Hello,
I have had a lot of bikes, many makes. I currently ride a 2003 BMW 1150 RT which is a great bike. I know it is a true sport tourer, but has anyone come across a cruiser that is comfortable and has great shifting and excellent handling? I will probably keep the BMW but I really miss the look of a cruiser and am wanting one largely for the looks, but I don't want to throw performance completely out the window. I rode an 800 Drifter and it was not bad but it had no windshield, (which I must have), and had been lowered so the kickstand scraped dreadfully. I have seen a few 1500 Kaw classics and Drifters and wonder about those. I don't want a Honda VTX and I've already owned an M50 and C90 Suzuki boulevard. The Yamaha Roadliner or Stratoliner looks promising but they are a bit pricey, even used. I've had a Yamaha Roadstar. Had HD Roadking and Springer, etc.
Any ideas from anyone that has ridden a cruiser that fits my criteria??...or does one even exist?
Thanks in advance for any helpful comments!

 

wow, you did not like the boulevard. Almost would think on that one actually after the dyno tune that day I was there. I do not see many classics in this area though so I really have no knowledge to answer your question. Good luck and ride safe. Welcome to KF

 

Thanks,
The bike was not bad but I was in a dicey situation. I bought in In WI to make some money and the title got all screwed up, etc for over a year. I couldn't ride the bike much because it was illegal so that might have affected my experience. If it had been white I might have kept it (was black).

 

I ride a 2001 Drifter 1500 and I love it. I have the factory solo seat, which is great, and I have the Kawasaki Fire & Steel Corbin covered 2up. I find the Corbin to be a bit hard for me, so I'll probably pull the foam out of the seat bottoms this winter and add a couple of gel pads. When I got it last fall it only came with the grab rail for the 2up, and the factory backrests are not only hard to find, but they're also not real wide (tall enough though). I ended up fabricating my own brackets (or you could get the scootworks or Wompus rack) and putting a 1960's era Harley tour pack on it and adding a current Harley Ultra wrap around pad on it. The wife says it's comfortable, and I think it'll look decent when I'm done, but it's still a project in the works. (Like so many other things on a bike, right?)

As for the bike itself, the suspension is great. My wife and I are both "healthy" sized people, and with the air shocks (factory stock) it works great. I can make the suspension buttery soft for solo riding or I can firm it up for touring 2up in just a couple of minutes. To do it, you just jack the rear tire off the ground and connect a no loss air pump (Progressive sells one for about 60 bucks.....good tool that should last many years) and a couple of pumps later, the shocks are ready. Let the bike back down and ride! A quick twist of the tops of the shocks adjusts dampening as well. That takes maybe a whole 10 seconds, literally.

As for the clutch, I just replaced my clutch spring at 25,000 miles. It was slipping if I goosed it in 4th or 5th gear. Some people go 100,000 miles and never need to do this, while others have issues at 20,000. Kawasaki says there's no problem with the design, but strangely enough, they redid it in 2004 from a single carrier design to a two part design. That was a big improvement. Fortunately, the new parts are a drop in replacement for the older part, so a retro-fit is no problem. Also, the Meanstreak spring is a little beefier, and it's a drop in too. I did the swap myself in a few hours and it wasn't hard at all. Whole job, about $100.

For touring, the windshield is a must. Good saddlebags (I need new ones still) are a definate, and I'd say that at least a backrest and rack with a tour bag minimum, and a full on trunk with pad is better. After that, as long as you're mechanically good, I'd take a 1500 Drifter anywhere.

As for my bike, since I'm still working on it I don't have many pics, but I did snap this one a couple of weeks ago on my phone camera (I couldn't pass up this opportunity!) and you can get an idea of what it looks like.

Click To Enlarge

 

best cruiser I have ever ridden

 

Nice bike, but kind of a whole different animal then most of the bikes the OP named.

 

That would be my sport tourer for sure.

 

true, just saying

 

Nice looking Bike!