Comments on: Calistoga Run: Two-Up On Kawasaki’s Latest Luxury Tourer (Bike Reports) (News)

By: Geoff B

Geoff B — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 14:51:19 +0000

Check out the Vulcan 900lt. Not as good for two-up as the bigger bikes, but comes with windshield and saddlebags. –Looks like a big cruiser, but only about 650lbs.

Report this comment

By: jimbo

jimbo — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 13:54:41 +0000

Dirck
You’ve sharpened your road test writing to be the most concise and informative of any I read. The images are “hot” too!

Regarding this quote: “…Through the narrow and steep streets of San Francisco, the Voyager, despite all of its bulk, the luggage and passenger, handled remarkably well, and the torque of the huge v-twin effortlessly pulled it up and over all of the hills…” The exact streets you traveled are unknown. But for readers who’ve never been in SF, a little context: When this happened, SFFD Truck 10 was old and tired. The officer was visiting/detailed in just for that day. We were at the bottom of one of the steepest hills of Lyon St., heading E on Broadway or a street north of Broadway. We stop. The officer says make a R up the hill. We had already broken at least one axle on that truck previously. We told him not a good idea. This was the kind of officer who orders you to do exactly what is not recommended. He orders the driver up the hill. Half way up we broke the drive axle. Change over the entire truck, 1/2 a day out of service.

That same street or one just like it…when I was a kid driving my dad’s ’70 Plymouth Sport Fury station wagon (383 with dual hood bulges, fast, light forest green with tons of metallic), you’d approach one of the downhill sections of a steep hill like the one described above. The intersections are all flat. You drive up to the crosswalk just as the hill slopes down, the 12 acre hood shadows the downhill slope, and you’d just have so say a prayer that there wasn’t three pedestrians under the car as you inched through the crosswalk. Fun! You really had to stick your head way out the window to make sure.

And the airborne section of the Wawona Street hill (just N of Larsen Swimming Pool and Sigmund Stern Grove) before they closed the street because of so many deaths and injuries…oh, the good ole days.

Report this comment

By: Michael H

Michael H — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 22:41:14 +0000

MEA CULPA! I didn’t click through to the previous reviews. Apologies to Kawasaki, as well.

Report this comment

By: jimbo

jimbo — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 01:22:39 +0000

I don’t get this. Regarding looks I’m quite critical of touring bikes in general. Overall, this thing looks more acceptable to me than the average. After closely re-checking the fairing, it looks at least OK.

There’s gotta be significant profit margin and sales potential here. Look at the heavyweight full dress offerings: Honda, Triumph Rocket 3 dresser, HD, BMW, Kawi, Yamaha, etc.

Report this comment

By: jimbo

jimbo — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 01:17:30 +0000

Well put, Dirck! Tell ‘em!

Report this comment

By: Steve Lawson

Steve Lawson — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 23:55:32 +0000

An excellently written article, informative, with outstanding photos. I wanted to buy a large tourer, but absolutely hate the batwing fairing front of the Voyager (I was trading up from a Yamaha VStar 1300). When sitting on the bike you feel enclosed at the front with a large dark area of dials and speakers etc that even block your view of the road right in front of the bike. Otherwise, it is a fantastic bike to ride, second to none in my opinion. So I bent the rules a little. I bought a 2010 Vulcan Nomad. This is the same frame and engine exactly as the Voyager, but has an upright full windscreen on it, instead of the batwing fairing. This gives it a wonderful retro look, with an open uncluttered view of the road ahead. I then mounted the topbox from the voyager on the back (it comes as a kit from Kawasaki with all the fittings) and now I have all the comforts of the Voyager in a fantastic looking and handling bike! I made an enlarged set of lowers for the front forks to give better wind protection, put on a seatback for the driver, and my partner and I can and do sometimes ride all day long on extended trips in total comfort on this great crusier. Do I miss the linked ABS brakes? No, but probably only because I have never tried them – the brakes on the Nomad are extremely good. Do I miss the radio and music blasting from the speakers? Definitely not – we have a set of Nolan helmets with built in blue tooth and we talk to each other all day long when we want to on a ride. I have downloaded my entire ipod music library onto my GPS which is also blue tooth equipped, so we can listen to music whenever we want or receive GPS instructions by bluetooth. If this isn’t heaven in a touring bike, what is?

Report this comment

By: Dirck Edge

Dirck Edge — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 18:10:42 +0000

Follow the link at the beginning of the article to the Ride Review, and then the link in that article to the First Ride report. This bike has the best brakes, including ABS, in this class, and handles at, or near, the top of this class (large displacement cruisers). It also offers excellent wind protection and rider/passenger comfort (see twowheeladdict’s comments below).

Report this comment

By: Eric

Eric — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 18:09:11 +0000

Where does this commentary come from? Kawasaki does actually have a Web page here (http://www.kawasaki.com/Products/product-details-features.aspx?autoplay=false&id=379&scid=0) that details all the advantages of the Vulcan, such as RADIAL tires, the K-ACT braking system WITH ABS, etc. Looks pretty advanced to me. I’ve never owned a Kawi myself, and may never own one, but the comments above seem like an unwarranted and poorly researched slam. And why would someone buy a cruiser like this? Probably because it just looks cool, even without adjustable forks.

Report this comment

By: todd

todd — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 16:22:25 +0000

the majority of people in the market for this type of motorcycle do not compare specs when shopping, nor do they care much that one 700# bike is 3# lighter than the next 700# bike. What is boils down to is one rider wants a Kawasaki because his best memories were on a Mach III, another gets the Honda because his first bike was a CB350, still another gets a Harley because he has no preference and does what everyone else tells him to…

Report this comment

By: jimbo

jimbo — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 14:53:38 +0000

It’s a good point. “Supersizing” is just another of the many inevitable sins of capitalism, seen in bikes same as fast food. If a little is good, more is better. My ’00 BMW R1150GS was one of my favorites of about 65 motorcycles. I’m pretty big and strong, and I eventually tired of even it’s just sub-600 lb wet curb weight.

Something like a naked “R” version of the coming BMW 6-cylinder 1600cc GT or GTL, with a windshield and bags, might be a nice sport-touring rig.

Report this comment