The_AirHawk

You have no idea.

This one has essentially remained "on topic" - in that the topic is still motorcycles..............

That right there is an Epic Win for MO!

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Parfois, on fait pas semblant
Sometimes, it's not pretend
Oderint Dum Metuant
Let them hate so long as they fear
политики предпочитают безоружных крестьян
Politicians Prefer Unarmed Peasants
Nothing to see here, Citizen. Move along now...

Dr_Sprocket

Moke started it!

A Star Ride

Ok then, so how would these little guys line up against a Street Glide with a bad fuel mixture on the front head (so it rides a wheelie, duh) and how can we throw global warming (err, climate changes) against it too. And what if we did the compro in Haiti? So if the thread was already jacked, now it's crossstitched.

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White Trash Hick from Appalachia

newagetwotone

Sometimes when i have lettus coming out of my ears i stand on top of the empire state building with darthvader and missing one shoe. Eventually i take off my backpack full of cherrios and dump them into the waterfall beside my shed.

On topic? what?

MOKE1K

No big deal every single thread in here turns to a political discussion, what's so surprising?

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"YOU CAN'T BOLT ON SKILL"

fonzie

Is this what you're looking for?
http://www.motorcycle.com/gallery/ga...te mId=139096

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-- MotoInsider.com

Dr_Sprocket

Now, that's a photo!

Kenneth_Moore

Does the rock come with the bike?

There was quite a bit of hoopla surrounding the development and production of the S&S X-Wedge engine, yet I have seen few around. I imagine they invested a heap o' money as the "Chopper Bubble" was inflating, only to get the product out about the time it popped. Too bad, from the articles I read it appears to be a good design, or at least as good a design as can be expected given the inherent limitations of the architecture.

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www.kennethmoore.org

euro_biker

This is a difficult one, and a logical short list many cruiser riders will be facing shopping for 2010 models. So kudos to the editorial staff for seeing this and placing these together in a comparo.

As for myself, I'm <30, European and I like cruisers. Not as a daily sensible ride, but still... (trust me, cruisers are only big in America) For me it's mostly because I'm tall, and almost every naked apart from the BMW R1200R feels cramped (naked is more my style)

Still... True to my biking roots, I don't want the label 'cruiser' to be abused as an excuse for company's to deliver ancient tech and build quality "because typical cruiser riders don't go fast anyway". No, cruisers need to have at the very least great build quality and decent modern tech

The Triumph Thunderbird ticks all the boxes. Superior value for money (double disc brake, cast wheels, 1600 of torquey goodness and a decent name on the badge for those that care only about your image) Don't even start with the 'you can get a harley dyna for the price', because none of those dyna's offer 90 HP and double disc brakes. This triumph blows harley totally out of the water in terms of value/money and provides triumph with a bike for every rider. Pure muscle and craziness (rocket III), tourer, sport tourer, mid size cruiser, small cruisers, heritage bikes and the superb Triumph Tiger.

I can agree with some of the remarks here. First time I saw the triumph on photos, it looks a bit disproportional. It looks vertically stretched, in order to put a tall and high narrow motor in it, and that's only accentuated by the sweepy tank lines. I've seen it in real life though, and none of that holds true when seeing it in the flesh. It looks like a very balanced and beautiful bike. Also, it has the x-factor, because no other cruiser has a similar powerplant configuration. At least it's trying something new and fresh versus the same old V-twin of old. It's got character. It's also, dynamically speaking, one of the best cruisers out there today. Typical triumph designed chassis, only the best is good enough (for the kind of bike it wants to be).

That being said, I would have preferred if they stuck more to the America design, but with a bigger engine (and not so retro). Maybe a 1400 would have fitted better with that style, and even a 1400 would still overpower all these standard anemic antiquated harley crap engines, and since that's the 'industry standard', they would have nothing to worry about. You can't fault a bike for being low on power, if everyone takes harley's side with the phrase: "power is irrelevant, it's all about the ride. 60 bhp is more than plenty"

About the kawasaki: I've always liked vulcans, but this one has a hard time growing on me. It looks very dated and a bit loosely designed. Look at the frame rails in side view, it looks 'saggy' and 'high' with long cylinders, a long 'neck' and don't like the tank much either (form over function is a big part of what makes a cruiser, right?) It reminds me a bit of the powerplus Indians... Furthermore, i've read a lot of negative comments on various forums (problems that now might be adressed, but still). Apparently it's a leg roasting engine in hot weather (despite the watercooling), the belt drive squeaks a lot, and the dressed tourer is not up to standard (little issues left and right). A shame, because the vulcan 1600 was much better looking (for me), shaft drive and great value for money.
I'd save up for the vulcan 2000 if I were going the big bore route anyway, might as well get (a second hand) 2000 then. The whole bike also lacks some character, which the Triumph has in spades...

Seems to me that there's not much left out there for people like me.
-Rocket III, tempting but expensive, heavy and very narrow focus
-kawasaki, only the 2000 but I prefer not to give in to spec sheet obsession and the 'bigger is better' attitude. I want overall balance
-yamaha: roadliner is UGLY. Also a bit small for my legs and feet (floorboards usually kill it for me) Very untidy engine bay too. 950 is one of the best new cruisers I've come across, despite its displacement. REALLY REALLY worth checking out. Speaking of balance, this is it, much more appealing than the roadliner. 1300 is cramped. Warrior is great but not sold in Europe since 2004 Raider is also US only. (besides, 1300 and roadliner are to retro looking, not for me)
-Harley, well... need I say more? Old, antiquated, overpriced, heavy, slow, attitude problem (riders and dealers), phony brotherhood nonsense, I'd much rather have the yamaha 950. Even If they were to give me one, i'd give it away myself. Except the V-rod, the v-rod is great
-suzuki: M109 is okay, C109: don't like the shaft drive in a softail frame
-honda: only the fury is sold over here. Good bike, but not for me. The 2010 sabre (custom line) is not sold over here.

So... this leaves me with a thunderbird (not sure about that one, great bike, but at the same time... naaaah), second hand yamaha warrior, or suzuki M109r (lets forget about the V-rod, V-rod is 19000 euro, whereas the M109r is maximum 13000 euro. The difference buys me a second hand triumph tiger)

If only I could get myself a new warrior or raider, that would be my bike. You are lucky with cruiser offerings, here there's almost no market at all for these bikes.

To yamaha: PLEASE REDESIGN the roadliner as soon as possible. That 'art nouveau' 1930-1940 streamliner style was interesting when it first came out, but it's really too much to look at. Horrendous speedometer design, and way too cheesy and 'kitschy' all over...

Oh well... Thanks for the review, great job and have a nice ride...

sarnali2

Yourapeein guys don't like giant plastic Japanese immitations of 50's American sh*tbarges??????? Go ahead and pull the other one eh? I suppose next you'll try saying they drive small diesel engined cars instead of full sized SUV's!!....sheesh.....

Anyway young man, what you need is an XR1200 Sportster.....that's a Harley-Davidson boy, built rat'cheer in the USofA....stay away from them Japernese bikes now, they'll make you pecker shrink, just look at Seruzawa.

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"He said he's farting because of his medication"...