Riding Positions
Joe Neric
5' 9", 230 lb, 30" inseam, age 33
All three of these bikes are a handful in the city, that's for sure. Navigating through Los Angeles traffic is like trying to thread rope through a needle. Out on the open highway, though, I was quite surprised at how much fun I was having, mainly because I'm more of a sportbike guy. I felt the Road King had the most comfortable suspension, making long-distance jaunts a dream. I think the Harley could benefit from an adjustable windscreen, and the brakes were simply horrendous. The Vulcan's suspension felt a wee bit sportier, thus making it the easiest to navigate at slow speeds and in city traffic but somewhat jarring on the big bumps. The Kawasaki's brakes were superb compared with the other two, and the saddlebags held an impressive amount of gear. As for the Vision, city riding is stressful, but out where the cars are minimal this bike feels to me like the best of the three. At highway speeds the Victory's suspension soaked up all the nasty bits yet was still responsive when you needed it to be. But I felt that the Victory was especially susceptible to bad road conditions at low speed, and I was surprised to discover the total lack of storage. By looking at it, it would seem like you could find a small body in those swoopy saddlebags, but that wasn't the case at all. More like an extra limb. I'm just saying. Even though I do tend to favor sportbikes, I gotta admit-these are much better at piling on the miles.
Kawasaki Vulcan 5 stars
H-D Road King 4 stars
Victory Vision 3 stars
Mark Zimmerman
5' 10", 220 lb, 32" inseam, age 53
So is the R3 the quintessential "American" Motorcycle? Let's consider the bikes in ascending order. The Vision's styling is interesting in an academic way, but it's not something I could live with on a day-to-day basis, so I'd reject it out of hand no matter how terrific a bike it is.
The Road King has an undeniable pedigree and it can certainly lay claim to being America's motorcycle, but it's 18 large out the door and someone is going to have to justify that price to me, based on something other than jingoism.
Finally, there's the Nomad. It has killer styling, solid performance, and at slightly over $13,000 is priced very competitively. The fact that it's made in Nippon is beside the point-in my opinion this bike's virtues make it as American as apple pie.
Kawasaki Vulcan 4 stars
H-D Road King 3 stars
Victory Vision 2 stars
Evan Kay
5' 4", 162 lb, 29" inseam, age 44
There isn't one stinker in this bunch. Not to say that they're all perfect:The Rocket III Touring is a big motorcycle, but once rolling I thought it handled pretty well. Wind protection is good, and the riding position is comfortable. The downside is that ginormous three-cylinder engine. Sure, it's strong enough to pull tree stumps out of the ground. But 2.3 liters? My favorite truck only had a two-liter engine. Combined with the smallest gas tank in the group, "touring" on the Rocket really means "long cruises from gas station to gas station."
The Nomad doesn't do anything wrong. Low-end torque is abundant, it looks good, and the seat is even comfortable. But the suspension is spongy and underdamped, and the windscreen is just too high for me, resulting in helmet buffeting over 50 mph. Finally, the engine has this low-frequency harmonic at low rpms that sounds like someone is drumming on my skull.
Royal Star Tour Deluxe is a mouthful of a name, but it's really a fine motorcycle. The seat is pretty comfortable, there are windscreen lowers, and the suspension smoothes out all of the bumps. The five-speed tranny is a keeper, too. It's all great-except for the thirsty engine that sucks the smallish 5.3-gallon tank dry in about 168 miles. Also, I can't see over the windscreen, and at 90 mph the whole rig starts oscillating, putting the kibosh on rapid road coverage.
The Vision Street is a bike you either love or hate on the looks alone. Personally, I hate the front and love the rear. It handles well once moving, but you absolutely do not want to drop this bike (though it does offer that nifty anti-tipover feature, which I thankfully never got to try). I like the seat, and the long floorboards let me move my feet around. The problems are significant, though-the bike gets poor mileage, has a short range, and its saddlebags have the capacity of a child's lunchbox.
The Harley does nothing wrong. Well, almost nothing-bending it through sweeping turns will get the bike weaving like there's a hinge in the middle of the frame (though the '09's new frame fixes this issue); the windscreen is the wrong size and shape for me; and my lower legs get nearly blown off of the floorboards on the highway. Otherwise it's all good-adjustable-height floorboards, supportive seat, approximately 100 pounds lighter than the competition, and a tank that will easily get you over 200 miles between stops.
So who wins? On the basis of value, I say the Nomad. It works great and it's the least expensive by $1500. Even at $4-plus per gallon, that price difference will pay for a few upgrades and a lot of gas.
Kawasaki Vulcan 4 stars
H-D Road King 3 and 1/2 stars
Victory Vision 3 stars
Andy Cherney
5' 7", 155 lb, 30" inseam, age 45
Last time we rode these things back to back (Aug. '05), I couldn't stop raving about the Star-its smoothness, style and bang for the buck, and its cruise control. How cool that it came standard, I thought. I felt it was the top dog then, but funny how context changes everything. This time around it just seems like the others have more to offer than the Star, which has stood nearly still for the last four years. Don't get me wrong: Love that transferable five-year warranty, but that only goes so far. And if I get one more letter from someone in North Dakota who swears he gets 75 mpg on it, then I'm just gonna up and quit. I'm switching allegiances to the Nomad-just to piss that guy off.
Sixteen hundred cc of pure fun, bitchin' bags, smooth power all through the band and a completely well-sorted bike in every regard (let's just overlook the suspension, shall we?) is what you get with this Kawasaki. There's not much not to love here, especially in a 13-large, plug-and-play touring cruiser. No, there's neither cruise control nor an option for it (which is perhaps the biggest negative), but this is the bike I wanted to ride most, city or highway.
I wanted to love the Rocket-I really did. Mostly because I still do love the Rocket-but the original, unneutered one, the one that makes you go "whoo-hoo" like some dumb WaMu commercial when you twist the throttle because it's a real, palpable rush. Alas, I do realize that most of the populace doesn't ride quite so irresponsibly, and Triumph undoubtedly made the Touring more refined and usable for good reason. It's like nonalcoholic beer, though, if you ask me. Some of the taste, none of the fun.
As for the Vision-what can you say? The thing works, absolutely, but it's simply not my style-not as a touring rig and certainly not for $19,999. I appreciate that Victory took a viciously cool-looking shot across the bow of BMW and Honda with this thing, and so it may be trying to play in a different league, but it just doesn't do it for me.
Ah, Harley-I hardly knew ye. The Road King felt positively lilliputian in this crew with the most compact wheelbase by far, which also meant it was the most agreeable up front with steering inputs. Alas, the chassis is feeling tired and the suspension flaccid. Happy to say, though, that the new '09 King I rode around the block recently felt much more connected, but also a tad heavier. Looks like time for a new comparison, eh?
Kawasaki Vulcan4 stars
H-D Road King 3 and 1/2 stars
Victory Vision3 stars