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Hitcher
13th February 2005, 13:57
Mrs H is currently in the market for a new ride, so when we were in Palmerston North on Saturday getting my replacement screen for the ST1300, we took ANZA's demo Shadow for a burl.

At $11,000 (+ORC, or not, depending on the good nature of your friendly Honda dealer) this bike is outstandingly good value for money.

The finish is tops, as is the attention to detail. Lots of chrome, but good use of plastic in places where plastic is a sensible idea, such as the radiator cover. There is also a plastic tube over the frame cross-member under the engine. Honda has figured out what stones thrown up by the front wheel do! Why can't other metric cruiser builders?

Spoked wheels... Not good on the Mrs H cleaning stakes. Maxxis rubber front and rear.

Probably the lowest seat height for a cruiser in the 650-800cc class, at 660mm.

The speedo is in km, as is the odo. No US export overruns here. The odo is also digital with two trip meters. HISS (Honda's immobiliser system) is standard. A nice pop-off, pop-on fuel cap.

Shaft drive too -- unusual on a bike of this size.

14 litre tank, including reserve. No information on fuel economy but should do 20kml on the open road. Carburettor, electronic ignition.

The ignition switch is under your bum on the lefthand side. ANZA's demo, after nearly 400km, shows clearly what happens to the paint on the side cover if anything is attached to the key. Not clever at all.

The exhausts look like a two-into-one, but closer examination shows that they are siamesed twin pipes, inside a massive single chromed outer tube.

Throw your leg over.

The seat is nice and comfy and all of the controls fall easily to hand. The mirrors are well positioned and give a good view astern.

Fire it up, and there's a nice v-twin burble going on. Not too quiet.

Click it into first, ease out the clutch and the eager v-twin takes up the challenge.

The pulled-back bars take a bit of getting used to. Probably a bit too close for a taller rider and probably a bit too wide for a shorter one.

The gear box is, well, a Honda's. Smooth as silk and beautifully positive. The v-twin has plenty of lowdown grunt but seems to run out of steam after about 110kmh. Maybe this may improve a bit as the engine is run in, but the lack of roll-on in fourth and fifth would be a bit of a worry for highway cruising. Surprisingly Honda hasn't published power and torque information for this model. A cynic may think they have something to hide...

Mind you, it was blowing a gale in the Manawatu on Saturday, and the test bike didn't have a screen which, combined with the bar position, meant that the rider acted like a sail.

Brakes... I hope all of the Shadows aren't as vague as the test bike. I wouldn't liked to have tried to have stopped in in a hurry.

Verdict: A good value-for-money entry level cruiser. Beautifully finished. Possibly lacking the grunt of an 800 (Marauder, Kawasaki VN800). Would benefit from different bars and a screen. Possibly not up to big open-road mileage.

With Mrs H's accessories fitted (screen, heated grips and a Ventura pack rack), ANZA will roll a Shadow out the door for about $1,000 less than the best Marauder deal on offer. This makes it a very tempting proposition.

We would be interested to know whether anybody else has ridden one of these new Shadows, and what they thought of the engine's performance at highway speeds.

The Preacher
13th February 2005, 14:47
Hi there Hitcher, have a look at this, should be of help for you:

2004 Budget Cruiser Motorycles Compared: Harley-Davidson 883 Sportster, Honda Shadow Aero 750, Kawasaki 800 Vulcan, Suzuki Intruder & Volusia 800s, Triumph Speedmaster, Yamaha V-Star America's best-selling motorcycles aren't big, expensive or dripping with horsepower and chrome. From the August 2004 issue of Motorcycle Cruiser.

http://www.motorcyclecruiser.com/roadtests/800s04/

Hitcher
13th February 2005, 14:49
Hi there Hitcher, have a look at this, should be of help for you:

2004 Budget Cruiser Motorycles Compared: Harley-Davidson 883 Sportster, Honda Shadow Aero 750, Kawasaki 800 Vulcan, Suzuki Intruder & Volusia 800s, Triumph Speedmaster, Yamaha V-Star America's best-selling motorcycles aren't big, expensive or dripping with horsepower and chrome. From the August 2004 issue of Motorcycle Cruiser.

http://www.motorcyclecruiser.com/roadtests/800s04/
Thanks mate!

XTC
13th February 2005, 16:08
Just keep in mind that all of those bikes are L/H drive and NZ models would handle differently as the steering wheel would be on the right....

Bob
23rd February 2005, 09:07
That was a really nice review - when Laura (my wife) ends her two years of purgatory... for which read being limited to 33bhp maximum, the Shadow is a maybe if we can find a 2nd hand one at a decent price.

The seat height thing was especially useful, as she is exactly 5 foot tall, so a low saddle height is essential.

She is thinking 535 Virago - but if the price is right, I think the Shadow could well be the way to go.

But we've got until November to start looking around... but thanks again for the initial point of view, it was really useful reading.

Btw, the 650 Dragstar is also a shaft-drive bike. I test rode one and enjoyed it a lot - when on the move. But found it a bit unwieldy when trying to paddle it about - but it would have helped with some clutch adjustment - there was no feel (way, way too light). In case you are curious, here is my review of the 650 Dragstar test ride. (http://www.bobpickett.co.uk/bkit/dragstar.htm) Hope it is useful.

vifferman
23rd February 2005, 09:26
Sounds like it was better then the previous incarnation of the Shadow then.

I test-rode one back in 1999, when I was looking for a replacement for the VF500, and a mate suggested a cruiser would stop my hooning impulses. I was pleasantly surprised by the comfort, but like you, found the handlebars quite weird - felt like driving a wheelbarrow :eek: I also felt like a complete pillock on the thing - very self-conscious.
The one I rode had chain drive, and being very long in the wheelbase, the chain looked like it was about 5 metres long. Whether this contributed to the failure to achieve a CLUNK-less change into second gear, I dunno, but the 1-2 gearchange was so bad, I gave up using first and just started in second.
The finish was very nice - deep, lustrous paint, lashings of chrome, and a very well upholstered seat. However, the saddlebags smouldering on the exhaust after a short 15-minute ride was not a good feature.
Overall, it was a much better ride than the only other cruiser I'd ridden - a VT1100 "American Edition" (or somesuch similar monicker), which to be quite blunt, was a piece of crap.

chris
23rd February 2005, 10:42
Test coming in KR soon.