the new Kawasaki Vulcan 1700...not quite bad?

I followed one of these...i had a 1098 in front of me and this in red in front of him...and 50 more various bikes in front of us....and 20 behind... and traveling about a third too fast for single file on this junk road ....

Well i kept wondering how that guy on that big ole victory?/Harley?

was able to toss the thing around and i knew if he caught some serious bumps/air that i would ..i ignored the other bikes and watched his back wheel 50 ft ahead for the entire ride to see what road imperfections were upcoming...this was after i noticed he was having fun and not grinding or working his ass off...

later i asked him when we were away from our bikes if that was a Victory and he said it was the new 2011 Kawasaki vulcan.....i never thought about owning one of these type of bikes...but the thing was unreal for this beat up section of road....i asked him if he was super comfortable and he said he had just ridden down from Oregon where the roads were all like this one...plus he had been on the bike a few days now...

it drew a crowd wherever we parked and i could not help but notice the detail and finish it had...it was super high quality...unreal paint and design...for a KAWASAKI too,

i know...i know.....not even what i thought...i am the first to tease the Viking biker gig....but as far as quality and plush finish..it looked like 10 layers of hooker nail polish.....

check one out.....


cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-2011-KAWASAK...&hash=item43a7094424

thats what happens when you try and be like everybody else! :sick: :sick: :sick: :sick: :sick: :laugh:

go stand next to one...they straight up fly .....i cant take my gal on more than an hr ride on mt bike and a concourse is still trying to copy the other guys too....

i was amazed folllowing this bike...long before i knew who made it....

i would not preach em...but for 14000 it is beating the boys with their own bat

im sure it moves out,just not my style i guess

mine either at all...i was suprised it was a Kawasaki and i was kinda glad to know Kawasaki made it...because it was so clean and thought out and the paint was unreal....i know the Harley guys just got got the bar moved on em....it was tossing around on this ribbon of chunky roller coaster while i was back there flat tracking the MKII....

i would love to be there when a 40,000 dollar honda or a 40,000 dollar harley tries to catch

all i am saying is if you are at the shop and they have one around...dont be too cool to go take a peek and let me know if you think Kawasaki is gonna get a smiley face on this one

Cycle Canada just recently did a review of it, I think it's called a Vaquero or something like that. They said it was pretty good as far as a cruiser, not that special. One thing they did go on about was the fit and finish and the paint, like you said it was harley quality.

Motorcycle Consumer News just did a comparison between the HD Road Glide Custom 103 ci and Kaw Vaquero 1700. Fun fact, the FRONT tire of the Vaquero (the bagger version of the Vulcan) is a 130mm Bridgestone- same as my REAR tire!

I agree with Wireman. Not my style.

I'm not particularly fond of the body work. But I've a lot of respect for the Vulcans in general and one in particular pleases me plenty. It has a similar motor with just a bit less stroke.


Bill

Not my style either. I like pretty much all motorcycles, be it old Japanese stuff, new Moto Guzzi, Ducati, BMW, all new Japanese stuff except for Harley or Harley clones. Oops I said Japanese and Harley in the same sentence. I don't like Chinese motorcycles, so Harley and their Chinese parts are worth zero to me. This Vaquero follows Harley tradition of course with the V twin which I have nothing against, but that styling, that fairing, that *everything* is just so Harley it makes me sick just like a real Harley, so I don't see any appeal. Just another V twin. Not worth consideration.

RonKZ650 wrote: Not my style either. I like pretty much all motorcycles, be it old Japanese stuff, new Moto Guzzi, Ducati, BMW, all new Japanese stuff except for Harley or Harley clones. Oops I said Japanese and Harley in the same sentence. I don't like Chinese motorcycles, so Harley and their Chinese parts are worth zero to me. This Vaquero follows Harley tradition of course with the V twin which I have nothing against, but that styling, that fairing, that *everything* is just so Harley it makes me sick just like a real Harley, so I don't see any appeal. Just another V twin. Not worth consideration.

Ron, I pretty much agree with you. I know a bunch of Voyager aficionados who were mortally wounded when Ma Kaw decided to base their new touring steed on the V twin Vulcan instead of the 1400, now the Concours.

The styling of that fairing looks like a rumpled 57 Chevy.

However the V Twin thing still rings the bell in a lot of ways. I loan out that Mean Streak a lot and every one raves about the handling. I think it's good for ten MPH in any curve over my Valk.

Bill