Hi all. As the title suggests I'm looking for a cruiser style bike. Wifey already has a Vulcan 500 (shes still on her learners) so now looking for a bike for me! I've ridden a mates 1600 Vulcan which is nice. Budget is around 8k? Looking for 1000-1600cc. Not interested in hogs but I still like the idea of v twins with just a wee bit of a crackle to the exhaust note when you open the taps :-) Haven't had any experience with much else other than the Vulcans so am interested to hear if there's anything particular to recommend or avoid. Not exactly a mid life crisis stage, but just more a change of direction & on 2 wheels! :-) Cheers, Rob
kazbanz,
Apr 29, 1:11am
The Suzuki intruder bang for buck seems to be the one to own. personally ive always loved the 1100 Yamaha virago.
ruaphu,
Apr 29, 1:28am
Yeah, Kazbanz is on the money. Grab a Suzie boule, intruder or C90 with that great 1500 motor. Cheap to maintain, tonnes of accessories and after market parts, good forums and support. Importantly these motors can be made to really rev and have some decent grunt with cheap mods (compared with other bike brands). The Gman industries website in the USA is the guru for these bikes, google em. I used them for loads of after market stuff to make the 1500 motor sing. Gman make all manner of performance mod. Down side to the Suzie, corrosion issues with the Ally, typical Suzie trait. I always kept mine covered in a layer of WD40, sorted the issue fine. The other biggie, stupidly small gas tank, only good for 195 KM's, after modding mine, only good for 160km's. They are big, dam comfy, ultra reliable and perform well with a few cheap mod's. Look up Suzuki 1500LC / C90 forum on Delphi forums.
BTW, ya can't go wrong with a Vulcan either, good machines, we traded our Suzie a Vulcan 2000N, can't fault it really Have fun, Cheers.
rodnrose,
Apr 29, 2:13am
The 1100 Verago had the best reputation for reliability and handling in it's day, and performance was adequate. I personally would steer away from the smaller intruders as the handling was terrible, although this wasn't the case with the 1400? The Honda Shadow has always had a great well earned reputation, and if I was in the market for such a bike, that's where I would look,which reminds me, I know where there is a low milage 700 shadow for sale (Not Mine) 0220268901.
bwg11,
Apr 29, 2:16am
Absolutely! I've owned one, their vile handling, and the hinge in the frame takes their handling from the sportsbike class to the cruiser class. A magic motor, smooth, massive torque, good top-end and comfortable riding position make them a great cruiser. Almost collectable, which is a bonus too.
pnp,
Apr 29, 5:16am
Cheers for all the comments guys. Yeah those Intruders / Boulev's seem bloody well priced - which to be honest, did make me a bit skeptical when I was researching them earlier - so I really appreciate the positive feedback.
tamarillo,
Apr 29, 10:34am
Question if I may? Do you ride now and if so what, and what is your intention of riding? Often see low km cruisers that folk buy thinking that would be cool but get sick of crappy handling, ground clearance, weight, and a riding position that is bad for old bad backs. Some remain in love, but many move on when they start riding more.
A compromise is the triumph bonnie cruiser, good handling for the type, not too heavy. America and speed master.
pnp,
Apr 29, 4:45pm
Hi Tam - Don't have a bike of my "own" at the moment - apart from wifey's Vulcan that I ride when allowed :-) haha. Yeah I've looked at tourers but tbh they just don't do it for me. Call me chromosexual but I've always liked the bling look of the cruisers & I did find my mates 1600 Vulcan very comfortable to ride. I'm not a speed merchant by any means & will be mostly just doing weekend cruising tho will hopefully embark on a longer trip around the place at some stage. If the body starts to protest then I'll prob reassess later on but for the moment I'll prob go the cruiser way while I can. Cheers :-)
kazbanz,
Apr 29, 5:48pm
PNP--another option might be to look at the more "ujm" type bikes. They aren't "touring" bikes with all the fairings and panniiers. They aren't crotch rockets so your wrists don't get cruisified. They aren't cruisers so if you feel like riding with a bit of "spirit" they are well capable. The riding position tends to be neutral so really easy on the back.wrists,backside and hips. You mentioned bling and a few do come with the cruiser type bling. Examples? Honda CB900 hornet or CB1000 "big one" Suzuki Gsx 1400 or even the naked bandit 1200 Suzuki SV1000--lovely V twin engine note. IMO the most bling is the Kawasaki Z1000 with its chrome exhausts etc. That said -there are cruisers that don't handle tooo badly. If you take the bars off and fit slightly lower /flatter bars the riding position improves immensely.
pnp,
Apr 29, 7:44pm
Hey Kaz, thanks so much for that. Will def check them out. Thanks to google also for working out UJM! haha. Cheers, Rob
pnp,
Apr 29, 7:56pm
Yeah I'm not keen on those bar risers! Saw a guy riding a hog here on the weekend with his bars at the same level as the top of his helmet! Looked about as unstable as my ex! haha
gammelvind,
Apr 29, 9:26pm
Haha my ex is the equivalent of a set of Ape Hangers, scary!
kazbanz,
Apr 29, 10:41pm
ive fitted a fair few "ginnies" (gn250) with in essence MX bars. That transformed them into a half decent learner bike.
pnp,
Apr 30, 7:54pm
Kaz - re # 874162733 I see this one caught your eye too :-)
pnp,
Apr 30, 8:33pm
Hey Dougie - Yeah very cool indeed but not quite what I'm after at this point in life! haha. I do like the classics tho - got a 63 Tiger Cub already that I'm just getting back on the road. Cheers
bumfacingdown,
Apr 30, 10:24pm
Or how about the Guzzi cruiser range, comfortable, cruise all day and get off feeling fine, corner better than a lot of others in the same range and stop real well.
kazbanz,
May 1, 2:58am
I was looking at examples to give you actually --and thought I'd ask about this one for ya.
pnp,
May 1, 4:53am
Niiiice!
ruaphu,
May 1, 1:51pm
Yep nice, double disk front end (cos these bikes need it) will also have the twin pot rear caliper too, again a necessity and provides more feel thsan the single pot rear end set up. Fuel Injected model. Nice bit of extra bling too, good choice
kazbanz,
May 1, 3:26pm
Looks like a good bike.Even so I'd book it into a bike shop for a pre purchase inspection. The only thing Id change is putting the factory mirrors back on. Im a bit paranoid about that stuff
pnp,
May 1, 4:13pm
Yeah would def be getting a p/p checkup. Skulls just don't do it for me either!
afer_daily,
May 1, 4:22pm
there is one on TM now / Honda interstate up to $1700 . last time I looked
tamarillo,
May 1, 4:25pm
Very nice bike.
pnp,
May 1, 5:25pm
Not quite the look I'm after. Interesting that no one has mentioned the Honda VTX tho?
ruaphu,
May 2, 9:23pm
Nice bike, just dang ugly
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