Art Friedman
Height: 5 ft. 10 in.
Weight: 220 lbs.
Inseam: 32 in.
When the smoke cleared, I found myself back where I was a year or so ago. I had great hopes for the muscle twins, but they all ended up disappointing me. The VTX, especially this one, is too big and heavy. Manhandling all that mass diminishes the fun I get from its power. The Warrior looks great and chops off some, if not all, of the fun-flushing weight that hobbles most cruisers. It also moves cruiser suspension closer to competence. Unfortunately, the riding position is completely at odds with the high-performance stance of the engine and chassis. I can't take the position for too long. The Meanie offers acceptable comfort and pleasing chassis response, but I think calling it a performance cruiser is stretching it. It is just a bit faster than the more comfortable FI.
Some bikes were never in contention. The Drifter can't carry a passenger. This FXDX was a vibrator. The Intruder 1500 has the bulk of the VTX without the power or the price, which might make me look at it with more interest if I were actually buying (as would the carbureted 1500 Vulcan). The 1400 Intruder is way too uncomfortable.
Ultimately comfort is pretty important to me. The otherwise excellent Deuce doesn't quite make the cut for this reason. The three bikes that I could ride long and hard were the Vulcan FI, the V92C and the Road Star. That great riding position of the Victory is somewhat offset by the harsh suspension. So my perennial favorites, the Vulcan 1500 Classic and the Road Star, are left. Which one?
Jamie, I need to do some research. I'll be back in a couple of months. --Art Friedman
Email Friedman at: friedmaa@primediacmmg.com.
Andrew Cherney
Height: 5 ft. 7 in.
Weight: 149 lbs.
Inseam: 31 in.
Big twins used to be so easy to pick. Big and torquey, that was all that mattered. Now we have all these subdivisions...power cruisers, retro bikes...sigh. So I'll just start from the top of my own gut.
With money being no object, I'd take the Deuce in a heartbeat. I'm a passionate guy, and this sleek twin gets me with its style, comfort and, above all else, smooth fuel injection. Sure, the Mean Streak has a better seat and brakes, the Warrior a better motor and the VTX will bury it off the line, but those bikes aren't timeless, class acts like the Harley. They also aren't as pricey.
The rest of the bunch fell in from there. I was disappointed that the Warrior wasn't as stable as I'd hoped and hung me out in the wind on the interstate, because it had a juicy, linear motor. The VTX left me cold and uninspired, with just big pistons to show for itself. And the Mean Streak did everything well enough to win, almost by default--because frankly there wasn't any passion there, either. The Road Star and Classic FI are both familiar packages, fine for long stints on a straight road. They'd get my vote for best bang for the buck here. The Drifter was too narrowly focused in its purpose--I don't even think it should've been included. The Victory's engine was a nice improvement, but the bike's suspension was nonexistent. Neither Suzuki brought anything new to the table, and what was there was already stale and bland. And the Harley FXDX was light years behind the Deuce in terms of refinement.
It seems to all boil down to your own personality, then. Apparently mine is full of itself.--Andrew Cherney
Talk Cherney down off his high horse at: cherneya@primediacmmg.com.
Jamie Elvidge
Height: 5 ft. 10 in.
Weight: 135 lbs.
Inseam: 34 in.
Ooh la la. Having this much cubic capacity in one garage has made the last couple of months very satisfying indeed. On our four-day freeze fest in the desert the Motorcycle Cruiser staff kept a tight lip on personal opinions. We'd ridden all these bikes before and had pretty solid ideas about their individual performance, and we also knew we had six more weeks of testing ahead that could easily weave new threads into our own comparative process.
We knew the group ride was the most important element, though--and really listening to each person's very real-world reaction to the bikes was priceless. Although I never said it out loud, I was pleased when things started to lean in favor of the Mean Streak. In part I was happy because I've become quite a fan of the bike, but honestly, I felt that I might be the only one who saw how advantageous its flexibility and general good manners are because I've put so many miles on it in so many different situations. It pleased me to watch this group of testers cut to the thick of it--to conclude that it's not all about glam and glitz, but about rideability and how a bike is going to feel to an owner 5000 miles down the road. So yeah, I'm in agreement that the Mean Streak should take the overall honors in this test. My next favorite was the FI Classic for its good nature, followed by the Victory for its comfort and charmingly gruff character. I'm not as big a fan of the Deuce as the guys are, nor of the Road Star, which has always left me unimpressed. The Warrior? A turn-on for sure, but I personally favor bikes that do more than one thing well. Call me a stickler for function. --Jamie Elvidge
To find out what else Elvidge stickles for, send an email to elvidgej@primediacmmg.com.
Doug Meyer: Muzzy Performance Products
Height: 5 ft. 10 in.
Weight: 182 lbs.
Inseam: 28 in.
Top on my list was the Mean Streak because it's comfortable and stops, steers and goes like a sport bike. It hauls butt, but not quite like the Warrior, which is the quarter-mile king of the bunch. The Warrior has tons of torque, only out-pulled by the VTX, which has the power of a small ship. Unfortunately, it also weighs as much as small ship, thereby negating its extra grunt. No surprise there, unlike the Victory, which was the surprise of the bunch with its free-revving engine and light handling. Handling was certainly not the strong suit of the Suzuki 1500LC, which wallowed and crawled through the test. All the big twins were smooth except for the FXDX, which looked like 1969 and gave me an ice cream headache every time I let the revs get below 3700. As a matter of fact, somewhere out in the desert we may have gone through a time warp , because at one point I found myself on what appeared to be a 1987 Suzuki Intruder. All in all, big fun, but cold. --Doug Meyer