In town and on the road this group of performance cruisers is nasty enough to get you into trouble and bad enough to get you out of it.
Our test revealed that the performance cruiser genre is difficult to define and ultimately is in the eye of the beholder. Some may think the Street Rod is in the cruiser genre, while others would argue that the Hammer isn't designed to do anything but look good and do straight lines rapidly, subsequently criticizing our decision to place them in this comparison test. What we really learned from this shootout is that few bikes offer up a perfect balance between performance and aesthetics, especially considering the cruiser paradigm requires that a certain level of form is achieved, and that inevitably comes at the expense of function.
Not surprisingly, the roadster-styled Street Rod fit this category like a round peg in a square hole. It is without question the best functioning motorcycle in this group, but it's hard to say it's the best cruiser. Its cousin, the V-Rod, would have been more appropriate for this shootout. The Street Rod's rear-set footpegs and a riding position that lends itself to sport or, at the very least, standard ergonomics,
For many people, the dyno is the stick by which these bikes are measured. If that is the case with you, then the VTX and Street Rod deserve a long hard look.
eliminates it from contention for the performance cruiser crown. It may wear the black and orange badge, but there's little about it that makes it a cruiser.
The rest of the bikes in our test are, in fact, cruisers in the traditional sense of the word. They all offer forward-set pegs and adhere to the traditional form of the cruiser market in just about every sense of the word. However, they also offer up impressive straight-line performance and, in most cases, double as canyon-carving machines.
If nothing else, a performance cruiser adheres to the traditional aesthetic while offering up horsepower, torque, and quarter-mile times that blow the doors off the majority of the cruisers out there. A little attitude doesn't hurt either, which makes the Hammer and Warrior so appealing. After sorting through the notes and thrusting personal opinions on each other, this is how our group scored the five bikes in our test.
2005 Harley-Davidson Street Rod
We'll say it again: the Harley-Davidson Street Rod is the best all-around motorcycle in this shootout. It's a gas to ride in a straight line, and it's easily the most impressive when you need to carve up mountain roads.
But we're not providing a final ranking for the SR because it simply isn't a performance cruiser. We blame Duke for including it in this test, as he became petulant and bitter when I went to the Street Rod's intro instead of him, and he couldn't handle the fact that I'd ridden a bike he hadn't. For those who think the Street Rod doesn't belong in this class, consider this a more in-depth review of a great motorcycle. A good bike? Absolutely. If you're looking for style and performance from a standard, check it out. It's a wild ride.
Fourth Place
2005 Kawasaki Mean Streak
The Mean Streak missed out on the performance cruiser podium because of one glaring problem: power. It isn't the most aesthetically exciting machine, but looks alone won't hurt a bike that much in the ratings. Kawasaki's performance cruiser just lacks a little heart. Actually, a lot of heart. It was so noticeably down on power it is difficult to believe that this is Team Green's performance offering. Kawi's Vulcan 2000 is much more powerful, but there's no way it would be able to hang with the relatively nimble MS in the twisties.
Ultimately, the Mean Streak is a great cruiser if you're interested in assaulting curvy roads with regularity, and its $11K price tag is easily the least expensive of this group. However, if you're looking to stomp the local Screamin' Eagles from stoplight to stoplight, we think you'll need to do a couple modifications to make it as bad as our record-setting Meanie. There's a lot to like about the Mean Streak, but its performance simply can't match the rest of the bikes in our shootout.
2005 Honda VTX 1800
The VTX landed in third but only because our testers couldn't agree on who was number one. With four out of six testers taking the Warrior and the other two taking the Hammer, the score sheet revealed the VTX losing out on the second spot by a single point. The VTX was voted second-best by three of our testers, third for the other three.
Honda has developed a polished performance cruiser in the VTX-F. We found little to dislike about the VTX other than its sheer weight, which ultimately hindered it slightly by taxing its suspension, brakes, and chassis. Furthermore, it was so refined and easy to ride for a big bike, it lacked a little attitude, which ultimately kept it from scoring higher.
Really, the VTX is an extremely fun and likeable bike. It has gobs of power and is relatively nimble considering its heft. You won't go wrong with the VTX, but we'd like a little more uppercut attitude from Honda's big-bore Twin.
2005 Victory Hammer
No bike polarized our testers like the Hammer. We either loved it or hated it. In fact, it scored first on two sheets, second on two more, and last on the final two. This bike proved to us that you're either a 250-series fan or you're not. For those that are down with the cause, the Hammer was a powerful American Twin whose performance belied what is seemingly possible. The rest of us thought it was just a big Twin designed for straight-line performance. While some of us could get it leaned over, the process was difficult and unnerving, and this hindered its abilities as a performance cruiser.
Nonetheless, the scorecards give it second place and that's where it'll stay. Overall though, we found one bike that was the runaway winner.
2005 Yamaha Warrior
I was shocked when I got the score cards and the Warrior didn't sweep the test. Interestingly it received some competition from the Hammer for first pick, two decidedly different bikes. Ultimately it garnered the requisite number of votes to take the top spot thanks to its cohesive design that sends all the right messages and has all the right moves. As Duke Danger and Kenny found out when they pitted it against the V-Rod a few years ago, it's one tough customer that has the capability to accomplish just about everything in one nasty-looking package. And, with an MSRP in the $12,000-range, it has to be seen as a screamin' deal.
There it is, the Warrior is king of the performance cruiser. But with the genre rapidly expanding, we think the competition will only get stouter in the years to come. For now, the Warrior is a weapon-toting bad-ass that most machines wouldn't want to tangle with. Grab yourself a Mad Max outfit and mount up: The apocalypse is upon us and gasoline is a precious commodity. Oh, and watch out for that feral boomerang kid.
Check out the "For My Money" of the 2005 Performance Cruiser Comparo.
