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SlashWylde
24th July 2005, 15:38
The time has come, the walrus said, to talk of many things. Of power and torque and cylinders, of sexy fast machines...

For the past few months after acquiring my full motorcycle licence I have been looking at the various options for upgrading from my 250 Virago to a bigger, better, more powerful machine. After much consideration, reading of reviews and test riding of bikes, I have settled on the Kawasaki Vulcan 800 as my new ride. I was a little sad to say goodbye to my Virago but I have a lot of fond memories of fanging around Whitford and Maraetai to Clevedon on that little rocket.

I was initially looking for a cruiser in the 800cc to 1100cc range for between $10,000 and $13,500 and had always been partial to the Yamaha V-Stars. I quickly eliminated the XV650 though as the displacement is small, the retail price higher than the Honda VT750C and reviewers of bikes in my cc range didn’t take it seriously. A new V-Star 1100 would have been well out of my price range at $19,495. I did test ride a
1999 model V-Star but whilst the exhaust sounded great and the power delivery was cool the handling didn't appeal to me – the steering was bent. Felt a bit whale-like and sort of wanted to pull too eagerly into corners.

I tried a Suzuki Marauder and again whilst it had power and rumble, I found it vibrated excessively and the styling wasn't to my taste - I was really after a classic full-fendered bike, preferably with pegs rather than floor-boards. On to the Suzuki Boulevard range. I test rode a Suzuki M50. Wow awesome bike! Very solid feeling with relaxed confident handling and excellent power delivery courtesy of the fuel injectors. Definitely a cool machine if you like the power-cruiser type.

I tried to arrange a test ride of a Honda VT750C Shadow but of the shops I approached that had one on the floor, neither had demo stock and they weren't willing to wet-up their existing stock to let me do a serious test ride. Seems a strange way to do business – have a bike in stock but not let customers ride it. If the bike was available for demo then people could try it out, get excited about it and then one could make a sale. Hard to be convinced about a bike you haven’t even ridden. :weird: Oh well.

Last of all it was the Vulcan 800. I test rode a 1998 model down in Hamilton on the open road and was very pleased overall. Handling was relaxed and confident, power great, seat height perfect for me and the chrome and paint on that example was in very good knick after 8 years and 30,000kms.

I had been talking to the guys at Mt Eden Motorcycles for some time about the sort of cruiser I was after and they were more than happy to get a Vulcan in for me to demo. So after considering the alternatives I took them up on their offer, test rode a new Vulcan around the Mt Eden area and made up my mind to buy it. For me this bike has it all: A great paint scheme; lots of sparkling chrome; beautiful flowing lines and hidden rear shocks; wire spoke wheels; a relatively quiet but crisp deep rumble that can be opened up with after-market pipes; the frame, brakes and suspension feel wonderfully solid and the handle bars are adjustable courtesy of four hex bolts clamping them to the forks. It features pegs rather than floorboards; a comprehensive tool kit with it’s own easy to access storage compartment, and a surprisingly large lockable storage area underneath and to the right of the seat.

I could go on, but I just wanted to give a summary of what led me to choose the Vulcan 800 and why. A big part of the reason why I chose this bike would have to be Mike Mark and Chris (and the rest of the team) at Mt Eden MCs. They are very friendly and relaxed with their customers, they gave me a good trade-in on the Virago and overall I felt they really took care of me. I would say they run the best shop I’ve yet encountered and would have no hesitation in recommending them to anyone. :niceone: Thanks guys.

-SW

Coyote
24th July 2005, 15:41
Awesome looking bike. Good choice :niceone:

sAsLEX
24th July 2005, 15:41
Nice bike, well for a cruiser.......

stevedee
24th July 2005, 15:43
Beaut bike mate, well done, enjoy. Have to admit to cruisers appealing more and more to me.

spd :-)

Waylander
24th July 2005, 18:31
HAHAHA you silly bugger. Posing for the camera lol.

Like your new wheels. Looks better than the one you tested. No dents that I can see and no rust on the pipes. Great choice.:Punk:

White trash
24th July 2005, 18:56
What a heap. Shoulda got the Suzuki.


Well done man, I'm sure you're really thrilled with it. Don't you owe me a beer?..............

Coyote
24th July 2005, 18:59
HAHAHA you silly bugger. Posing for the camera lol.

You have to admit, he has style. All you need is some sunglasses :cool:

Waylander
24th July 2005, 19:01
You have to admit, he has style. All you need is some sunglasses :cool:
Lol thought the same thing.


Dammit!!! Where are my parts....

justsomeguy
24th July 2005, 19:19
Congrats on the new bike - with yours and Allun's - that garage must feel very proud :niceone:

Virago
24th July 2005, 19:28
Wow, nice set of wheels - you chose well! :niceone:

I can understand your shopping frustrations. I think it's a bad time of year for bike shopping, especially for Hondas. No-one has any demo stock available, but I'm told they'll be available in spring.

Hope you enjoy that luverly new machine, and thanks for posting the pic's!

SlashWylde
24th July 2005, 21:17
Heh heh, thanks guys. Yeah she's a beaut. Really happy with her. Sure WT, I'll buy you a pint, I appreciate the advice you gave me :yes:

sels1
24th July 2005, 21:30
Congrats on the new bike SW, looks nice. Never used to think much of cruisers but in the last month I have had the opportunity to ride a few and see they can be fun.

Storm
25th July 2005, 08:49
Very nice ! Well done that man. Thanks for the comprehensive write up on the selection process as well

vifferman
25th July 2005, 09:31
Good write-up, and nice bike! :Punk:

Hey - I test rode the VT750 a few years back (and the VT1100). The VT1100 was poo, but the VT750 was quite nice - beautiful paint and chrome, very comfy saddle, rode very nicely. However, I dunno if it was just the one I rode, but it had a blardy awful gearchange between 1st and 2nd. There was no way I could get it to change without a HUGE clunk/graunch, so in the end I just gave up and never used first gear.

zadok
25th July 2005, 09:40
You've done well there, congrat's. Looks nice. :ride:

Pwalo
25th July 2005, 09:46
I'm definitely not a cruiser man myself but that's a very nice looking bike. I hate to say but I reckon that the Suzuki/Kawasaki cruisers are probably the best looking of all the cruisery jobbies.

ManDownUnder
25th July 2005, 10:23
Congrats chap. Not my style of bike so I can't appreciate the finer points, but no worries... I believe my opinion on the bikes of others doesn't really matter anyway.

Love the pose too. Classic picture.

I hope you enjoy it - LOTS :ride:
MDU

rfc85
25th July 2005, 12:01
well done and thanks for the write up I am going to be in the same position in a couple of months and your write up was excellent, I was thinking of all those bikes you tested.Cheers

MacD
25th July 2005, 12:17
Congrats on the new bike! :ride: It will be interesting to see it out on a ride as you had the Virago going well through the twisty bits!

skidz
25th July 2005, 13:39
Nice choice SW. Did you have to buy the new leathers for the pose, or did they chuck them in with the bike?