Head 'em up
From Tombstone we turned north, skirting Tucson and Phoenix, heading for the red rocks of Sedona. Darkness fell, the terrain rose, and the temperature dropped back into the 30s. We were glad for our windshields now, even if they did cast a few reflections. Deer and coyotes dashed across the road occasionally to keep us alert.
For effectively bunting the passing air away from the rider, no other shield matches the Valkyrie's (although the A.C.E. Tourer's was close). The Valkyrie windshield is wider than the others, and it minimizes buffeting from wind rushing past it. Both the Harley and Kawasaki have strong streams of air blowing under the windshields and up. These updrafts not only reduce the wind-deflecting effects of the shields but can blow water or dust up into your helmet or behind your glasses. The Honda produces a larger still-air pocket than its rivals and made the Valkyrie very popular on cold rides. Most riders also complained of excess buffeting behind the Nomad's windshield. For some it was a significant annoyance.
Pull two clips, and the Road...
Pull two clips, and the Road King windshield pops right off, leaving you with an unfettered view and a bike that looks much more like a boulevard cruiser. Because of the annoying distortion near its top edge, the Harley shield was the one we would most want to remove. It provides less wind protection than the Valkyrie's windshield too.
Of course, that cozy still-air pocket created by the Valkyrie windshield can be a detriment during warm weather, especially because the big engine produces a fair amount of heat. We thought the cylinders made great foot warmers at 37 degrees, but owners complain of the heat during summer. There are other drawbacks to windshields. One is distortion. All motorcycle windshields create a little, but the Harley distorts quite a bit. Distortion near the top of the shield made lines on both side of the road appear to turn toward the center more than they did, which could be disorienting. Unless you are six feet or taller, we'd recommend cutting this windshield down. The Valkyrie shield is slightly taller, but its optics are excellent, even better than the Nomad.
The Nomad windshield has provisions for about two inches of adjustment, which was welcome. However, Harley can go one better. Pull two clips, and the Road King's shield and most of its bracketry lift right off. This turns the bike into a boulevard cruiser in a matter of seconds.
All the shields create some glare. The Valkyrie's made the most during the day, when sun reflected off the chrome gas cap and the chrome bezel around it, putting glare just about in the rider's line of sight. There was a smaller amount of instrument lighting reflected at night. The Harley also had some daytime reflection, although farther below your eye level. Both it and the Nomad had little nighttime glare from the speedometer lighting.
All three bikes have good forward lighting, which we appreciated with wildlife dancing across the road. The Valkyrie headlight performed slightly better than the other two. The spotlights on the Road King help to spread the lighted area slightly but don't have a lot of reach. Working dimmer, turn signal and spotlight switches can sometimes be a chore when you are wearing bulky cold-weather gloves. Fortunately, the controls of all three bikes operated smoothly with heavy gloves.
Wide and designed to effectively...
Wide and designed to effectively block air from getting past it at the bottom, the Valkyrie windshield provided significantly better protection than either of the others. The Valkyrie windscreen also had excellent optical qualities and very little buffeting. It does not detach or adjust and might be too warm in hot weather.
Run 'em around
We spent the next day riding locally, and we got to cruise around Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon without the usual loads of gear. This was hard-core cruising duty: low speeds, engines loafing at low rpm, soaking up the breathtaking beauty of the local geology, and, as Cherney remarked, "getting in touch with your inner crankshaft."
These three open-road runners readily adapt to urban duty. All three make strong low-speed power. They can pull away from a stop with just a suggestion of throttle, and happily trickle through side streets at engine speeds below 2000 rpm. Add predictable, low-effort handling at walking speeds and you get machines that are as manageable in town as they are on the interstate, although the Harley and Kawasaki had a slight edge in this role. With their capacious saddlebags, all three are great grocery getters or daily briefcase toters. The Honda was slightly more awkward when we were paddling around trying to park them, in part because its footpegs get in the way of your legs.
All three bikes consistently shifted smoothly and positively, although the Harley is still somewhat noisier than the others during gear changes. No one registered any complaints about gear staging. Harley's neutral position sometimes required a bit of fishing, but it was a snap on the Nomad, which with Kawasaki's neutral finder feature automatically stops in neutral when you upshift from first gear at a stop. The Valkyrie's clutch was judged the best because it requires a light pull and engages most progressively. The Nomad clutch offers a light pull and a wide, adjustable lever blade but somewhat abrupt engagement. The Road King requires a strong pull on its wide-blade lever and has a shorter engagement span than the Honda. Harley's cable operation also permits a degree of adjustability.
