Thoughts on cruisers??

I have always had a love hate relationship with cruisers. Growing up I wanted a Harley Davidson but that is mostly because I did not know any better. When I decided to get into motorcycles HD was REALLY expensive so I thought I would just get anything that caught my eye. The Yamaha Stryker I have here is one of my FAVORITE bikes ever. It is designed like a chopper, reliability of a Yamaha and a badass matte grey paint job. The rake is awesome and it actually has some balls for what it is. It's a fun bike to go cruise around town on when you don't want to feel rushed. I bought a Harley Davidson a little later after this bike so my brother and I can ride together. I had the HD for less than 6 months before I got rid of it. It was boring, heavy, slow (Fatboy Lo). It looked badass because it was that Matte Black color but something just didnt work for me. I had to replace the battery on it, fix the oil cooler oil leaks. Tires were stupid expensive and the dealership basically felt like they were doing me a favor charging $800+ for a tire change. It was ridiculous. When I sold it I picked up the busa. Now.... I love riding the busa because to be honest I have a lot less back pain due to the sitting position (Years of riding jet skis offshore and some mishaps sure did a number on my back). It's hard to compare a busa to a cruiser because its a totally different animal. If I had to choose a bike to go cross country on I would actually choose the busa. If it was just for quick spins around town I would get the cruiser.
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Slowstang305 said:
I have always had a love hate relationship with cruisers. Growing up I wanted a Harley Davidson but that is mostly because I did not know any better. When I decided to get into motorcycles HD was REALLY expensive so I thought I would just get anything that caught my eye. The Yamaha Stryker I have here is one of my FAVORITE bikes ever. It is designed like a chopper, reliability of a Yamaha and a badass matte grey paint job. The rake is awesome and it actually has some balls for what it is. It's a fun bike to go cruise around town on when you don't want to feel rushed. I bought a Harley Davidson a little later after this bike so my brother and I can ride together. I had the HD for less than 6 months before I got rid of it. It was boring, heavy, slow (Fatboy Lo). It looked badass because it was that Matte Black color but something just didnt work for me. I had to replace the battery on it, fix the oil cooler oil leaks. Tires were stupid expensive and the dealership basically felt like they were doing me a favor charging $800+ for a tire change. It was ridiculous. When I sold it I picked up the busa. Now.... I love riding the busa because to be honest I have a lot less back pain due to the sitting position (Years of riding jet skis offshore and some mishaps sure did a number on my back). It's hard to compare a busa to a cruiser because its a totally different animal. If I had to choose a bike to go cross country on I would actually choose the busa. If it was just for quick spins around town I would get the cruiser.
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I always liked those and the m109r.
 
Guy i work with bought a Yamaha raider or Stryker whatever that thing is called. His was a 2013 or 2014 brand new off the showroom floor. He parked it next to my bike in the morning @ work. On lunch time guys came out to look @ it and by the end of the day he moved it away from my bike......

The guys @ work were clowning him :D My bike was 7 years older and STILL looked better than his brand new bike. When I fired my Nightrod up you couldn’t even tell his was running. From a distance they look similar but when you get up on em you see all that plastic and cast metal. Not very appealing IMO it’s like they set out to make a copy of my bike and cut corners every chance they could.

There’s sooo many H-D dealerships out there you gotta do your research and see who’s out to help and who’s out to rip you off. NEVER..... I repeat NEVER buy anything from a dealership that you can get yourself online!!!!! The price I paid for front and rear is the price they quoted me @ for just 1 damn tire!!!!! That’s how all these shops keep the lights on from smucks that don’t know any better or are too lazy to do an internet search. Even if you can’t wrench yourself there’s soo many online stores that sell for way under retail you can just show up with the parts and have them do the install and still save hundreds
 
1busa said:
Guy i work with bought a Yamaha raider or Stryker whatever that thing is called. His was a 2013 or 2014 brand new off the showroom floor. He parked it next to my bike in the morning @ work. On lunch time guys came out to look @ it and by the end of the day he moved it away from my bike......

The guys @ work were clowning him :D My bike was 7 years older and STILL looked better than his brand new bike. When I fired my Nightrod up you couldn’t even tell his was running. From a distance they look similar but when you get up on em you see all that plastic and cast metal. Not very appealing IMO it’s like they set out to make a copy of my bike and cut corners every chance they could.

There’s sooo many H-D dealerships out there you gotta do your research and see who’s out to help and who’s out to rip you off. NEVER..... I repeat NEVER buy anything from a dealership that you can get yourself online!!!!! The price I paid for front and rear is the price they quoted me @ for just 1 damn tire!!!!! That’s how all these shops keep the lights on from smucks that don’t know any better or are too lazy to do an internet search. Even if you can’t wrench yourself there’s soo many online stores that sell for way under retail you can just show up with the parts and have them do the install and still save hundreds
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Absolutely right. The nightrod I loved online but to be totally honest did not like in person too much. I felt like it was very narrow or at least looked like it was and the seat wasn't as comfortable. The Fatboy Lo was like a couch compared to the NightRod. The biggest thing I liked about the NightRod was the motor and being Porsche designed I knew was going to be top notch. I call the Stryker a budget bike because I purchased it used and got a pretty good deal. I do agree that the Yamaha has a lot of plastic but that is how they keep the price down. The fenders are steel luckily and not fiberglass which is hard to find on an imported cruiser. I can guarantee you the NightRod sounds better just because of how its build. The factory exhaust on the Stryker was a joke and a simple slip on woke it up 10 fold. Now, on the Fatboy I had shortshots so I definitely like sound lol.

