This is a laid-back, chopper-style cruiser with a distinctive 21-inch alloy front wheel, high-rise drag bars, and forward-mounted highway foot pegs. One of the best-looking non-American cruisers, with great build quality and detailing, excellent paint, and chrome.
Unlike many cruisers, it is possible to get a good lean angle in the bends without anything touching down. Cruisers aren’t normally great for throwing through a series associated with bends, but the VN900 Custom’s chassis and suspension are set up for just such behavior.
The rider’s seat is as comfortable as you would expect it to be yet the surprise is that the pillion seat is also a great place to sit.
The V-twin engine might be simply 903cc but it gives better performance than a person would have thought. What’s better is that it is virtually vibration-free. It has been around long enough to have had all the bugs ironed out, so reliability will be typically Japanese. The final drive is by the low-maintenance belt and the gearbox is lovely and smooth, too. Not only will be it the cheapest bike on this list, however it could also possibly be the particular best Japan cruiser out there.
Funky-looking cruiser from Yamaha, the Bolt R is perhaps a better urban easy riding bike than an open-road mile-eater. Like the Kawasaki VN900, the Bolt R has excellent suspension plus brakes that will make feel much sportier than a cruiser has any right to feel and it loves corners!
The V-twin engine pushes out there a modest 51 horsepower and 59 pound-feet of torque, but this is more than enough to give this 544-pound motorcycle decent urge as well as the whole motorbike is small and compact without having feeling like a toy.
It’s a Yamaha, and that means that the build quality is usually top-notch. Perhaps the best part is it looks brilliant as well — a bit like a Japanese Sportster which is no surprise as that is the bike that the Bolt L has firmly in its sights.
It is pleasingly devoid of chrome embellishment, and replacing it along with brushed aluminum gives the Bolt an understated appearance, not something you can say about every cruiser!
If chrome and a retro vibe are your things, then the C50 Boulevard from Suzuki is the particular machine with regard to you. Some might dismiss it as a tasteless pastiche but it’s been around for a long time so this must be what people want!
If the engine seems a bit puny at 805cc plus the weight a little high at 611 pounds, then you needn’t worry: the particular short-stroke liquid-cooled V-twin has more pep than you would at first think.
Fat tires, the longish wheelbase, and wide ‘bars, coupled with basic suspension mean that will the C50 Boulevard can’t compete with the Kawasaki or Yamaha within terms associated with a dynamic riding experience. But , if rolling down the road looking good in comfort is your thing, then this bike has the credentials for not a lot of money.
Typical Suzuki engineering high quality will prove cheap to maintain in the long run, helped by the shaft drive, and, because it has already been around for a long period in one guise or even another, there will be plenty of used examples on the market which makes even more of a tempting bargain.
There are a total of six Honda cruising motorcycles, but the best of the bunch is the Rebel 1100. The particular 1084cc parallel-twin engine is definitely lifted from the Africa Twin adventure bike (suitably re-tuned) and produces a healthy 86 horsepower pushing along a good all-in bodyweight of under 500 pounds.
As can be with a typical Honda, it does everything with slightly boring efficiency. but that simply hides its strengths. It’s happy to cruise along looking cool, but show it the winding country road and it behaves like no other cruiser, save perhaps the Triumph Bonneville Bobber (see below).
It’s the particular strangest mixture: the seating position and stance associated with a cruiser but the performance plus dynamics of a naked sports bicycle. No cruiser ever behaved like this before. Even better, it is available with Honda’s DCT automatic transmission making it even easier in order to ride.
This isn’t a lazy cruiser, it’s a low-slung, taut rider’s dream. It may be ‘cheap’ to buy nonetheless it certainly isn’t cheap in execution or encounter. It’s actually great value for cash when you consider exactly what you are getting.
Want to know the best bit? There’s anti-wheelie control alongside the ABS and traction control! Brilliant!
Is a bobber an easy riding bike? Maybe not, yet in the particular interests of being truly international, we needed to include a British bike along with the Triumph Bobber is certainly the closest any British motorcycle manufacturer has come to building a cruiser.
Based on the hugely successful and brilliant Bonneville platform, the Bonneville Bobber looks sensational with its bare rear fender, softail design and floating seat.
The engine is Triumph’s lovely, practically vibration-free, parallel-twin of 1200cc displacement plus producing the torquey 77 horsepower. The riding position is arms outstretched/feet tucked under and not brilliantly comfortable regarding long rides, but, in terms of chassis dynamics, it is as good as, in case not better than, the Honda Rebel 1100. Suspension will be perfectly dialed in as well as overall quality has to be seen to become believed: never has so little plastic been used on a bike in the modern era.
As with almost all the greatest cruisers, the Bobber can be customized via Triumph’s parts catalog so no two ever need in order to look the particular same.
As we mentioned at the beginning, this whole list could be made up of Harley cruisers, although many are way over the price limit. Not really this beauty, though, although the jump in price more than the Japanese contingent is usually noticeable.
As American as the Statue associated with Liberty, for many a Harley is the only way to go cruising, plus, in buying 1, you are not just buying a bike but a way of life.
