2001 Power Cruisers Reader Feedback

[ramix]

You forgot Moto Guzzi.

[boxjoint]

Generally, I am a Suzuki man but I do have to say that Kawasaki is starting to impress us this year. I sat on the Mean Streak, VTX, and the V Max. The attention to detail on the Kawaski is top notch. The stock wheels look like $700 aftermarket pieces. The VTX (which I also sat on) does not seem nearly as polished and feels as portly as a wing.



I Know a lot of you are going to flame me for mentioning this but, in the ATV sector kawasaki has also un-leashed the Prarie 650 V twin utility quad. All of the off road rags are singing it's praise. Maybe Kawasaki will develop a tranny for this motor and build a competitor to the SV650. I test rode this machine and it is smooth.



All kawaski has to do is update it's sport bike line to compete with the GSXR/R1/CBR series to reel in a big handfull of customers. It's nice to see a company that fell behind in the past few years claw it's way back up.

[TheFox]

I'd like to say that that was good writing, and due to your intelligent statments my opinion of MO has gone up quite a bit.



Good test. I wish the Warrior could have been there, and looking back, yeah, the Magna should have been in too. But I seem to remember everyone saying what should be in the power cruiser test some time ago, and don't recall the Magna coming up. Who the hell wants a drum brake anyways?



Nice job MO.



-Foxy

[Todd8080]

The moment I saw the name of the article and realized it included a Harley-Davidson, I knew instantly that there was no way on earth the Harley had a chance of being chosen as the best bike. And sure enough, I read the article and saw I was right.

Oh, it most definitely is the best bike, and everyone reading this knows that's true, but it has one glaring flaw that eliminated it from the competition: it's made by an American company, and as is proven here on a daily basis, only oriental products rank at this "American" site.

I sure hope you guys aren't hypocritical enough to stick Old Glory on your Asian bikes like I see on our local streets.

By the way, have you ever considered accurately renaming this site "Asian Motorcycle.Com"?

[itchface]

First off, I think the new breed of high-performance cruisers look a lot better than the retro type. I just KNOW, however, that there'll be lots and lots of crashed power cruisers available before too long (perhaps the only way to get a V-Rod at an affordable price?).



I envision aging sportbike-to-cruiser refugees extending the handling envelope only to discover that the lack of ground clearance, vague front-end feedback, and the feet-forward put-all-your-weight-on-your-butt riding position intrisic to the whole cruiser genre are incongruous to a motorcycle portending to be sporty.



What's needed is either a re-done V-Max, or a top-of-the-line sportbike with an upright seating position and some actual visceral appeal (rules out FZ1's and the like). That new Hayabusa-based monstrosity (forgot the moniker) that's been pictured on the internet of late is promising, save for the upchuck-inducing styling, as is the Yamaha MT-01 (the 1600cc Road Star based concept bike paraded around the web about a year ago).



I'm a long-time sportbike rider who's now old, fat, and arthritic enough to find an upright, roomy riding position appealing. But I can't help but feel that after my first spirited ride on a circuitous road aboard any of the new machines just tested, I'd find myself trading it in on a new Interceptor or ST4s and buying tons of Ibuprofin to deal with the ensuing pain.

[jagalvin]

Give me a break, the title should have been "2001 Cruiser Shootout". Then I would agree with there out come. If you include "power" it goes...



1: VMax

2: VRod

3: VTX

4: Mean Streak

[smokey422]

bravo, motorcycle online! thanks for having the guts to pick the best-balanced bike, not just go for the most powerful or most hyped new model. for the record, i owned harleys for 11 years and put over 140,000 miles on them before the company's attitude, pricing, and refusal to acknowledge the many flaws in their product drove me away from them. they are pulling the same thing with their new V-Rod, pricing it thousands of dollars over list and making customers wait months for delivery. i rode a new mean streak(hate that name!) and came away thoroughly impressed with the brakes, handling, and riding position. the power was more than enough for me, i like good roll-on torque for passing on the highway and could care less about drag-racing or big burn-outs. it is definitely the best looking machine of the four, although i much prefer the black color. and you can buy 2 mean streaks for what they are asking for one V-Rod!

[SuperSquid]

Why include the V-max in this comparo? The v-max was never considered a cruiser in the traditional or non-traditional sense. The max created its own category and has remained there since. And don't give me any crap about not being able to get your hands on a Warrior to test. www.motorcycledaily.com posted an article about a test on 25 Oct 01. How can such a little site..compared to the mighty motorcycle online get the scoop on you guys?

[dickdastardly]

If price is a consideration, used v-maxes can be picked up for as little as 5 grand.

And you wouldn't believe how good a v-max sounds

with a nice 4-1 or UFO 4-2 pipe on it....

[jacktoad]

yo, moron... what percentage of that pathetic looking v-rob thing is actually American??? and if it were not for Porsche, this bike NEVER would have been. my Max will wipe the streets with all the sissy boys putt-putting on their v-robs in their stupid looking leather chaps and half-shell helmets. i can't wait!!!!!! ah hahahhahha