Great American Road Bike - The Big Bang With Bags Theory

Once we hit the highway and began to get a feel for the motorcycles, it became apparent that what you most enjoy riding corresponds to how you are built. A great example is the Star Stratoliner. Taller riders sang its praises loudly after extended superslab sessions, while shorter riders groaned about the torturous relationship between the seat, the floorboards and the ultrawide handlebar that created pain in short order. Predictably, its comfort got top marks from the former group and the lowest scores from the ankle biters-I mean, magazine staff. However, all gave its seat solid to sterling scores. Taller riders said the Softail, somewhat diminutive by the standards of this company, was the least comfortable, citing its relatively short and narrow seat and compact riding position created by an inflexible saddle shape and a leg-limiting floorboard position. Everyone also thought the FLSTC's handlebar was a bit high and slightly awkward. Only one rider was pleased with the H-D's riding posture. The Suzuki's riding position was ranked as just fair by most riders, although its big, wide saddle was lauded by almost everyone and ranked just shy of the Stratoliner's. The Star and Boulevard floorboards were also the roomiest here. The Victory drew universally positive scores for position and, with one exception, solid reports for seat comfort, although its saddle is not nearly as full as those of the three Japanese baggers. In what would become a pattern, the VTXT riding position and saddle scored unanimously as better than average, though not exceptional to anyone. No one complained about them, but no one raved, either. The bottom line is that before you buy, you need to at least sit on these bikes and try to get a ride if you can. Only your body will know what fits it.

Unless your road-trip theme song is "Shakin' All Over," a smooth engine and compliant suspension should be standard equipment, especially at this sort of price point. Riders scored the Boulevard tops in the group for engine smoothness, the Star lowest with its smoothness a bit below average for big cruisers. Positions reversed when we discussed suspension compliance, where the Stratoliner slightly bested the Kingpin with strong marks and the C109RT dropped behind the rest. The FLSTC and VTXT scored slightly below average for ride comfort, a bit of a disappointment overall, especially in motorcycles at this level. Shaft-drive bikes-the Honda and Suzuki-suffer from a lot of unsprung weight, which makes it hard to suppress sharp bumps, while the Harley's suspension rates need some massaging.

Windshield ratings also varied with rider size, although everyone agreed that the Star windshield was too tall. None of us could easily see over it, so once it got wet, dusty or buggy it interfered with the view ahead, particularly after dark or when riding into the sun. However, the air behind it was fairly smooth. That couldn't be said for the shortest windshield, the Victory's, which drew some animated complaints about the buffeting it created. It also blocked winds less effectively than the others, mostly because of its size. The Honda scored slightly better than the Victory but provoked some of the same complaints. With the widest windscreen and the only lowers, the Boulevard windshield nailed the top spot for protection, with the Harley second. Both the Softail and the Star drew praise for their quick-detach windshield designs, which permit you to remove them without tools. The Star's locks so someone who lost theirs can't borrow yours.

Out on the wide-open roads we soon began lining up against each other for power contests. Here displacement asserted itself. With the throttles snapped open in top gear, the others left the Softail behind. Then the Kingpin dropped back. A bit later the VTXT lost ground. That left the Boulevard and Star roaring down the road neck-and-neck. Finally, at speeds you wouldn't want a cop to see, the Star just began to inch-no, to millimeter-ahead. The C109RT felt torquier down low and pulled the hardest up top, but the Stratoliner, which seemed to go flat at high rpm, asserted its displacement advantage up there, as the quarter-mile numbers recorded with the same rider on the same day confirmed. The tall overdrive sixth gears of the Harley and to a lesser extent the Victory didn't serve them well in our 60-to-80-mph top-gear acceleration tests. In fact the Harley took so much distance to reach 80 mph that it was beyond the range of the radar gun we used to measure this. In the real world no one complained about the power of any of them. The Kingpin pumped out just slightly less grunt at low rpm than the others, but it wasn't dead at low rpm, either. Whether chugging around at low speeds or passing trucks out on the highway, all five were powerful enough, though the Heritage Softail Classic was most likely to be downshifted while in passing mode.

While the average fuel mileage here (in the high 30s) wasn't impressive by motorcycle standards, it far exceeded that of the average car, especially around town where all five managed over 32 mpg even while being run hard. Fuel mileage varied almost inversely to displacement, with the Harley doing best at 40.7 mpg of premium and the Suzuki coming in at 35.1 mpg. Low-fuel lights came on around 140 miles after the last gas stop. With 5.0 gallons of fuel and the best mileage, the Harley offers the most range. The Honda, with 5.3 gallons and 37.8 mpg, is second.

Although riders continue to debate the merits of shaft versus belt final drive, our testers unanimously preferred the characteristics of the belt-drive machines. They are simply smoother, lighter and less clunky. The big spring-loaded dampers in the final drives of the VTX1800 and the C109 make it difficult to make power on-off transitions smoothly, leading to more neck-jerking, helmet-banging shifts and throttle changes. They amplify any abruptness in the throttle response, too. But we were surprised at how much the C109 driveline has been improved over the nearly identical M109, and we rated the Suzuki shaft system and drivetrain smoother than the Honda offering in this group. Because power changes also jack the chassis slightly on shaft-drive designs, there was a penalty in cornering evenness in addition to the unsprung-weight disadvantage.