Calling Cruiser Owners! | GTAMotorcycle.com

Calling Cruiser Owners!

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Mykoo

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Iv been faced with a dilemma!

In my search for low displacement cruisers, Iv fallen in love with two bikes and am unsure which one to go for.

My bike usage will be probably an even mix of pleasure and commute. With that in mind, comfort and fuel usage will be decent factors, but also looking for something that will not crap out on me often parts and maintenance wise.

The two bikes I'm really liking are the Shadow Phantom and the Vulcan S.

So anyone who owns one or both or just have some knowledge on them, care to share??

Thanks GTAMers!
 
Haven't ridden either the shadow or the vulcan. I have however recently test road a new Harley Street Rod, and if I was going to buy a "cruiser" that would be it.

Decided to stay away from the pirate crowd and bought an xsr900. Life's too short to park it 5km/h below the speed limit in every corner.
 
The Shadow, and I'm expecting a little bit of disagreement here, is a little small for displacement. I looked at that and the Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Classic and I ended up buying the Kawasaki. I loved owning the Vulcan, all I did was put gas in it and change the oil, outside of winterization, and she ran like a dream. I did end up getting a little bored with the Vulcan solely because I was doing a fair amount of distance riding and something with larger displacement for my needs is where I'm headed next. If you are going to do a lot of distance think about a little more displacement if you are comfortable. Either way the Kawi is a good pick.
 
I haven't sat on either but maybe the Honda is narrower as it has a v-twin vs the Kawasaki's I4.
 
I have been loving my phantom. I also use it for a mix of commute and pleasure. It gets a average of about 250km range and costs about $12-13 to fill depending on pump price. The stock seat is not that comfortable when new, for me about 3 hours in the saddle is the most I can bear at the moment. But that being said, it' still a great ride.

I also looked at a vulcan(Custom SE), I didn't like the skinny front wheel, and despite being a 900 it only had an extra 5hp over the shadow while being heavier. Bigger engine and heavier build will ofcourse mean worse mileage. Buying new, I also found that the vulcan was 1 or 2 thousand more than the phantom, I remember it costing pretty close to the same as a Harley Iron.


Oh right, the S is a totally different bike. More modern styling. Can't say that one would have ever entered my mind as it's so different from my style.
 
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Mykoo said:
The Vulcan S has a parallel twin in it.
Click to expand...

Yes, haha.

A parallel twin has no place in a cruiser for me. Either v-twin or some triple or 4 cylinder power cruiser version. I'd go for the Phantom. Long term proven, simple and super-reliable platform. Love the single-pin crank v twin (sound), aesthetics including the wire lace wheels, as well as the shaft drive (low maintenance and high reliability). Value is great as well.


If you can travel there are some great prices out east and west. This example is a 2013, the model year with the beautiful satin black tank, with around 3500 km and a great price of under $5k asking.
https://www.kijiji.ca/v-street-crui...om/1287610891?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true
 
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Is the Kawi not a 650?
 
Mykoo said:
Yea, the Kawi Vulcan S that I'm talking about is the 650
Click to expand...
I haven't ridden a vulcan s, but I'm on my third season on a versys which has the same engine. The engine itself is a great package, it'll eat a shadow 750 all day long.
The vulcan is 60lbs lighter, has 20 more horsepower and is only down 1.5 ft/lbs of torque. It also has a 6 speed transmission vs a 5 spd on the shadow and disc brakes front/rear with the shadow running a rear drum.

Sent from my SM-A500W using Tapatalk
 
best bet would be to test ride both,

I would never buy a bike without a test ride
 
I love my Shadow, but the Vulcan has a little more pep in it.
Styling I would have to lean to the Phantom.
But, imho, you can't go wrong with either.
Which can you get the better deal on?

sent from my Purple LGG4 on the GTAM app
 
How about Yamaha vmax? I always like that one (not a cruiser guy myself)

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk
 
I was planning to get a Phantom, was trying to track down a Black one (they went silver for 2 years) before I bought my Vulcan S. The S won for me as it did not have spoke wheels and the gauges on the tank, down side was Vulcan S is chain whereas Shadow is Shaft( almost zero maintenance). I was looking at the Bolt too but did not like the fact it was Air Cooled.
 
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I have noticed online that people with Honda Shadows and Star 650s love their bikes, so the chances are that you'd be happy with a shadow.

A quick google search tells me that the v-twins have quarter mile times in the high 15-second range, while the Vulcan S is in the low 13s. If you feel the need for speed, the Vulcan is a lot faster
 
http://www.motorcyclecruiser.com/honda-magna-750-heavy-hitting-middleweight-motorcycle#page-3
Click to expand...

xl%2B1999_honda_magna_750%2Bside_left_view.jpg


isn't that a little sleeper - V4! but gas mileage sucks for a 750 ...still ...
 
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