I'm looking to get a cruiser for the occasional weekend ride.
Ones i have seen so far that i liked are
Kawasaki Vulcan 900
Suzuki C109r Boulevard 1800
Honda VT1300
Harley V Rod.
Never looked at this kind of bike before, so i know SFA about them.
Fill me in on your thoughts.
Last edited by Turbo 351; 26-11-11 at 05:10 PM.
Diavel?
landcruiser v8.
Member of PF v12 club incTM
I had a kawasaki vn900, it was a great bike. I had some troubles with the battery terminals, but otherwise nothing went wrong in the 20,000km i owned it. When i got it i rode the suzuki, harley and yammie, the kawasaki had the best ride and features for the price.
Im looking at upgrading to something bigger (the vn900 was about as fast as a 600cc sports) like a mean streak, but that all depends on your riding experience.
2001 Hyundai Accent GS
Hyper australia (incl Forums): http://www.hyperaustralia.com
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C109 or M109 in my opinion, I highly doubt the VN900 would be as quick as a 600cc sportsbike (high 10 to low 11 qtrs) as a M109 only pulls 12s.
VN900 also has a top speed of less than 200km/h. Basically, you'd have a better chance of getting a blowjob from a supermodel than you would keeping up with a 600cc sportbike on a VN900.
Street: 2010 Triumph Daytona 675 SE
Race: 2006 Suzuki GSXR-750 (it's fixed!)
Limited Racing: 2009 Kawasaki ER6N
Oh and as far as cruisers go, my vote is for the v-rod (preferably night rod) or a Rocket III. Or a goldwing, mainly because I kinda like the idea of a six cylinder bike with a 6 stack CD player and a factory fitted esky behind the riders seat. What could possibly go wrong?
Street: 2010 Triumph Daytona 675 SE
Race: 2006 Suzuki GSXR-750 (it's fixed!)
Limited Racing: 2009 Kawasaki ER6N
They will make your ego grow but your nuts shrivel.
If you must get one then the M109R and Rocket III are the obvious choices for someone with the money & more interested in performance rather than being a pederass.
Originally Posted by TRD-RT81
I've previously had a xv535, vn1600 and a Bonneville America and for handling/fun/ride/looks the little Bonnie was my favourite. Any twin over 1300cc is flawed in my opinion and about as fun as punting a diesel -there isn't any point revving past 3500rpm.
But while cruisers are great when you're in the mood, you'll yearn for something sportier the rest of the time.
I have learned that they are shit if you have a bad back because sitting bolt upright causes bumps and undulations in the road to smash into your spine.
Your social better.
kind of opposite direction, have you looked at Yamaha MT-01's? big cruiser engine in a big naked sporty chassis, they look tough as nails, and you dont see many of them on the road.
^ seen a few in Melb, fuck they are a huge bike.
guy at work has a Kawasaki 900 as his daily, he loves it. Does big rides with the old farts league too. Only thing he found though was that when he put on the big front clear screen, the wind buffering was terrible. He has no screen on it now at all.
Looking seriously at picking up a 2012 night rod special in Feb, then maybe a set of pipes, flatter bars, lower it and a 300mm rear end...
Plus this rear end/tyre
Phwoa that night rod is fat !
FYI
Ride one first with that rear end. God damn they are horrible.
Also belated lol at the VN900 being 600 sportsbike fast! Fuck me!
Thanks Muz, yeah i have heard that they don't handle the best with a 300 rear. To be honest-it won't be doing any corners fast.
Can you define the 'horrible'
Thanks mate
I normally despise cruisers, but fuck that night rod and victory are good looking bikes
that is the correct answer.
after spending time on an '07 softy, i definitely appreciate the newer HD stuff. the $$$ are a bit stupid, though. on the upside, they don't seem to depreciate!
i also really like the Diavel... would consider one for the nopics.
have you looked at the new V-Max?
but personally, i have found this to be the perfect cruiser;
Why do you want a cruiser? Because of the way it looks, the way it rides or its comfort level? If the first one, then you want a cruiser. If the 2nd or 3rd, you may find some sportsbikes will actually be incredibly comfortable to rack up easy miles.
I started out riding on cruisers, had a virago and test rode a Honda vt750 and xv535. I liked the whole black and chrome look, and the idea of riding into the sunset.
Less than a year into riding, learnt that black and chrome take a whole lot of work to keep looking good, and riding into the sunset sucks balls because you can't see shit.
I now have a "dual sport" tourer. Easy to ride, lots of luggage options, handles, stops, is more than fast enough for me, and comfortable as all hell. Put on 4500km over 5 days in June, up to Cairns and back.
Fook.
Those tyres make them so reluctant to turn in and they have no give. So the ride is horrible and you are crapping your pants wondering if you will actually get i to turn the next corner.
You give the throttle a squeeze to overtake someone and it keeps heading across onto the wrong side of the road and you have to manhandle it back. It is is much to do with super low rear end as it is the massive tyre but the result is a horrible experience.
If looks are your thing then you might be cool with the compromise but you do need to try one first.
The advantage of the Harley over every other pretender is depreciation. If you look after the thing you lose fuck all on the big twins.
I still say M109R and change the headlight to something you like...
A mate had a ZX14 with a stretched swingarm and a 300 setup in it.
It used to light the rear tyre up like crazy in a straight line but was very controllable because the wheelbase was so long.
But you almost needed to do a 3 point turn to turn right at a round about.
Another mate has a R1`with a 240 rear in it and he reckons that it is not too bad a compromise.
Ban low performance drivers not high performance cars
I had a M109R, clutch dumps never get old... Awesome fun wheelspinning as you blast off into the distance
That said they are pretty rapid with tre I had it maxed in 5th the needle goes to the end of the speedo $2.40+which is fast for a brick and with an open face lid LOL, and a full on launch will keep up with almost anything for about 80-100m but then it's pretty lame, even my car is quicker over the 1/4
Buy a nice cruiser a real proper Harley, with a nice note and just cruise... Cruisers trying to be fast bikes is missing the point, buy something you can enjoy riding slow
Here's mine lowered 3" so you scrape exhaust and frame on every corner, but it was fun, had lots of mods planned, but pissed it off and got something else
The 109's sound horrible though with anything other than factory or drilled factory exhaust, the aftermarket pipes make me LOL
Last edited by MexicanBatman; 29-12-11 at 03:10 PM.
..........
Looking seriously at picking up a 2012 night rod special in Feb, then maybe a set of pipes, flatter bars, lower it and a 300mm rear end...
Plus this rear end/tyre
I'd leave the rear tyre but fit massive ape hangers. Hangers are stupidly cool.
Street: 2010 Triumph Daytona 675 SE
Race: 2006 Suzuki GSXR-750 (it's fixed!)
Limited Racing: 2009 Kawasaki ER6N
Harley = reliability of an Alfa in salt air...
Rocket 111 is the only sensible answer, love the youtube vid of making them
E36 M3 12.92 @ 108.64mph, N/A 3.0L
Nah the new ones are close to Jap reliability.
Yeah, muz is on the money here. New ones are pretty much as reliable as anything else out there. Fast too.
Street: 2010 Triumph Daytona 675 SE
Race: 2006 Suzuki GSXR-750 (it's fixed!)
Limited Racing: 2009 Kawasaki ER6N
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