These motorcycles evoke a time when America was at the top of its form, before interstate highways and jets made it a smaller country. Riding a motorcycle across the continent half a century ago was still a grand adventure. You couldn't depend on the unfailing familiarity of chain restaurants or hotels back then, and you could only rely on your motorcycle if you knew how to remedy its foibles.
If you were going to trust your fate to a motorcycle in the desolate open spaces out west in midcentury America, you'd want a big, powerful, comfortable machine. You would need leather or canvas saddlebags to haul necessities and some belongings, though folks seemed to have fewer necessities in those days. A windshield would be ideal to help you cover the miles.
Although time has shortened distances and lessened the adventure of travel across America by motorcycle, it hasn't lessened the appeal of that postwar transcontinental cruiser. Almost every motorcycle manufacturer makes at least one traditionally styled cruiser model with leather saddlebags and a windshield, or offers those pieces as accessories.
We decided to round up some of these traditional traveling cruisers to see how they played out in some of the remaining wide-open spaces of turn-of-the-millennium America. Harley-Davidson, in this category as well as in most other cruiser categories, is the leader with three models. We were able to get the 2000-model-year Road King Classic and a '99 Dyna Convertible. (An Evolution-engined Heritage Softail Classic wasn't available, perhaps because of model-year changes.) Yamaha drew from both its lines, serving up a Royal Star in the form of the Tour Classic and also the new Road Star Silverado. We'd hoped to get one of the new Moto Guzzis, but the company wasn't able to supply one by our deadline.
Had we been willing to include accessorized bikes in this comparison we could have included several additional motorcycles. We have previously sampled a Honda Valkyrie (Summer '96) and a Suzuki Intruder 1500 LC (February '99) fitted with those manufacturers' accessory windshields and leather bags.
In the overall scheme of things, these four bikes fit somewhere between straight, unadorned cruisers and hard-bag bikes -- such as the Kawasaki Nomad, standard Harley-Davidson Road King or Yamaha Royal Star Tour Deluxe. Wind protection is about the same, compared with the latter, but you surrender a bit of the hard bags' security and weather protection in exchange for the black-baggers' style. These bikes suggest slightly less hard-core traveling and more urban patrol than the bikes with hard bags, but they should still deliver comfort for two and highway performance, in addition to agreeable in-town manners.
On The Loose
So we hit the road with the four bikes, following routes far from the interstates. Power is actually more important on the secondary roads than on the superhighways because there is more slow traffic, and passing opportunities are frequently limited. For sheer grab-a-handful-and-go power, the Harleys are the rulers of the road among this crowd. And the Road King is, well...king, even though it uses the same engine as the Convertible. We knew the Road King Classic (with its fuel injection and higher-volume mufflers) made more power, but we expected its 60-pound weight disadvantage (compared with the Convertible) to offset that issue. So we were surprised when the King eased away from the FXDS when we compared passing power, either through the gears or in top gear only. The Harleys quickly left the Yamahas behind, while the Silverado moved ahead of the Tour Classic. The Road King's advantage seemed to increase with altitude, due no doubt to the fuel injection's ability to adjust to the thinner air.
A few riders complained about the Yamahas' low-rpm ceilings, particularly on the Silverado, which hits its rev-limiter at just 4200 rpm. The usual complaint about the Royal Star engine -- that it feels overgeared in fifth -- was also aired. Otherwise, the power characteristics of all four bikes are very user-friendly. There is good power down low, and all are in the meat of their powerbands on the highway. EFI gives the Road King Classic the simplest starting procedure, since there is no choke required and it idles and responds to throttle immediately. However, none of the four is particularly cold-blooded.
On the highway, the Convertible, at 38.8 mpg, topped the others in average fuel mileage. We were surprised that the four-cylinder Tour Classic, at 37.5 mpg, beat the Silverado (36.0) and Road King (34.4). At this rate of consumption, the Convertible and Silverado would have the best range, at 190 miles. But even the worst of the bunch, the Road King, would still top 170 miles. In the city however, the Silverado and Road King were slightly better than the Tour Classic, but the Convertible was the only bike to average more than 30 mpg in traffic.
No one among our seven riders had any complaints or special compliments about the shifting of any of these bikes, except to debate the merits of heel-toe vs. toe-only shifting. All the clutches were smooth and predictable.
If It Feels Good...
All four of these bikes provide enough comfort for casual touring. (By that we mean a few hundred miles a day with frequent stops.) The comfort differences surface when you are trying to make some time. Saddles become an important issue, and the Yamahas score best here with some riders picking the Royal Star Tour Classic and others naming the Road Star Silverado saddle as the best place to plant themselves. The Road King saddle was significantly better than the Convertible's seat for everybody, but it wasn't ranked with the Yamahas'. If you plan to lay down some serious miles on the Convertible, a comfortable aftermarket saddle would be money well spent.
Reaction to riding positions varies with the rider but most were happy on the Stars, especially the Tour Classic. A minority of our riders picked the Silverado as tops, however. Some riders were uncomfortable with the leaned-forward riding position created by the low bar on the Road King; others liked it. Most riders felt cramped or awkward with the pulled-back handlebar of the Convertible. Most also disliked the steep angle the Convertible handlebar grips are set at. Its saddle, which seems to set you farther forward than most of the rest, also contributes to the crowded handlebar arrangement. The Convertible's pegs are the most rearset of the four. But it is also the only one that offers an alternate choice in the form of highway pegs, which let your legs stretch out. Still, it was the least comfortable of the four bikes overall.
Plastic Fantastic
The clear windshields used on all these bikes are minor marvels. They provide great wind protection, and the quiet and comfort that comes with it, with virtually no ill effect on handling. But some of them perform better than others. All four are American-made and share a similar style -- chrome accents are a prominent part of the look.
The Royal Star Tour Classic has the lowest windshield, which is not necessarily a bad thing. It deflects wind from your torso and leaves the top of your head in the windstream. But it does not create any significant buffeting. All but the shortest riders can see the road clearly by looking over it. Its optics are good too. The low height is a major advantage, especially at night in the rain with oncoming headlights on a dark road. This is the only windshield that most of our testers would accept as is, without cutting it down or exchanging it for a shorter shield.
We certainly preferred the Tour Classic shield to the taller version on the Silverado. Although it shares a similar style, the Silverado shield created the worst buffeting of the four tested. The wind protection is about average. Although its optics present just minor distortion, few riders could see over it comfortably. Fortunately, the Yamaha shield-mounting system permits you to lift the shield off its chrome bracketry after loosening just four bolts.
The shield on the Convertible was even taller -- too tall for all of us. No one could see over it. However, it offered the best wind protection and did not create any buffeting. It presents little optical distortion, but it still creates problems at night. One of the features touted for the Convertible is its detachable windshield. But since the bike doesn't come with a tool kit, you have to provide your own allen key. And even then the shield isn't any easier to detach than the Yamahas' and definitely not as easy as the Road King design.
The Road King windshield has the easiest removal system on the planet. Just push a couple of clips out of engagement and lift it off -- no tools required. Its height is lower than the Silverado's shield but taller than the Tour Classic's, and there's enough distortion to annoy most riders at least slightly. It provides good wind protection and does not create significant buffeting.