In motion, the three windscreens offer varying levels of protection. Since the Road King lowers are optional accessories, it offers the least wind protection, which made for a chilly ride over the Cajon Pass. Once we dropped into the warmth of Death Valley, this extra breeze was appreciated. Next in line is the Nomad. It offers ample wind protection with just enough high-frequency buffeting to warrant comment when battling headwinds strong enough to blow tumbleweeds down the interstate. Since the lowers can be removed with an Allen key, we'd probably do just that for more cooling airflow during midsummer tours. In the morning chill and the brisk ride home at the end of our trip, the Tour Deluxe is the bike to ride. The massive windshield combined with the lowers mounted solidly to the frame creates a still pocket of air to help the rider hang onto body heat. The flip side of this setup is that in hot weather the Yamaha can get pretty roasty-toasty, particularly around the feet. During one extended climb out of a valley, one rider said it felt like he was riding in a car with the heat on high blasting his boots. Since the lowers are permanently mounted, an adjustable vent for the tootsies would be nice.
Although these bikes are meant for racking up miles, the windshields on all three are easily removable. Both the Harley's and the Yamaha's can be stripped off in less than 10 seconds. Really. Just release the two clips on the Tour Deluxe (the King doesn't require this step), tilt the shield and lift it free. You'll spend more time taking the screen to your motel room. The Yamaha's backrest slips free in a similar manner. While this ease of removal is darn convenient, it's too bad there isn't some simple locking device on these parts to make sure they're still on your bike when you return to it after a long dinner. The Kawasaki requires a little effort to remove the eight Allen bolts to free it of its windshield and lowers. In reality, the process takes less than 10 minutes. However, putting the shield back on without an extra set of hands can get tedious. The Nomad's passenger backrest is not easily removable.
When stripped of their windshields, the bikes look completely different-almost like owning a second motorcycle. The hardware remaining on the two bikes with the quickly removable windshields is barely noticeable. The mounting brackets on the Nomad stand out, but not glaringly so. We would have loved to remove the Vulcan's backrest to complete the sleek look. The Royal Star's cool, chrome dash containing the speedometer provides a striking accent to the handlebar, making the Tour Deluxe the best-looking in the buff. Riding the shieldless bikes in the evening heat of Death Valley was a dream. After a day of racking up miles, a short jaunt to a trail head in the open air was a pleasant refresher. On the trip back to the motel after our hike, the increased airflow cooled us. Harley and Yamaha made the right decision when they allowed for such easy screen removal. Touring isn't just about getting to your destination. You need to think about what you're going to do while you're there, too.
View From The Saddle
The contact points with a motorcycle are the defining factor in long-distance comfort. Yamaha's Tour Deluxe hit the ball out of the park with its big, nicely sculpted, comfy seat, which holds the rider in an ideal location with just enough wiggle room to redistribute pressure spots on long stints in the saddle. The bar pulls back the rider into an almost perfect position for racking up miles. Of course, this grip location carries a price. In parking-lot maneuvers, the Royal Star frequently attempts to trap knees between the grip and the tank. Our test passenger was supremely comfortable, coddled even, on the Star.
Given our rather passionate, long-term relationship with the Nomad, we were surprised when it landed in second place in the comfort department. Kawasaki's redesigned seat is indeed comfortable, but the rear portion's curve hit our longer-legged riders uncomfortably in the coccyx, leading to end-of-day discomfort. The Nomad's handlebar also sports a nice, well-positioned bend-but without the annoying knee-trapping. Our test passenger, who is on the petite side, found the Kawasaki's pillion to be large and roomy, perhaps too roomy front-to-back between her and her beau. She also felt she was higher and more exposed on the Nomad. Fortunately, she had the sizable grab rails to hang onto. Unfortunately, when no one is grabbing those rails, their styling and the backrest they carry overpower the clean lines of the rest of the Vulcan, cluttering up an otherwise swoopy, elemental design.
The Harley trailed the rest by a good margin when it came to comfort. It was the only bike of the trio to feel as though its floorboards were in the wrong place. When the feet-forward and slightly too-high leg position was coupled with the forward and too-low handlebar, the rider was folded into a shape unconducive to long mileage. In fact, the poor state of the Road King's handlebar is such common knowledge that our guest tester, Brenner, said when he bought his Road King he refused to pick it up until an aftermarket bar was mounted. Now to consider the seat. When terms like "unforgiving saddle" (or was it "unforgivable"?) are tossed around in discussions, the news can't be good. Our pillion echoed our feelings about the firmness of the seat and requested the optional backrest.
