Our annual Cruiser Buyer's Guide has various uses-wish list, window-shopping guide, reference-and it continues to grow, as it has for the last decade. Cruisers remain the most sought-after streetbikes in America, and motorcycle manufacturers keep creating new ways to meet this growing demand. On the other hand, some old standbys still have life in them; there are motorcycles here that were familiar when we published the first edition of this guide in 1996.
Although it has grown, the format of the Buyer's Guide remains the same. The motorcycles are listed alphabetically by brand, and within each brand, by price in descending order. We include just those manufacturers who design their own engines, so companies such as Big Dog and Boss Hoss, which use engine designs originally created for other applications, aren't included. This is done primarily so that we don't have to take on the large and somewhat amorphous group of semi-custom machines using Harley-pattern engines.
The guide's final components are a Specifications and Performance section at the end (which now includes a listing of where you can find tests on our web site), a recounting of discontinued 2004 models, and contact information for the various manufacturers whose products we've included.