It doesn't seem like so many moons ago that 1600cc was the ultimate class. Throughout the '90s, bikes boasting anything more than 1400cc were the top dogs, the absolute kings of the heavyweight motorcycle hill. But like most things created in the 20th century, the weight of once-heady displacement numbers has gradually diminished over time. The former champs have been eclipsed by the mad rush of OEMs toward ever more horsepower and big displacement in the 21st century-and these days if your jugs don't pony up at least 1800 cubic centimeters of volume, you probably won't be invited to butt heads and spin tires with the big boys in the flagship class, where you have to play to be considered King Cruiser.
Call 'em what you want to-light heavyweights, heavy middleweights, Not Quite the Biggest Twins-but even though they hover between the megatwins and the 1300cc-and-under gaggle of cruisers, thisonce-lofty class hasn't become irrelevant in either scale or popularity over the years.
They still appeal to plenty of us.
Making the Cut
Six years ago any of these machines would have been a prime contender in our big-twins shootout. But when the Kawasaki Vulcan 2000 showed up in 2003, it created a mondo-twin class that sucked in the other oversized V-twins. In addition to the V2K, the Honda VTX1800 and the Star 'Liner series (displacing 1854cc), Suzuki's new 109R bikes (with 1783cc of displacement) also play here. And because you can now break out heavyweight twins into these other subclasses- the supra-1800cc twins and the sub-1400cc bikes-it narrowed the number of machines eligible for this comparison, which we limited to V-twin-powered stock production cruisers with displacements between 1500cc and 1700cc. Right off the bat Honda was booted from contention, but Kawasaki has 1500 and 1600s, Harley has a full range of 1500s and Victory's entire line is stocked with 1600s. Suzuki is left with just a single 1500 after discontinuing the 1600 Marauder in 2006. For the test we plucked bikes that have stood the test of time, others that have evolved considerably over the years and a few newbies that made the scene after we last tested the class in 2004.
It took only a brief huddle to decide what we wanted from Harley. After eliminating the Softails for their price and familiarity, that left the Dynas. We hadn't been too impressed with the series in the past, but Harley has given it a noticeable makeover in the last two years, adding a sixth speed, stainless brake lines and other touches. We went for the new streetfighter-ish Fat Bob.
Kawasaki had a short list too-its Mean Streak has regularly been a staff favorite, but for configuration and styling the 1600 Classic appeared to be the obvious choice. When we got to the Star Motorcycle lineup, it was a no-brainer to pluck the 1670cc Road Star-it fit our parameters perfectly. And for 2008 it had been upgraded with fuel injection.
From the Boulevard series, there could be only one contender: the relatively unchanged C90. Formerly known as the Intruder 1500 LC, Suzuki's oncevenerable king of the hill now delivers the beans in Boulevard livery, the same 48-degree, six-valve, air/oil-cooled V-twin providing the motivation (it received fuel injection in 2005).
All of Victory's bikes are 1634cc, and we were split between the Vegas and the Kingpin for their more agreeable handling characteristics. Victory touts the 'Pin as a "rider's bike," so we went with the new-for-2008 Kingpin 8-Ball, which we hadn't yet fully tested.
And there they were-five for the road.