Motorcycle Cruiser Big Twins Showdown 2000: Excelsior American-X, Harley Fat Boy and SuperGlide, Kawasaki Classics and Drifter, Suzuki 1400 and 1500, Victory V92SC, Yamaha Road Star

It was just June of 1999 that we last collected all the big twins for a side-by-side cruise-off. The idea was to get all of the basic big twins, those without saddlebags or windshields, and see which was out in front of the best-selling class of motorcycles in America. When the thunder subsided, it turned out that the then-new Yamaha Road Star was the resounding favorite. We thought the issue was settled for a while.

But by the end of summer we realized we would have to revisit the class. That's when Harley-Davidson introduced its all-new Softail series motorcycles, with a new frame and a completely redesigned counterbalanced engine. This was particularly significant because the representative of the Softail family, the ultra-popular Fat Boy, had finished a solid last in June 1999. Our experiences with other new Softail models indicated that the Fat Boy had changed radically.

Then Victory showed a revised version of its V92 motorcycle in the form of the V92SC SportCruiser. Rides on this new model showed that Victory had also made huge progress over the last year.

Finally, Kawasaki announced that it had a new version of its Vulcan 1500 Classic. Designated FI for its fuel injection, the new bike had many other new components too. The company also discontinued its original big Vulcan, the twin-carb 1500A, further shaking up matters in the most popular class in American motorcycling.

At first we thought we would just bring back last year's contenders, the top-ranked Yamaha Road Star, Kawasaki's original Classic, the Kawasaki Drifter and a Harley Dyna to face them off against the newcomers. But then Excelsior-Henderson agreed to supply a machine for the comparison.

We were also getting a pile of mail complaining that we never tested any Suzukis (in part because there hasn't been a new Suzuki cruiser for a few years), so we also requested examples of that firm's 1400 and 1500cc Intruders. Once again, we'd have a 10-bike group to compare. Although the twin-carb Kawasaki 1500A and limited-production Harley FXR included in last year's comparo [June 1999] are no longer available, they were replaced by the Kawasaki Classic FI, Vulcan 1500 and the Excelsior-Henderson American X. Even before we had them assembled, we knew that those two bikes and the other two newcomers would shake up the big twin class.

All Together Now

It was, as one observer remarked, "quite a collection of rolling sculpture." The 10 bikes lined up along the curb were undoubtedly the prettiest group of motorcycles we have ever assembled. You could probably spend all morning just taking in their details and lines, letting your eyes caress this carefully crafted fender or that beautifully hewn crankcase cover.

Though the 10 bikes fit into the same class, they fall in different styling categories. The most predominant is the fat look, which is best given its name by the Fat Boy, but perhaps best embodied by Suzuki's 1500 LC. Others that fit in this category are the Kawasaki Classics and the Yamaha Road Star, with the Drifter expressing a tangential version of this look. Broad saddles, fat tanks with instruments atop them, floorboards, plump 16-inch tires, thick-legged fork tubes and wide fenders are the hallmarks of this style. At the opposite end of the big twin styling spectrum is the Intruder 1400, with its stretched, narrow, chopperesque look. It has a taller front wheel with long, thin fork tubes, a small tank and a narrow seat, ending with the only backrest of the bunch. Another look, seen on the Super Glide and V92SC, appears a bit more aggressive and purposeful, the sporting sub-theme showing up in footpegs, long, flattened saddles, low handlebars and other features aimed at making them work on winding roads. The Excelsior is perhaps closest to the wide look, but reflects some of the attitude and function of the sportier cruisers also.

We might have spent hours looking at chrome, lines and paint, but we had something even better to do: ride them. What could top spending a few weeks riding America's favorite motorcycles? So hop on.

Each time you climb on a new bike, you have to hunt for the ignition switch. The Fat Boy's tank-top arrangement, which allows you to unlock the switch and remove the key, was our favorite. Yamaha's switch (a conventional lock at the front of the tank top that also unlocks the seat via a cable) and the Excelsior's unlock-and-remove-the-key aet-up under the right side of the tank were also popular. The FXD (behind the right side panel) and the Kawasakis (up under the left front edge of the tank) were the least convenient.

The four fuel-injected bikes (American X, Classic FI, Drifter and V92SC) hum or whine for a moment as their fuel pumps pressurize their fuel systems and are willing to start immediately without choke or fiddling. None of the 10 bikes are cold-blooded, but the Intruders and carbureted Vulcan took slightly longer to warm than the others. Most were willing to cold-start without choke during the spring days we were riding them.

When it's time to pull away, you'll know you have selected a gear on the V92SC. Despite a tightening and quieting of the gearbox, the Victory still shifts with more clatter than your average cruiser. The American bikes, particularly the Harleys, require a stronger clutch pull, and the 1500 Intruder required the lightest pull. That's good because it has the least progressive clutch engagement. Like other 1500 LCs, this one's clutch only dropped completely home at the very end of the lever's outward stroke, then engaged abruptly. This was most noticeable when you were trying to get away quickly from a stop with a bit more throttle and rpm than a normal start would require. It takes a large left hand and careful lever release to make a smooth, hard getaway on the 1500 LC. Unlike our previous samples, this LC did not glaze its clutch plates or develop a noisy, extra-grabby engagement, even after our dragstrip testing. The 1400 did exhibit a tendency to "gronk" during high-rpm engagement -- which signals glazed plates -- but its normal engagement was much smoother. The V92SC clutch also engaged somewhat abruptly.

Few of the bikes had shifting issues. Some riders said they hit some false neutrals on the Kawasakis, but others called their shifting super-smooth, so it may be a matter of adjustment, ergonomics or rider technique. Certainly finding true neutrals on the Kawasakis were the easiest, since they use the firm's automatic neutral-finder. When at a stop in first, the gearbox will only shift into neutral. The Excelsior was the most persnickety about finding neutral. It was easy if you were rolling, even ultra-slowly, or if you shut the engine off, but tough during a stop with the engine running. The Fat Boy also usually required a few tries before the green light came on.

Low-speed power is a hallmark of a big twin, and all these bikes dish out pleasing quantities of low-speed grunt backed up with plenty of flywheel. Topping the list when you need to pull stumps are the Harleys, the Road Star, and for some riders, the Classic FI. The Victory also does well and has plenty of flywheel effect. Only the Intruder 1400, which has its powerband slightly up-range from the others and compensates with slightly lower gearing than the rest, was a bit off the mark in off-idle power. The overall power improvement in the Fat Boy from last year's model impressed all who had ridden both.