has only been in this form since midsummer, but he has already taken it to the strip. He estimates he’s removed about 100 pounds from the bike, and with a bone-stock engine, except for the pipes, he turned a quarter-mile time of 12.4 seconds at 108 mph. Not bad for only his third time on the track.

Who says you can’t make a statement with just a little know-how and a few inexpensive parts? Quiet is the new loud. This bike stands out, for one reason, because of its stealth. If it were loud, I wouldn’t have given it a second glance. MMM

Owner: Mike Cormier
Make: Honda
Model: 1999 Valkyrie
Builder: Mike Cormier and Kenny Murphy
Time to Build: Six evenings and a couple Saturdays
Name of Bike: Thor

Engine and Transmission
Year: 1999
Builder: Stock
Displacement: 1520 cc
Cases: Stock
Heads: Stock
Lower End: Stock
Carburetors: Stock
Air Cleaner: K&N air filter
Ignition: Stock with a six-degree trigger wheel
Exhaust: Two Brothers Racing – powder coated
Clutch: Hydraulic

Frame
Builder: Stock
Type: Stock
Rake: Stock
Shocks: Progressive Suspension
Modifications: Custom exhaust hangers
Front End
Builder: Stock
Type: Stock
Triple Trees: Stock
Modifications: Removed all unnecessary items

Painting: Kenmac Auto Body, Kensington, PEI

Wheels
Front Size: 17 x 3.5
Builder/Manufacturer: Honda
Tire Make and size: 150/80-17 Dunlop Elite 3
Rear Size: 16 x 5.5
Builder/Manufacturer: Honda
Tire Make and size: 180/70-16 Dunlop Elite 3

Essentials
Gas Tank: Stock, repositioned
Fenders: Princess Auto trailer fenders reworked
Seat: Stock pillion
Handlebars: 40 inches long, 1-inch diameter stainless tubing
Headlight: Stock with powder coated rim
Taillight: Harrison LED with a Kuryakyn brake/run/turn module

Photography by Glenn Roberts