2005 Performance Cruiser Comparo Photo Gallery

Photos of the 2005 best performance cruiser. 2005 Performance Cruiser Comparo.

2005 Performance Cruiser Comparo.

Here we have five different machines that were all designed to do the same thing: Get you from point A to point B with a huge grin on your face.

At 766 lbs the VTX was the heaviest cruiser in this shoot-out by 75 lbs. Still, half of our test riders rated it no lower than second overall.

The 2005 Honda VTX1800F is resplendent in the deep silver and tribal paint scheme of our test unit. A liberal dose of chrome and polished components insure that it will always have plenty of bling to make your riding buddies jealous.

The Mean Streak has the majority of the tools necessary to compete in this class - all except for a bad-ass motor. Stick a mondo-motor in this thing and you'll have an instant hit.

The Mean Streak is easily the least expensive bike in this group and it is among the best handling and braked cruisers around, but its modest power is heavily overshadowed by the others.

In the performance cruiser world we created, the Harley-Davidson Street Rod represented a clear and present danger to the 1/4-mile bragging rights of the other more traditional cruisers.

Victory's most recent bikes have to be seen as a legitimate alternative in the American-made cruiser market, and the outrageous Hammer has upped the ante.

Here's Becklin testing the structural integrity of the Hammer's exhaust system while searching for the big bike's max lean angle.

Further evidence to why the Harley doesn't fit this category demonstrates itself on the dyno. Also of note is how the Hammer trails the VTX and Warrior in torque production, especially with its dip in power around 3200 rpm. The Meek Streak isn't even close.

The Midnight edition Warrior looks like it might try to hurt you if you get too close.Johnny Cash would love it.

While the other bikes in the shootout have certain characteristics that are very performance-cruiserish, the Warrior was seemingly built to define the category.

The bad-in-black Yamaha Warrior is a dark stallion that is waiting to be ridden to hell and back at break-neck speeds. It's evident that it was designed from the ground up to be a performance cruiser.

The Harley-Davidson Street Rod is an amazing piece of work. From its hydroformed chassis to the liquid-cooled Revolution motor, everything about this bike is cool.

After the introduction of the V-Rod, everyone was hoping to see H-D put the Revolution motor in a capable chassis. Well, here it is: The 2005 Street Rod.

In any contest of performance, the Street Rod easily leaves behind the traditional cruisers in this test.

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.

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.

Honda's VTX 1800F is a step in the right direction for this venerable machine. The options are endless when you consider all the different combinations of paint scheme, wheels and other accessories available for this bike.

The Victory Hammer is fat and mean but it just couldn't offer up the combination of looks and performance necessary to take the top prize in this contest.

The Yamaha Warrior is like man's best friend. It will do what its master wishes without so much as a whimper. That's more than can be said for some of the other bad dogs in this pack.