I agree on the dealerships but I called the 3 local ones I knew. Petersons HD North, Alligator Alley HD and another one way way down south looking for a better price. I gave up on HD due to the way they treat customers. When I mentioned that I also had a bike OTHER than a HD they made me feel like it was garbage for one reason or another. I mentioned sports bikes and they said yeah who the hell would even want that. Yeah, ill pass.
 
I can't ride a bike with forward controls, I need to have my feet under me. I tried a Raider (on a demo ride) and it was a nice torquey bike but the riding position had me wanting to park it.

I like where HD went with the Fat Bob, it's a decent looking muscle cruiser I suppose. Those VMaxes are pretty cool too but my love affair with my Busa is too much to sway me.
 
Here’s a couple pics of my buddies M109R

I helped him find a company online that makes a fairing for it. Local painter did the paint on it which turned out very nice!!! Powder coated the speaker grills and installed a nice stereo. He rode it down to the dragon with me last summer.

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1busa said:
Here’s a couple pics of my buddies M109R

I helped him find a company online that makes a fairing for it. Local painter did the paint on it which turned out very nice!!! Powder coated the speaker grills and installed a nice stereo. He rode it down to the dragon with me last summer.
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Thats a bad mofo! Any more pics of it from the side?
 
Yellow09 said:
I can't ride a bike with forward controls, I need to have my feet under me. I tried a Raider (on a demo ride) and it was a nice torquey bike but the riding position had me wanting to park it.

I like where HD went with the Fat Bob, it's a decent looking muscle cruiser I suppose. Those VMaxes are pretty cool too but my love affair with my Busa is too much to sway me.
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Funny you say that. I kinda liked the fat bob after the new redesign as well but the seat wasn't very comfortable (can be changed). It was very hard etc. I think the bike looks badass especially on the tires it comes with and the way they designed the headlight.

I think VMAX's are badass especially the newer one's without a carb. They have a black paintjob for 18' or 19' thats beautiful. The one locally at RIVA sat on the lot for a little while. I went back a week later to pick up some parts and it had been sold. I always thought the VMAX and the Ducati XDiavel would make for some fun around town bikes. I'm not sure of Ducati reliability long term and maintenance costs.
 
Slowstang305 said:
Funny you say that. I kinda liked the fat bob after the new redesign as well but the seat wasn't very comfortable (can be changed). It was very hard etc. I think the bike looks badass especially on the tires it comes with and the way they designed the headlight.

I think VMAX's are badass especially the newer one's without a carb. They have a black paintjob for 18' or 19' thats beautiful. The one locally at RIVA sat on the lot for a little while. I went back a week later to pick up some parts and it had been sold. I always thought the VMAX and the Ducati XDiavel would make for some fun around town bikes. I'm not sure of Ducati reliability long term and maintenance costs.
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I agree, I'd take a Yama-Hopper over a Ducati any day when it comes to maintenance.
The new V-Max isn't cheap but it is cool...
 
That Indian Scout bobber is crap :banghead:

Super low to the ground with little to no clearance and the forward controls put you in an uncomfortable/awkward position. I’ve owned 2 bikes with forwards and rode a couple others and by comparison the ergos on this bike are jacked.
 
1busa said:
That Indian Scout bobber is crap :banghead:

Super low to the ground with little to no clearance and the forward controls put you in an uncomfortable/awkward position. I’ve owned 2 bikes with forwards and rode a couple others and by comparison the ergos on this bike are jacked.
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I find it interesting how many people own and ride bikes with forward controls and ape hangers...and seem to have no major issue riding them, I guess they have to know their limitations.
 
Yellow09 said:
I can't ride a bike with forward controls, I need to have my feet under me. I tried a Raider (on a demo ride) and it was a nice torquey bike but the riding position had me wanting to park it.

I like where HD went with the Fat Bob, it's a decent looking muscle cruiser I suppose. Those VMaxes are pretty cool too but my love affair with my Busa is too much to sway me.
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The newer V-max cost way to much for anyone to justify the updates that were nice but not that. I store & do all the work on friends older Max. The bike is no slouch and has some TQ to be respected only issue is the V twin set up is pushed to the Max (pun intended) by 140mph and is not happy above that. But yeah l liked the stock controls but he had me put on fowards which look great & give him comfort. He is taller but at 5-8" the TQ applied during test ride pulled my foot off the peg three different times! Bike has my respect is a lot of fun but I am to short for that riding position & was sore (inner thigh) for a few days after hour ride to work and back. Off subject there is a guy that streches Vmax's wide tire kits with longer wider tails but expensive.
 
Yellow09 said:
I find it interesting how many people own and ride bikes with forward controls and ape hangers...and seem to have no major issue riding them, I guess they have to know their limitations.
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Some prefer that riding position due to their particular back problems. In a straight line forwards are comfy and completely safe. Pull back bars are better suited to the ride vs apes of any height though IMO.
 
Nastee said:
The newer V-max cost way to much for anyone to justify the updates that were nice but not that. I store & do all the work on friends older Max. The bike is no slouch and has some TQ to be respected only issue is the V twin set up is pushed to the Max (pun intended) by 140mph and is not happy above that. But yeah l liked the stock controls but he had me put on fowards which look great & give him comfort. He is taller but at 5-8" the TQ applied during test ride pulled my foot off the peg three different times! Bike has my respect is a lot of fun but I am to short for that riding position & was sore (inner thigh) for a few days after hour ride to work and back. Off subject there is a guy that streches Vmax's wide tire kits with longer wider tails but expensive.
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All good points my brother but the VMax is a V-4. They are a good bike in whatever year, the original "85s weren't neutered though.
 
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