Seats aren't the only parts of the bike we interact with, though. The instrument clusters are vital to our riding experiences. The Yamaha's homage to the Ford Fairlane was the pick of the litter when it came to sheer visual style, but the Kawasaki ran a close second in the information delivery department. Cover the LCD odometer and you'd be hard-pressed to separate the speedometer assembly of the current Road King from a 10-year-old one. Perhaps that's a bonus to some people, but since we live in the real world, a clock would be appreciated. The speedometers of the Harley and Kawasaki are in perfect sync with each other, with the odometers matching exactly at almost every gas stop. The Yamaha's counters are consistently optimistic. While OE mirrors usually favor function over style, the Road King also comes up lacking here. The teardrop shape puts the tapered edge toward the outer portion of the mirror, limiting the rearward view in the section of the glass that would provide the most information.
Power To Move You
While the components of the baggers that make them touring mounts are important, we know you're also concerned about the usual performance-related stuff, too. This class of bikes currently offers two twins and a V4 for engine configurations. The Nomad at 1552cc steps in with the most displacement, followed by the Road King with 1450cc. The Tour Deluxe brings up the rear with 1294cc. The performance, however, doesn't stick to this order.
In most situations, the Tour Deluxe snappily responds when rolling on the throttle. The Yamaha always seemed game for whatever task we threw at it (which is a testament to the improved power delivery over previous-generation Royal Stars). Even though it was the only carbureted bike on this ride, the mixers felt spot-on from below sea level in Death Valley to more than 6000 feet in mountain passes. The Royal Star did, however, have the worst gas mileage at 33.5 mpg, which made its average range 11 miles shorter than second place, despite having the same 5.3-gallon capacity of the Kawasaki. Another surprise was that the biggest-feeling bike of the bunch had the most anemic exhaust note. Around town a high-pitched whistle from somewhere in the long intake tract behind the lowers was distracting. On the highway, wind and road noise mask it. The transmission is slick and smooth. The easy-to-modulate clutch makes low-speed maneuvers a snap. The nifty cruise control garnered the most comments of any feature on all three bikes. Even when traveling uphill over a mountain pass against a headwind blowing around 20 mph with gusts over 30 mph, the cruise control maintains its speed with aplomb. Once you become accustomed to the throttle grip rotating under your hand as the servo motor does its thing, you're on your way to long-distance nirvana.
While bumping the Nomad's displacement, Kawasaki made sure the engine kept the trademark smoothness we've always loved. The improved powerplant is torquier in the bottom end and midrange but, oddly, never felt as immediately responsive to throttle inputs as the Royal Star. Given the information our gluteal dynos were delivering, we were quite surprised when the Nomad handily walked away with the top-gear roll-on races from 60 mph-even with the heaviest rider aboard. This held true from 60 to 80 mph, where the Yamaha gathered up steam and started reeling in the Nomad. The fuel economy of the 1600 slides right into the middle of our trio at 35.7 mpg for a class-winning average range of 189 miles (one mile more than the Harley). The transmission snicked between gears seamlessly. Initially, the clutch engagement was smooth, but as the miles rolled on, particularly when hot in traffic (or doing endless U-turns for a photographer), the clutch began to develop some of the grabbiness that has plagued the 1600 Vulcans we've tested. Overall, the Nomad's new engine proves to be a nice update.
Given how much we've liked the Twin Cam engines since Harley introduced them, we don't understand the Road King's lackluster performance. Have the other bikes gotten that much better, or did we simply get a flaccid Road King? We're not sure. Regardless, when it came to passing slow-moving traffic on two-lane highways, we always felt like we had to time roll-ons to allow the bike to build up speed rather than just twisting the throttle and passing. On the plus side, the fuel injection is glitch-free, allowing the rider to modulate the throttle without fear of hiccups in a variety of conditions. The transmission shifts solidly, which is a good thing because we had to stir the gears frequently to keep up with the other bikes. The throttle and clutch controls on the Road King are the stiffest of the bunch. No big deal, but they do require more effort. Long-distance riders will appreciate the fact that cruise control can be ordered as a factory accessory, though our test bike did not have it. The FLHR/I, as is typical of Twin Cam engines we've tested, delivered the best average gas mileage of 37.7 mpg.
Handle This
Despite the fact that these are big, heavy bikes, you can hustle them around corners pretty well. The Road King, which has the most immediate steering response, never feels completely settled in turns. Ramp up the speed and the sensations become downright unsettling. In high-speed sweepers, the Harley's hinge in the middle flexiness can upset the chassis-and consequently the rider. The suspenders do their best to cope with this flex, and for the most part they do. Only sharp-edged bumps tend to upset things.
While not as immediately responsive as the Road King, the Tour Deluxe loves to go around corners. Changing lines, transitioning from one turn to another, whatever you want to do, the Yamaha will do it enthusiastically. Up to a point. And that point would be the Royal Star's ground clearance. A few more degrees of lean angle would be greatly appreciated. The overall suspension plushness works against the bike here by allowing hard parts to touch down earlier than they would with a firmer ride. Despite the lack of ground clearance, the Star handles well and predictably, giving the rider the confidence to enjoy winding roads.