Handling Course

Handling Course

Grading on a curve

DON CANET

SO YOU THOUGHT CRUISERS WERE FOR CRUISING DID YA? Maybe the Floorboard Brigade, but not these puppies. Power-cruisers aren't just about power, see. There's some serious chassis enrichment going on here-stout frames, big brakes, upside-down forks, sticky radial rubber. The cruiser as a complete package, in other words.

Tasked with assessing handling in a measured sort of way,

I initially considered going to the Streets of Willow Springs, a short, tight road course we often use for sportbike tests. But even this has a 100-mph front straight, not exactly a typical situation for cruiser bikes-power or otherwise. What we needed was a real-world handling course incorporating elements that quantified these long-and-low machines’ allaround performance prowess.

So we created our own.

California Speedway, a state-of-the-art motorsports facility located in Fontana, an hour east of the CW offices, is best known for its 2-mile paved NASCAR oval, but the track is motorcycle-friendly and also boasts a newly constructed infield road course that will host its first-ever AMA Superbike national in early April. Using a small slice of the speedway’s massive parking lot, we laid out a handling course intended to give these power-cruisers a fair and valid shake-out.

So lose the knee-sliders, “Valentino,” and follow me through a lap of our track:

From a standing start, we accelerate into the Fast Slalom section, carrying second gear and roughly 60 mph while flipflopping through the eight-cone string. After arcing around the final cone, slow to about 25 mph before entering the 100-foot-diameter skidpad circle. Let’s be smooth and consistent here, as every bike will run short on cornering clearance. After completing three laps in a clockwise rotation, proceed forward, then brake hard and come to a complete stop. This area is called the Backpedal Box, the idea being to ascertain the ease (or difficulty) of reversing each of these big boys out of a tight parking space. The area is marked with pennants strung in an L-shape pattem and requires backing up with the front wheel turned full-lock left. Maneuver complete, turn hard right and quickly exit. Ride three counterclockwise rounds of the skidpad and then sweep into the Figure-8 section.

SUPER CRUISER shootout

This segment rewards roll-on acceleration and hard braking. Remain in second gear throughout to drop engine revs to 1500 rpm or so while rounding the U-turns at each end of the 8. The turns are spaced far enough apart so we hit about 60 mph before having to slow for the next U. After two complete circuits, swing over to the final element, the Slow Slalom, which simulates normal parking-lot maneuvers. Drop down to low gear and come to a complete stop before entering this final series of tight, full-lock turns, threading cones and sweeping to the finish.

That’s basically it, two runs for each bike, let the stopwatch be the judge. We adjusted each bike’s suspension (where available) to firm settings for maximum cornering clearance.

KAWASAKI MEAN STREAK

For a bike weighing-in heavier than all but the Honda VTX 1800, the Mean Streak is a surprisingly light handler. Wearing a slimmer rear tire than the others may be the secret here. The Streak’s nimble, neutral steering and more rearward footpeg location made easy work of flip-flop transitions through the Fast Slalom, clicking its pegs down with the rhythmic grace of a well-trained tap-dancing bear. Time was lost to the Harley and Yamaha in the skid circle as the bolts that secure the footpeg brackets to each side of the frame dig in shortly after the folding pegs touch down. A large vibration-damping weight attached to the underside of each peg also serves well as a wear guard that preserves the peg.

Hustling out of the Backpedal Box presented no problem as the seat is low and the bars easily reached even at full-lock. The area where the Kawasaki gave up the most ground was the roll-on sprints within the Figure-8. More ponies, please.

HONDA VTX1800

The shear size and weight of the muscle-bound Honda is always evident.

Its wide handlebar and competent chassis offered the leverage and stability needed to make rapid directional changes while threading the slalom, but attempts to match the speed of the others taxed the VTX’s cornering clearance in short order. This same limitation holds the VTX in check around the skidpad to an even greater degree. After many miles of it scraping on the street, our test course finally wore the chrome tip right off the end of the right peg. The pegs’ mounting-bracket bolts also grounded solidly on both sides, as did a 12-inch section of the lower header’s heat shield, but the VTX’s weight and shallower angle of lean kept its wheels from being levered out from under it.

Backing out of the box was more difficult aboard this sizable machine-the longest and heaviest here. With the steering to the stops, I used every bit of space within the allotted area. At least the VTX’s prodigious low-end torque made up for time lost in the U-turns of the Figure-8. While the Honda’s neutral steering and planted feel earned high marks from most testers, its last-place showing underscored the need for a few more degrees of lean angle.

HARLEY-DAVIOSON V-ROD

One look at the V-Rod’s stretched-out silhouette might lead you to believe it should never stray from the straight and narrow. Looks can be deceiving. It’s the lightest bike in this lineup and the quickest, immense help in the handling loop. Plus, our earlier heel-dragging street ride proved it had a fair bit of cornering clearance, too. We were not too surprised, then, when the V-Rod posted the second-quickest overall time through the course.

Busting off the line like a wannabe Pro Stocker, the VRod zipped into the line of slalom cones. Despite the Rod’s kicked-out 38-degree fork angle imparting a slightly vague front-end feel when wrestling through rapid leftright-left transitions, it managed the section well. Not perfectly, though. The V-Rod’s extreme-forward footpeg location makes for a riding position that offers less handling control than the others, and the bike’s tendency to flop into corners was also quite evident when slinging around the skidpad. Firm countersteering was needed to keep the bike from falling in and tightening its tum, all the trickier when treading the fine line of cornering clearance. Hard leans to the left fold the footpeg well before getting into the sidestand, but the bike’s right side saw road contact with the radiator shroud (!) and trailing edge of the lower muffler. Ridden well, though, with a Firm hand, the Rod is surprisingly good.

YAMAHA ROAD STAR WARRIOR

With YZF-R1 sportbike-derived fork, wheels and brakes, is it any wonder the Warrior waxes the others when the world tilts? Make all the jokes you want about the bazooka muffler, but you’ll also notice there’s not a scratch on it. In fact, the only things the Warrior scalped en route to setting fast time

on the Handling Course were the left and right pegs and their mounts, and those were just scuffed.

Winging through the Fast Slalom showed the Warrior’s suspension has the best handle on controlling weight transfer. The fork allows full use of the binders without bottoming. The only flaw in the Warrior’s armor is a tendency to right itself in a corner, something the skidpad clearly revealed. Blame that stylish, 200-section rear weenie. And its ultra-wide beach-cruiser handlebar makes for a long stretch during fulllock steering maneuvers.

More than anything, the Warrior shows that marrying sportbike-spec componentry-aluminum frame, low-profile tires, monoshock rear suspension, modem fork-to musclebike styling results in a very entertaining ride. Straight up or leaned over.

ADVANTAGE: YAMAHA