By loosening eight allen screws,...
By loosening eight allen screws, you can adjust the Nomad's windshield through a two-inch vertical range, permitting most riders to get it out of their lines of sight. It is optically equal to the Honda shield, but its wind protection is not as good because wind comes under the bottom and up. It also created more buffeting than the others.
Lean 'em over
We rolled out of Sedona before the sun arrived the next morning. Temperatures hovered around freezing as we rode through Cottonwood, the revived ghost town of Jerome and Prescott, then wound down to the desert floor again. Even though our face shields were frosting up in places, we quickly forgot the cold as our attention was absorbed by the writhing road, which meandered up and over mountains through the Prescott National Forest.
The twists of the road invigorated everyone, even the unshielded rider on the Road Star. We only paused to attend to the Harley, which stopped first because the fuel tank was overfilled and then because a bolt in the shift linkage had backed out. That was the biggest problem we had with the Harley in 2000 miles (though it would have stopped us if we hadn't brought our own tools). We also discovered that the knurled metal knob atop the dipstick had pulled loose from the rubber cover beneath, which made oil-level checks messier and a bit more time-consuming. None of the other bikes had any mechanical problems at all. The Harley consumed almost a quart of oil. The Nomad (which wasn't fully broken in when the ride started) used about half that much. The Valkyrie used virtually none.
Our romp through the mountains focused attention on handling and, during the downhill run, on brakes. You might expect these hefty-looking machines to get downright truck-like on winding roads, but, as a class, their handling is actually better than other cruisers. You expect good stability on the highway, and they all deliver that. But you might not count on retaining that stability and surefootedness while leaned over at 70 mph in a downhill sweeper with bits of undercarriage leaving long curving gouges in the pavement. Yet all three create confidence in exactly that situation as well.
The Nomad has the most responsive steering. It turns the quickest, though the Valkyrie is equally precise. The Harley, though not far from the other two, seems the least precise. (These heavy bikes are even more sensitive to tire pressures than other classes of cruisers, and it pays to frequently check that they are fully inflated.) Some of the Harley's imprecision results from suspension that isn't as well controlled as the other two. Our Harley had about 6000 miles on it when the ride started, so its suspension may have begun to wear a little. (The others started with less than 1000 miles each.) The Valkyrie suspension earns top marks, giving great control through corners, even bumpy ones, and soaking up the blemishes, pits and pockmarks of road acne with grace. The Nomad gets close but can't quite match the suspension performance of the Valk. With the least travel and less damping control than the others, the Road King delivers the roughest ride, but again, it's not that bad. For those who take cornering seriously, the Valkyrie provides the most cornering clearance before its pegs touch the pavement. The 'King and the Nomad drag their floorboards loudly, though the Kawasaki does so slightly sooner than the Harley.
After our long, fast run down the winding road cascading to the desert, only the Kawasaki rider had nothing but kind words for his brakes. Our Valkyrie was slightly mushy up front and its brakes had faded slightly, demanding a bit more effort at the lever. Of course, it also entered corners faster than the others. The Road King brakes require more pressure and provide less feedback than the other two. With triple discs all around, all three bikes have the braking power to make strong stops from these speeds. The tires also give you more braking traction than most OE cruiser rubber.
 The Road King offers fender-tip...  The Road King offers fender-tip lighting, an air-adjustable fork, whitewall tires, and the option of switching from the more functional standard cast wheels with tubeless tires to the wire wheels we got for $320. The brakes are high-effort but effective. |  Flanked by its distinguishing...  Flanked by its distinguishing inverted fork legs, the Valkyrie's cast front wheel is shod with tubeless radial tires, which offer good traction. Our bike's front brake was mushier than we'd expect from a Valkyrie but still offered good stopping power. |  Pretty and functional, the...  Pretty and functional, the Nomad's cast-alloy front wheel wears blow-out resistant tubeless radial rubber. The bike's twin dual-piston front brakes offered the best braking, and its adjustable handlebar lever was the best fit for smaller hands. |