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.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.Thanks guys.
-SW
Destroy Everything! Destroy Everything! Destroy Everything! Obliterate what makes us weak!
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Originally Posted by Waylander
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