In this article, I want to practice and set myself a challenging mental task, to try to describe my impressions from the outside, for those who have never sat on or ridden such a motorcycle. Considering that, generally speaking, I haven’t ridden other classes of motorcycles either, just a couple hundred meters here and there, but not a full day at least. Scooters and Yamaha YBR125 don’t count.
What is a big cruiser with a V-twin as a motorcycle overall?
HEAVY?
Yes, I know that mine isn’t the biggest, not the heaviest, not the most powerful, not the “most of the most” motorcycle to use as a reference. It’s just a decent cruiser, and that’s exactly what I’ll use as my reference point. I’m not describing a Harley or an 8-litre BOSS HOSS here, but my own motorcycle.
CRUISER?
A cruiser is a type of motorcycle.
The name comes from the English word cruise, meaning “to cruise,” “to follow a course,” “to travel for the sake of traveling.” It is characterized by a low seat, upright seating position, often forward-mounted footpegs, lots of chrome, and significant weight. A cruiser is not designed for high-speed riding or off-road use; its engine usually doesn’t have very high horsepower, but it offers easy and comfortable handling, lots of torque at low revs, and a corresponding “threatening” sound.
So, a big cruiser is a motorcycle for roads. And for roads in the most romantic sense of the word. You may enjoy owning it just as it is, you may delight in the sound of the engine, the luggage space, the chrome, whatever, but the further the road drifts from the “romantic ideal,” the less you will enjoy it on this motorcycle.
A big cruiser is (what a surprise) a motorcycle for the long road, for highways that stretch out to the horizon.
But as soon as the road quality gets bad (and outside the highways, we have plenty of those), or you hit heavy traffic, you won’t feel much enjoyment from the ride.
V-TWIN?
And even with the V-twin, there’s a catch. Basically, I can jokingly divide V-twin two-cylinder engines into three categories:
- orthodox
- heretical
- household
Orthodox are Harley & Davidson Co. Every Harley owner will tell you that. Just kidding, not every one. It’s worth distinguishing Harley owners from Harley fanboys, and in general, don’t fall into stereotypes, they rot your brain. But in any case, I called the Harley version of the V-twin “orthodox”, shaky and vibrating at idle, producing the legendary potato-potato sound.
But excuse me, what if I like the image of such motorcycles but don’t want to sit on a vibrator? Clever Japanese engineers went ahead and built such an engine. And there are countless modifications in the lineup. Judge for yourself: Shadow A.C.E.; Shadow A.C.E. Tourer; Shadow Sabre; Shadow Aero; Shadow Spirit; Shadow Phantom; Shadow Slasher; just Shadow (I think that’s the A.C.E.); Black Widow; and finally the Steed, and I may not even have remembered them all. And it’s not only the Shadow, not only Honda, there are tons of models. But we’re mostly talking about mine.
By the way, the Steed 400 and 600 and the Shadow 400 and 600 don’t differ much, that happened because the Steed was made for the domestic market, and the Shadow — for export.
Depending on the modification, a Shadow engine may resemble a Harley engine more or less (read: more or less shaky, torque at higher or lower revs). But only resemble, liquid cooling is a useful thing (so much so that even new Harleys don’t shy away from it anymore). And if only it were just liquid cooling!
The crafty Japanese added plenty more. Back in the day, rebels used to build hardtails, that’s when there’s no rear swingarm or shock at all. Later, after bruising their tailbones, they switched to softails, that’s when the frame is welded to look like a hardtail, but the shock is hidden inside the frame under the seat. And while the Steed still has that (it’s actually much closer to a chopper than the others), in the Shadow they didn’t bother and just put 2 shocks on the outside.
And with the Sabre, they went even further, traditionally, the air filter in a V-twin is on the side. But in the Shadow Sabre, the Japanese engineers went and moved it under the seat into the freed-up space.
On the one hand — kind of “wrong” again. On the other hand — way more convenient.
Oh, and the household ones, a V-twin doesn’t have to be a low-rev rumbling lump. Such engines have easily taken root in the Africa Twin, the Transalp, and even the Suzuki V-Strom. And not only there, but that’s not what we’re talking about.
Alright, we’ve dismantled my first question, so let’s go on and compare everything!
SEATING POSITION
In general, seating is an individual thing. For example, I found it horribly uncomfortable to sit on a Valkyrie 1500 for some reason. Nevertheless, seating on such a motorcycle is comfortable. And it has to be, remembering that our task is to ride far, and the goal is more about riding than “getting there faster.”
For someone who has never sat on such a motorcycle, I can suggest sitting in an ordinary office or computer chair, stretching your legs out horizontally, placing them on the floor, and pulling them slightly back so that your feet fully touch the floor without feeling like you’re reaching forward. That’s basically it.
As for handlebar width… people often swap the bars (and seats) to suit themselves, but the general principle is this: imagine standing right in front of you are cute twin girls with size 4, pressed tightly together. Grab them at the far edges, well, you get the idea. Now stop daydreaming, squeeze your hands as they should be, and lower your arms parallel to the floor. If you didn’t kick your legs around in the process, congratulations, that’s the right position.
RIDING
And here everything is completely different from any other class. The main thing not to forget, this motorcycle is intended for a leisurely promenade, or a leisurely journey, preferably in a straight line, and by no means implies cornering at sporty lean angles, wheelies, or stoppies. Yes, I’m unlikely to take a turn at the same speed as a sportbike or even a roadster. Maybe my bike could even handle it, but such moves aren’t the point of riding this machine. Although I have leaned it down to the footpegs a few times, sharp lean angles aren’t its thing.
