Humping down the 101 South on a warm summer evening should be the epitome of easy cruising. And for the first hour or so of our return from our hardbagger tour out of L.A., things are just ducky. I'm lounged out on the Victory Vision (the Street version in Premium trim, thankyouverymuch), expansion joints blissfully minimized under the sheer weight of the thing, the whole roadway bashed by the gaze of its squinty-bright halogen headlight, beam sweeping the tarmac like a klieg.
But Mother Nature has different ideas, and the ash starts falling thickly from on high, flakes of epidermis ripped from a massive carcass. Here in the pitch blackness just north of Santa Barbara, it feels like the apocalypse is coming.
Harley-Davidson Road King...
Harley-Davidson Road King
Thank god for the Victory's halogens, which dispense illumination with utter aplomb and punch a wide hole through the darkness. Following the light, the lads tuck in behind the Vision's locomotive-wide fairing, Neric on the Harley just because he wants maximum seat time on the King, and Kay on the Nomad because he's completely enamored of the Audio Package option on our test model.
We didn't have a perimeter reconnaissance of the Goleta fire in mind when we set out earlier that morning on our 250-mile day, but that's the way it goes in the land of milk and honey (and mud and fire retardant, too, nowadays).
Luckily we're strafing through the burning hills on some of the biggest touring machines on the planet, so there's plenty of protection from the elements. And because they're hard baggers, we've got gear stashed along to spare.
That's right, baggers. Again.
Yeah, we know-last issue it was soft bags. But for this comparison we aim for the hard stuff-bikes that come stock with shields and hard, integrated luggage. There's no escaping the fact that these things are hot sellers these days (even more so before the gas situation went supernova). The MIC cites exploding sales of this cruiser class over the last few years, and even one Gene Thomason over at Gene's Speed Shop in Torrance, Califoria, we spoke with just before the tour assured us, "You kidding? FLHs are the only things I work on these days."
Whatcha Got?
We handpicked three middleweight cruisers with hard bags, two of them with fork-mounted windshields (the Vision rolls with a frame-mounted full fairing). The participants include an old standby, a recent update and a brand-new model. Meet the Harley-Davidson FLHR Road King, the Kawasaki Vulcan Nomad 1600 and the Victory Vision Street. (Don't cry for the Royal Star Tour Deluxe-we feature a sidebar on it as well as on Triumph's newest monster, the hardbag-equipped Rocket III Touring. All sides of the displacement spectrum are covered.)
We did a similar setup in August 2005, but back then it was the Nomad, Road King and Tour Deluxe. We followed that road test up with a brief update of the Road King versus the Tour Deluxe last year, but this time out we thought we'd throw some new players in the mix and head out for a big, sweeping loop through some of our favorite California scenery.
Gear: Jacket: Tour master...
Gear:
Jacket: Tour master Intake
Helmet: HJC CS-R1
boots: TCX Airtech XCR
Pants: Alpinestars Ergo
To reiterate, the rogues handling these machines were yours truly, staffer Evan Kay and guest tester Joe Neric of sister magazine Motorcyclist design fame. Our route was dictated by two somewhat complementary desires. First, we wanted to witness the power of Santa Barbara's recent wind-driven fires (call us callous), and second, we wanted to sample some of California's finest back roads on touring rigs.
When this group of bikes last butted bags in a full comparison, the Tour Deluxe won the crown. The testers swooned over its snappy engine, capacious bags, long-range comfort and epic wind protection (almost overly epic). But they also dinged it for its long handlebars (unfriendly for tight turns), poor ground clearance and subpar gas mileage (33.5 mpg). The Road King got a thumbs-up for its quick-detach windscreen (a feature also found on the Star), gas mileage (37.7 mpg) and smooth fuel injection. While the Harley was chastised for its riding position back then, things seem to have improved for 2008.
If the Road King has evolved for 2008, that's also the case for the '09 version, which we briefly sampled (though not for this comparison). In 2005 the H-D was powered by the 1450cc Twin Cam 88 engine with a five-speed transmission. Now it's got the more powerful 1584cc Twin Cam 96 with the Cruise Drive six-speed tranny (which remains for 2009). Other additions include Brembo brakes (on all '08 H-D touring models), a slightly tweaked seating position and optional ABS. The '09 Road King brings an entirely new frame to the mix with a longer, stiffer swingarm that's said to combat the unsettling speed wobble that afflicts many FLHs that venture north of 75 mph.
While the rest of these bikes fit quite comfortably into the standard classic-cruiser template, the Victory Vision simply stops the show wherever you go. We must have been chased down for photos of the thing at least a dozen times in our two weeks with it. The seamlessly fluid arc of the tank and the scalloped frame of the engine nested beneath are truly eye-catching. That mill isn't just show, either; there's more than ample go available from the 1731cc mill, as evidenced by the way it kept running away from the Road King.
Gear: Jacket: Shift 967...
Gear:
Jacket: Shift 967
helmet: nolan n102
Boots: Icon Super Duty 2
Still, from the first twist of the throttle it's obvious the H-D has torque to spare. Our dyno runs registered 75.8 lb-ft of the stuff at 3250 rpm, which spins up quickly and gets you off the line hastily. The Nomad is just as impressive, though it prefers to get the job done with much less fanfare. The 76.2 lb-ft of torque hits at a more user-friendly 2500 rpm and with a smoother, steadier output. Though the Road King averaged slightly better gas mileage (37.5 mpg versus the Nomad's 35 mpg) and has a larger tank (6.0 gallons versus 5.3 gallons), the H-D's six-speed transmission also spaces the gears well, with the overdrive sixth gear feeling like a nice push even at superlegal highway cruising speeds.
If you're talking torque, though, the previous conversation is rendered obsolete once you glance at the Victory's numbers-a healthy 94.9 stump-pulling lb-ft at 2750rpm. Talk about go! And the Vision delivers it with civilized aplomb-nary a lurch from the light as you're pulling away in first gear.
The Road King's reconfigured riding position brings it nearly up to par with the Nomad in comfort, and the H-D's rider and passenger floorboards are height-adjustable. While the Harley's supportive seat is much improved over the previous version, the Nomad still offers more room to squirm around on and thus was more coveted by our testers over longer distances. But the Vision trumps them both with its roomy cockpit, allowing you plenty of space to move around in (though a couple of testers complained about the way-narrow seat).