Motorcycle.com

Best City Cruiser....

OK, been riding bikes for 30yrs and this is my first cruiser... I looked and tried them all, from Harley's, Suzuki's M109R down to the Yamaha V-Star 650. All of them great bikes, but all had something I didn’t like or lacked something I wanted. After just sitting on most of them there was always a &...quot;But", but it's too heavy, but it’s too large, but it’s uncomfortable etc, as I wanted a bike for riding in the city/suburbia and the occasional bit of country riding as well.

And after sitting on the Spirit, as the Goldie Locks said “this is just right” and no "Buts"... This was the perfect sized, mass and comfort for a bike to do what I wanted. And here in Australia the Spirit is fuel injected, and mine gets city riding, 66mpg (Imperial Gallon) or 4.2L/100km which is superb, better than I expected.

It’s low seat height and centre of gravity makes it a dream to ride around town and even at almost zero speed it will stay upright and feel very well balanced and in control. It also handles extremely well on country roads, it’s no sports bike but still very respectable. With its wide ratio gearbox, and very torquey motor, you don’t have to rev it to get more than adequate performance and it’ll pull you out of the corners or from slow speeds in taller gears.

As for comfort, the seat is very good, but I wouldn’t go for extremely long distances on it without a break, as I’m sure you’ll end up with a bad case of botrot after an hour or two in the saddle. I’m 6ft tall and 85kg (187lbs) and find the forward controls just right, if you’re shorter, you should have no problems but if you’re taller, you may start to feel a little cramped for space... I found the handlebar position just right and the controls well placed. I would have liked to have seen the foot brake pedal extended slightly as you have to turn your foot inwards slightly to apply the brake, but no big deal...The fuel tank is just the right size, comfortable and holds about 14 litres which is very good for use around the city, but if you do a lot of highway miles you may have to plan your trip with fuel stops, but you should get close to 200 miles out of a tank before you’d have to get off and start pushing it to the next gas station...

The gearshift is very smooth, a little clunky going into second, but to my surprise I found after my first Oil change (now using Motul 5100 oil) it made the gear changes even smoother and almost eliminated the 2nd gear clunk. Neutral was very easy to find by changing down gears when stopping but could be harder to select at times if you stop in a higher gear (4th or 5th) and then trying to change down to neutral. It would have been nice to have a rear disc brake, but the drum brake does do its job. The Australia version of the Spirit has EFI and is just superb as it just gives the engine a very flat broad power band, nice for city riding. Its rear axle gear is more suited for city use, but still works well on high speed highways...

Overall, it’s a really nice bike that’s extremely well finished, not perfect, but then again is anything...
I would highly recommend this bike to either a first time buyer or someone that wants the cool looks of a roadster cruiser with a long wheelbase, low to the ground, great shape and sized tank and has the looks with 21” front wheel, dual exhaust pipes & mufflers with easy predictable handling especially in city traffic and with low maintenance...
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I LOVE my Shadow!

I am a 52 year old woman who has been on bikes for "MANY" years. As a kid I bought my first little honda, a 70 trail bike, woohoo! I was a happy little gal and rode the wheels off of my cherry red trail bike. As an adult I have owned 4 more Hondas. A few years ago I had a 2001 750 shadow s...pirit, rode it for 4 years and LOVED it, then bought another spirit,a 2002 1100. Well, after being on the 1100 for almost 2 years I decided I would really love to have my sweet 750 back. So, this week I located a NEW 2009 spirit sitting on my dealers showroom floor. I raced to the rescue to bring it home. I can't seem to stop loving the shadow spirits. They are reliable, easy to handle, sharp looking,& easy to customize. For small women (& men) the 750 spirit is a perfect fit. I love the shaft drive on the 750. I have it on my 1100 but what a treat to also have it on this one too. Honda Shadow Spirits are sharp looking, easy to handle, great on the highway, backroads, and city streets. The one and only complaint I always have about bikes are the stock seats. To me, they just don't fit a womans butt right so they are always uncomfortable. Maybe I'm just spoiled to my corbin seat. Yeah, I'm sure that's it, I'm spoiled to good bikes (the spirit)and my favorite saddle. Do yourself a favor, go get a shadow! You will NOT be disappointed. Read Full Review

Great midsize cruiser

This bike is comfortable and fun to ride.It will keep up with or beat any 883 sportster.You could store this bike for 5 years, put gas in it,charge the battery and it will run great....Honda Quality Machines Read Full Review

Great Bike

I just started riding in April of this year. So this is my 1st bike. It has a nice smooth ride and has enough power for me. The bike handles real well.I love the bike. Read Full Review

Perfect bike for me

I love my 09 Honda Spirit 750. I was concerned about it being too big for me for my first bike, but I believe it is perfect for me. Easy to control, light weight, BEAUTIFUL! I love this bike. And very reliable. My friend bought a used Harley, I bought a new Honda. She has to have it constantly w...orked on... I turn the key, push the button and RIDE. LOVE IT! Read Full Review