Now fitted with the particular 107cu. inside Milwaukee Eight engine, which usually is such an improvement over the Evolution motor, you get mountains associated with torque in a chassis that is bare enough to feel lean and lithe.
Of course, that means that a person have a blank canvas upon which to color your own style along with the aid of the Harley parts catalog, but , even when you take it as this comes, the particular Softail Standard is a great bicycle: good-looking, good suspension plus chassis giving good ride and handling.
Just like each Harley, the engine is definitely the beating heart and defining characteristic of the particular Softail Standard and, in keeping things simple, Harley has allowed the engine to shine in this package.
America’s second-favorite bike producer and, intended for some, the very best, Indian has made a point of taking the fight to Harley Davidson, plus, by and large, it has succeeded inside producing the perfectly amazing alternative within its short (new) life.
As with H-D, there are plenty of models that would fit into this particular list but our choice is the basic Chief, with a liquid-cooled V-twin engine of 111cu. in., shoving out 108 pound-feet of torque.
The Scout is great, don’t get us wrong, yet the Chief just ticks all the right boxes: engine, framework, suspension, style. Such as the Harley listed above, it’s an empty canvas where to add your personality however actually in the basic form, it’s a beautiful motorcycle, even if you will need to ditch those mufflers ASAP!
It’s very heavy but it trips beautifully : perhaps because of that weight! American motorcycling has needed the rival in order to Harley to get too long. In the Indian, here, finally, is a viable alternative.
OK, another Harley, yet why not? Americans invented the particular cruiser design so it is only correct that they are celebrated in this list. The Milwaukee Eight 114 engine gives the performance you wouldn’t believe and the chassis can handle it along with style.
Visually similar to the Softail Standard, the addition of the 114cu. in. motor gives it that bit more oomph. Nine more pound-feet torque capacity will do that! More vibrations but still within acceptable levels.
If actually there was a bike to get you noticed, then this is the a single. There really is nothing like a Harley when this comes in order to making an impact, especially in the visual sense. Harley paintwork has, for some time, been one of its best features and even the dealing with will surprise you.
Harley still persists with a single front disc but it’s well up to the task of hauling a great deal of weight down. The cheapest 114-engined Harley you can buy, plus, perhaps, the most effective.
OK, therefore not strictly within the limits associated with our budget, but, being a smidge over $15K, you would have in order to think that you would end up being able to talk the dealer straight down to $15K without too much trouble.
Why would you want to? Well, cruisers aren’t just about style, they’re about power and the particular M109 offers that in spades: 128 horses and 118 pound-feet of torque speak for themselves, and even the style is just right, if you can live with that headlight – a lot of scope for a good after-market piece there.
The particular chassis can be brilliant plus the suspension is straight from a sports bike: upside-down front forks and monoshock rear, complimented by fantastic brakes and handling that you just wouldn’t expect from such a long plus low bike.
If we’re going in order to be convincing a dealer that $15, 000 is certainly our absolute limit, then why not really go the particular whole hog and try and get nearly $1000 taken off the cost? Why? Because that would obtain you onto one of the biggest surprises within motorcycling inside the last couple of years.
BMW’s entry into the easy riding bike market was achieved along with predictable effectiveness but furthermore a large dose of style and a sense of fun not usually associated with the Germans. The fact that it really is brilliant has been just the icing on the cake.
The R18 is a styling throwback to the early days associated with BMW in the 1930s so it is a full-on retro design but there is nothing retro about any of the mechanicals: the engine, the chassis, and suspension system, the electronics, the brakes are just about all right out of the particular top drawer and give the R18 one of the particular best rides of any cruiser available.
The humungous engine is the dominant feature, mainly because so much associated with it sticks out into the air stream. The fit plus finish are usually second-to-none as well as the black paint with white pin striping is simply beautiful. As is required, the components catalog enables you to personalize your own steed to your heart’s content.
A excellent effort from BMW’s first time away.
F. A. Q. s
Which cruiser is the particular best?
That all depends on what you are using the bicycle for. If the vast majority of your riding is in and around your town, in that case the Yamaha Bolt R is the great choice. For those lengthy rides upon the open road, a cruiser with some wind protection is best, such as the larger Indians plus Harley Davidsons with the bat wing fairings. The BMW R18 comes in various different configurations, some naked and others with outstanding wind protection.
What is the most reliable motorbike cruiser?
All modern motorcycles are reliable, even Harley-Davidsons, which for years had terrible reliability problems but these have gradually been ironed out and modern Harleys are while reliable because any some other bike. For absolute dependability, you have to look to the Japanese bikes plus Suzuki in particular.
Which cruiser provides the best mileage?
Obviously, smaller-displacement engines will give better gas mileage, but that will depends about how much weight they have to pull. Both the Yamaha Bolt and Honda Rebel 1100 lead the pack within terms of fuel consumption.
Very best the majority of powerful cruiser?
The many powerful cruiser is the Suzuki M109 BOSS with 123 horsepower, although Harley Davidson doesn’t quote horsepower figures so it is hard to tell if the 114cu. in. Milwaukee, wisconsin Eight motor might produce more than the Suzuki.