The same goes for dynamic maneuvers. If I ask my friend: “6.3 to 100 — is that fast?” he’ll say “yes,” because he drives a Volga 29 and for him that’s fast. But if I ask a sportbiker, he’ll say… I don’t know, probably laugh.
If you have a fast bike, you can easily imagine what 7 seconds to 100 is. Now go back and reread the paragraph about seating, take that position, and imagine accelerating in it. Silly? That’s what I think too. In other words, the ability to pull ahead of traffic at the start is there but overall, whether it’s 6.3, 7, or 10 seconds doesn’t really matter to me. In fact, I never measured acceleration, 6.3 is just a number from the internet.
But what’s interesting, you might ask, why would you even need more than a litre? Why not just take 600-750 cc and ride?
Well, many people do exactly that. But my friend on an Aero with such an engine, with a passenger and luggage, only managed 145 km/h and no more. And he’s skinny, and he doesn’t exactly choose heavy passengers either 😀
And that’s basically the answer: power is needed for reserves of speed, reserves of acceleration. Not for blasting along at 200+ km/h. The Gold Wing can do it, its max is 230 I think. And it can do wheelies too.
Do we often see a Gold Wing blasting at 200? Or pulling a wheelie? I haven’t. But then, the Gold Wing is a luxury tourer. There’s a big difference there.
NOT A LUXURY BIKE
Thanks to the “cruiser” image formed by Harley, many useful features are absent in such motorcycles. I don’t want to chase after luxury tourers and their features, but a simple cigarette lighter and heated grips from the factory would be a very reasonable solution for a “cruiser.” Still, that’s nitpicking, and I actually plan to install those myself (partially done already — for example, the lighter). Though it would be nice to have another key position where some electrics are on but the key can be removed. Or ABS.
Basically, there are only minimal instruments:
- speedometer (miles and km)
- odometer (miles)
- trip odometer (miles)
And indicators:
- high temperature
- low oil
- neutral (at the base of the handlebar)
- turn signals (at the base of the handlebar)
- high beam (at the base of the handlebar)
And that’s it. Though for traveling, lots of useful gadgets exist, like tire pressure (puncture) sensors.
So a cruiser that isn’t a luxury tourer is more a motorcycle “just to ride” rather than a machine for serious challenges. Of course, this is all relative, it would be silly not to travel far on it just because it doesn’t have puncture sensors. People ride on way less. But that’s the concept, and if you want to own such a bike, you’ll have to accept it.
WHAT DEFINES A CRUISER?
Yeah, I keep going back to that word, right? That’s because when I bought mine, it already had almost the full setup for long highway trips.
- floorboards instead of pegs
- tall and wide windshield
- gel seat for a big American butt
- 2 spacious lockable saddlebags (locks on cruiser-style bags are rare)
The only things missing were crash bars and a decent exhaust. But in the time I’ve owned it, I’ve added passenger pegs, crash bars, a rear bag, and plenty of other little details with the same purpose.
By the way, about bags. Mine are quick-detach, but even without them, there’s still the rear “trunk” of about 30 liters. That means I can easily carry a tire repair kit, cover, chain, a backpack with clothes, and all of that fits into just 1 bag. Nice? Absolutely. But for real travel (especially with tents), you’ll have to curb your appetite, and the ability to haul a bunch of stuff does make you a little spoiled. But overall, yes, the chances that a bag-equipped motorcycle on the horizon has the plug kit you need right now are way higher than for a sportbike.
What happens if you remove all this gear? It’ll look like a cruiser, but not quite, not a canonical “chopper,” but also not a cruiser ready for “cruising.” In other words, it won’t look much different from an HD 883. So what’s the point of more displacement then? Well, first — acceleration. Surprisingly, even “calm” bike owners sometimes switch to faster ones. Second, and no less important — the engine roar. No wonder owners of such bikes care so much about the exhaust sound. And nothing adds “impressiveness” like a poorly muffled exhaust on a big engine 😀
By the way, about why calling such a motorcycle a chopper is wrong.
A chopper is a style of motorcycle.
The word “chopper” (from “chop” — to cut) became attached to motorcycles with extended frames and front forks. Bikes with standard frames and forks are usually called stock. The predecessors of choppers were production bikes modified for street racing, “bobbers.” Unlike bobbers, future choppers had not only all the extras removed (front fender, sometimes the front brake, deep rear fender) but also serious frame modifications. High handlebars (like “Ape Hangers”), a sissy bar (from bobbers), forward-mounted foot controls, wide rear wheels (“fat tires”), hardtail frames (no rear suspension), droplet-shaped tanks, diamond tanks, coffin tanks, and lots of chrome are typical.
So the key features of a “canonical” chopper are minimal equipment, extended forks, and a modified frame.
SO WHAT ARE YOU, HEAVY CRUISER?
In conclusion, the Honda Shadow Sabre is a “base” motorcycle (don’t take offense at the word, there’s no negative meaning), a bike that people often call a “chopper” (though strictly speaking it’s not one) or a cruiser, which is much closer to the truth. It’s a motorcycle you can modify to suit your exact needs. It’s a bike for those who want a “Harley” but don’t want a Harley, and maybe want practicality too. It’s a motorcycle for those who take two wheels not to get somewhere on time, not for adrenaline, not to ride where even wolves fear to crap, but simply for the ability to ride. It’s a motorcycle that combines the chopper-cruiser image with Honda reliability and practicality.
