I admit it; I owned a cruiser. Not a "Big Twin", nor was it for a long time, but I did ride a cruiser for a month or so. Now, let me say first of all, cruisers have their fans and can be good motorcycles, for what they are. They are bikes to look good on and to cruise up and down the boulevard looking "cool". My cruiser, a Yamaha V-Star 650 Classic, fit the bill to a tee. It was long, low and heavy (over 535 pounds with gas). It had valenced fenders, wider tires and an even lower seat than the Custom model, which is kind of chopper-like. A lot of chrome, fork covers and stunning paint completes the bill.

    Just don't ride one! It is heavy, hard to turn and has next to no ground clearance (some cruiser riders try to "slam" their machines; i.e. the make them lower than stock). The forward set pegs touch the groud easily and often, even in wide and slow turns. Trying to get any sort of speed out of a cruiser and a lot of metal gets scraped off. I did it early and often. Coming from sportbikes it is a big change.

    The ride is plush on smooth pavement. But let it get a bit bumpy and you are shaken a lot. Over manhole covers the bike jars so hard I thought my fillings would be shaken loose. And that is with the suspension set on soft. Increase the rear preload to try to get 1/2 unch more ground clearance and hitting a white line will throw you off (an exageration to be sure...but not by much).

    It did have its good points. It was the center of attention wherever I went. Other cruiser owners with bigger bikes, such as Harleys or Vulcans, could not believe it was only a 650cc model. It looked full sized. With the few added billet aluminum touches (license plate frame, oil filler knob, rear luggage rack) I added, it looked like it was worth a lot more than I paid for it.

    But...I missed the sweet handling and ride of the ZR series. The smooth 4 cyclinder, great handling chassis and comfortable ride were calling me back. Due to my good fortune (and a wife who is worth her weight in gold; guess that comes next birthday!), I was able to trade in the V-Star and get myself a new 2000 ZR-7. Sure, breakin is a pain, but even at 4,000rpm the motor is sweet and the handling a delight. It is great to be back!