Please let me rant....
I have ridden four cruisers over the last four years. Let me tell you, I hate them. The one I remember most was a Honda Shadow 1100. I told the buddy that has it after I rode it that my old 79 CX500 would put that thing on the trailer. "Well, it's not build for speed." That's a **** good thing because is wouldn't keep up with my 500cc dresser on it's best day. My B400 will supposedly go 95MPH and I think the top end on most of these 1100cc cruisers is around 110...what a joke!! The worst thing is that when you roll on from 50MPH in top gear, well, the first time I did it with my buddy's Shadow I honestly thought the carbs were out of sync or a sparkplug wire came loose. "No, that's the engine." He wanted me to be impressed...I wasn't.
But at least they look good, right? No, they all look alike, all derrived from HD which themselves look like the custom motorcycles of the 70's. But I guess if the companies can take bikes that are literally 10, 15, even 20 years old and sell them as "cruisers" instead of having to come up with something new, then that's what they will do in the name of profit. The Shadow 1100 that I speak of has been around since the mid 80's. The Intruders, which are now Boulavards, were old ten years ago.
And about these "supercruisers" of 1800+cc's...these things are GARBAGE TRUCKS. I sat on a Kawasaki Vulcan 2000 (yes, 2000 freakin cc's). I could hardly get it off the sidestand because of all of the weight that was above my knee. The salesman said it's dry weight is more than an 1800 Gold Wing. At least the Gold Wing comes with a reverse gear and a flat engine for a lower center of gravity. How ya gonna get your 800 Lb cruiser out of a parking spot, eh? And God help you if you drop it, which since it weighs as much as two B400's, could easily happen.
And these cruisers all look like each other. From the engine profile and transmission to the pipes down the right side, they all look alike to me. Like I told them at work, if wanted a cruiser with all of the chrome, pipes, jackets, and other crap that goes along with it, I'll just go get a Harley and get it over with. It's my midlife crisis, I might as well do it the right way, don't you agree?
Suffice to say, I hate top heavy, overweight, oversized yet underpowered for their sized bikes. Gimme a "twist and go" that is quick and ecconomical any day of the week.
There...now I feel much better!!!