Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Custom

KAWASAKI VULCAN 900 CUSTOM

V is for Vulcan...and Value

Quick Ride

KAWASAKI COULD have taken the easy way out with the third and latest member of its Vulcan 900 family, the new Vulcan 900 Custom, introduced in Texas’ fabled Hill Country.

The company already had its Vulcan 900 Classic (and a touring-oriented LT version), the result of extensive focus-group and market research. That info told Kawasaki there was high ground to be taken in the mid-displacement (650cc to 1 100cc) metric cruiser segment, and doing so required little more than “great style, the right size and full features at a good value.” No problem, then.

The Classic’s success convinced Kawasaki it needed another variant, but a slightly more modem and minimally custom version. Kawasaki

could have just bobbed the fenders, bolted on a flatter drag-style handlebar, then let everyone leave work early to polish their short game. Instead, it took a more considered approach.

Actually, telling you what hasn’t changed is easiest. The entire driveline, for example, made the move from Classic to Custom, which should delight most riders, particularly new or returning ones. Why? Because the liquid-cooled, 903cc, sohc, eight-valve, fuel-injected V-Twin offers near-perfect fueling and an incredibly broad powerband-superb tools for newbies or returnees.

Also largely unchanged is the soft suspension, which serves up a plush ride over most surfaces; better than

that of a lot of other cruisers, in fact. Reasonably powerful single-disc brakes with twin-piston calipers at both ends carry over, too, as do the 180/70-15 rear tire and the 5.3-gallon fuel tank.

For styling, Kawasaki came up with its own spin on the traditional custom look. True, the bike has the requisite bobbed fenders,

cast wheels, flatter handlebar and so on. But Kawasaki’s stylists added some touches of their own, including so-called “Twin Valley” character lines borrowed from the Classic, and a special 21-inch cast front wheel.

Kawasaki’s engineers chose to equip the Custom with its own frame, which has 1 additional degree of rake and 0.9-inch more trail than the Classic’s (33 degrees/7.2 inches vs. 32 degrees/6.3 inches) to get the steering geometry and handling they wanted with the taller front wheel. As a result, the Custom’s chassis dynamics are quite similar to the Classic’s. Both feel light and agile in slowspeed urban settings, yet remain reassuringly stable at more intemperate speeds, up to where the Custom runs out of cornering clearance. Footpegs (in place of the Classic’s floorboards) hit first, and at relatively modest lean angles as with other cruisers.

Even with all of Kawasaki’s heavy lifting during the Vulcan 900 Custom’s development, at heart it’s a restyled, rebadged 900 Classic. Which is a perfectly fine thing, because it means Custom owners get the same magnificently competent, feature-packed motorcycle underneath.

And at $7349, it costs exactly the same as the Classic. That’s the best thing Kawasaki didn’t change to make the Vulcan 900 Custom-the price.

-Charles Everitt