Touring Cruiser Motorcycles Compared: Harley Road King, Honda Valkyrie Tourer, Kawasaki Nomad

We don't require much of an excuse for a road trip around here. A little two-lane country byway inevitably seems like a better place to ply our trade than our 17th-floor offices in a Los Angeles high-rise.

"Hey, boss, I'm evaluating that new polish, so I gotta go get the bike dirty. See ya in a coupla weeks, OK?"

"Listen, I'm not sure if we got the right spelling on the name of this guy from Tennessee. I'll just ride over and check, if that's all right."

"You know, if we set up the opening shot of this bike in front of the Liberty Bell in Philly, we could make a great statement about the freedom of motorcycling..."

Not all of these ideas get approved, unfortunately. However, sometimes we can get in 1000 miles on a good weekend without asking for a hall pass. And Elvidge does have a 400-mile commute to the office. (She doesn't get in every day.) But any valid reason for riding toward the horizon always merits our attention.

We couldn't be denied this time. The motorcycles we had assembled for this project demanded a couple of thousand miles on the road to fully appreciate their subtleties and completely evaluate their long-term comfort. We call them "touring cruisers." Identifiable by their large windshields and hard saddlebags, they live on the plush end of the cruiser spectrum, more civilized than the wild ones and even more long-haul-ready than bikes with leather bags and small windshields. The new subcategory of similar bikes with trunks and stereos, which we call "cruising-style tourers," fit on the cushy side of these bikes but come a bit closer than the all-out touring bikes such as the Gold Wing and Voyager.

Three motorcycles mustered for our call to arms. Harley's Road King, Honda's Valkyrie Tourers and Kawasaki's Nomad signed on for the trip. We also brought Honda .C.E. Tourer, and 1100 V-twin. Since the A.C.E. isn't a direct competitor to the big bikes, we treated it separately. We would have liked to include Yamaha's Royal Star Tour Deluxe, but 1999 models were not available. No matter, it hasn't changed since we last checked out the class (and was soon to be phased out).

The three big bikes we rode were essential to our mission, though. The Honda Valkyrie Tourer grabbed top ranking last time (April '97) we matched up touring contenders, so it sets the standard. Harley's new 1450cc engine qualifies as a major revision to the Road King. Kawasaki's entry in this class, the Vulcan 1500 Nomad, is new, having been introduced last year as a '99 model. With these three key players, plus Honda's A.C.E. Tourer and our long-term Yamaha Road Star for photo duty and a change of pace, we were ready to roll.

Touring in January limits your options however, even if you are starting from Southern California. We can ride up the coast and hope the Pacific isn't brewing any rain, or head east through the deserts along the Mexican border. We decided on the latter.

Load 'em up

Although we switch bikes at every fuel stop, everybody is assigned one to pack on initially. So the evening before we departed everyone had to see how much they could wedge into one bike's saddlebags. When we assembled next morning by the dawn's early light, the Harley rider looked somewhat dour about her packing accommodations but everyone else was happy.

Harley's hard bags are sturdy and easy to pop off for cleaning (just loosen two quarter-turn fasteners inside each one). But bulges to clear other components on the backsides consume much of their apparent capacity. The tops pull off completely but large tether straps retain them in case if you forget to latch or latch them incorrectly. Installing the lids requires a two-step drill. First slip hooks on the tops around tabs on the backs of the bags. Then ease the lids into position (which they can be cranky about if the bags are overstuffed), and crank them down with the large cam-type latches on the outside faces of the bags. The Road King's bags permit you to choose to lock or not.

None of us preferred the H-D bags to the bags on the Honda. (The A.C.E. Tourer and Valkyrie bags have nearly identical bags.) Honda's hard bags offer a reasonable volume and are easy to work with. The tops hinge at the front, so they won't blow open if left unlatched. And you can carry an oversized item too big for the bags by simply strapping the lid down on top of it. The latches can be left unlocked. Our only complaints are that the tops seem a bit flimsy and that there is an unsightly seam running down the back.

A majority of riders rated the Nomad's innovative bags as their favorite design. Looks were certainly part of it. Their shape is pretty and complements the looks and shapes of the rest of the motorcycle. The trim strips on the sides are more than an art-deco touch to lend some nostalgia. They can also protect the sides from scratches, something that befell our Valkyrie. But the most unusual feature is the opening. Instead of opening at the top, the sides open on hinges at their bottoms. This makes gear stuck at the bottom more accessible than with the top-opening bags but it also makes it tough to stack small items in the left bag, since they tend to fall out. We learned to pack the Nomad bags with one or two large bags or other items in the left bag and the smaller bits in the right side, where they lean into the bag. The optional lift-out liners or other similar soft bags would be high on our list of accessories. The left bag has a document pouch, which we wish was in the right side where it's easier to reach at roadside. To be sure that the Nomad's saddlebags couldn't be left unlatched, Kawasaki designed the locks so that they must be locked when closed. You need the key to open a bag, and you must leave the key in the lock to close the bag again. This requires pushing the cover shut, lifting the latch handle, then turning the key to lock it. The design means that the tops are clear for racks, a perimeter guard rail might interfere with the covers. These bags are about as capacious as the Hondas' but packing them was easier for most of us because of the large openings.

All three brands of bags' locks use the ignition key and all three sealed out water well, unless they were overpacked so that the covers bulged.

With a range of temperatures awaiting us, we needed a variety of clothing to adapt -- more than the bags would swallow. Strapping tail bags and duffels on the passenger saddles posed a variety of challenges. The Valkyrie has a backrest but few other points to anchor bungees. It posed the greatest challenge for extra bags. Because its fender rails are open at their bottoms, the Nomad will accept a bungee hook anywhere along the length of the rail. Both Nomad and Road King have forward saddlebag guards on which to hook bungees. The rear portions of the Road King's rails are also open at the bottoms, and it also has an extension loop that runs back to the license plate for an additional anchor point.

To adjust for this added load, Kawasaki and Harley allow you to pump some air into the rear shock assemblies, effectively stiffening the spring rate. Harley uses a single valve to fill both shocks. The Kawasaki has two valves, one on each shock. Kawasaki also provides four steps of rebound-damping adjustment. Simply turn the top of the assembly. You can adjust spring preload on the Valkyrie's shocks mechanically.