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Comparison test: Cruiser, Honda Shadow 750, Kawasaki VN 900 Classic

Honda Shadow 750 versus Kawasaki VN 900

For relatively little money, Kawasaki and Honda offer mid-range cruisers that not only look good and almost identical, but also convey hearty driving sensations. This comparison test clarifies where the differences lie.

Two guys drive Japanese mid-range cruisers to a Harley-Davidson meeting. 30 years ago their bikes would have been burned at the stake and the pilots chased away with rotten tomatoes. Today the boys stand arm in arm at the bar in the evening and pour friendship beers. Alcohol-free, of course. This can have many reasons. Tolerance, for example. Or – the older ones among us will remember: VT 500 C or LTD 440. Step bench, leather fringes, wing stickers. In addition to a Harley, something like Mr. Bean worked at Vitali Klitschko’s side. Naked, mind you. The times have changed. Many a 125cc is indistinguishable from the big bike, and with cheap motorcycles like the Honda Shadow 750 or Kawasaki VN 900 Classic, the inexperienced neighbor enviously thinks of six correct numbers with an additional number. Not even close. The really big show is available for less than 9000 euros.

Comparison test: cruiser

Honda Shadow 750 versus Kawasaki VN 900

VN 900 Classic is also available in blue. At first glance, the Honda looks much more delicate. Narrower handlebars, lower seat height, smaller headlights. The scales confirm it: 261 kilograms compared to 283 kilograms for the Kawa. That doesn’t have to be a disadvantage for the Kawa. When cruising, heavier is usually better. What shouldn’t be an invitation to the manufacturer to crack the ten hundredweight mark. But unlike sporty bikes, agility is not the top priority here. The most important characteristic: to burn time as enjoyably as possible and, above all, to convey calm. A bike in this category shouldn’t fidget like a butterfly, but feel like God’s fist.

You can get a foretaste of it when you sit down. The Kawa saddle is wider, the handlebars are incredibly cool, and the running boards are optimally positioned. You don’t just WANT to be king here. Here you ARE king. On the Honda you sit exactly 45 millimeters lower at 660 millimeters. The strangely curved handlebar is a bit narrower and the feet have to be supported on notches. It doesn’t feel quite as majestic as on the Kawasaki. The UN is much more mature. Enough looked. Get up, start.

The Kawasaki VN 900 clearly has the more powerful engine and the better chassis.

While the Honda’s 52-degree Vau wakes up immediately after the first turn of the starter, the VN needs several seconds of starter organs in a cold state until the 55-degree Vau starts working. Maneuvering out of the parking space or garage is easily possible with both while seated. With slight advantages for the Kawasaki and its larger steering angle. Push in first gear – oops, that happens almost silently. Release the clutch and let’s go. Both clutches can be operated beginner-friendly even with untrained arms and hands, the Honda counterpart is a touch softer.

Sunbeams, dry roads, cruiser-friendly winding, the surface as smooth as a baby’s bottom. Optimal conditions to indulge in the verve of the engines. Let’s start with the heart of the larger-displacement Kawasaki. Just like the Honda V2, the Kawa engine flirts with cooling fins, which are ultimately just a show: water is pumped through the cooler, which is perfectly embedded between the front frame rails.

The short-stroke engine runs smoothly. Vibrations can be felt, but they do nothing more than remind the driver to move an internal combustion engine. This happens benevolently and anything but annoying.

The heart tones of this V2 are refreshingly strong and convey a long life. In contrast to many large-volume cruisers from Japanese or American production, gear changes are precise, without long distances or creepy metallic noises. A higher gear can be shifted to just above idle, because even at 2000 tours, 70 Newton meters flow to the rear wheel via the toothed belt drive. The engine develops its maximum torque of 74 Nm at a friendly 3700 rpm, and the drive provides the maximum output of 48 hp at 5600 rpm. There can be no hectic rush, because in most cases you swing at 3000 and 3500 revolutions on the country road, that’s 80 to 100 km / h in the last gear. If you need to be in a hurry when overtaking quickly, the drive never seems overwhelmed. If necessary, the Vau also rotates 7000 revs and in no way feels like it is about to explode.

Comparison test: Cruiser part 2

The right cruiser feeling also emerges on the two mid-range cruisers.

Switch to the 750 Shadow. Your V2 is designed with a significantly longer stroke and 17 percent less displacement, which actually cannot be replaced by anything. Surprisingly, the Honda produces its maximum pressure at the same speeds as the Kawasaki. Only this power is less with 60 Nm torque and 44 HP. This comparison shows how much: cruising in fifth gear, 60 km / h with heart-massaging revolutions. If both drivers tighten the throttle at the same time, the Honda bursts out of the Kawa rear-view mirrors as if shot out of the blue. The VN drive reacts more spontaneously, more powerfully and much more lively than the Honda unit, which also appears extremely tough in the upper speed range. Still it doesn’t matter. Because if the journey is the goal, ultimately only experience counts. And the Honda sings a beautiful song about it in the truest sense of the word. A soothing sound comes from the two shotgun silencers that can be listened to for hours. It is much duller, more powerful and more vulgar than the expressions of life that the 900 Kawa drive makes.

That’s not all. The pounding and pulsing of the Honda V2 is more exciting than that of the Kawasaki at low and medium speeds. Corridors slide better too. Nevertheless, the Kawasaki leaves a cooler impression in everyday life, not just because of its relaxed seating position. While you jump back and forth between fourth and fifth on the Honda in country road strolling mode at around 80 to 100 km / h in search of the optimal gear, the VN 900 performs such tasks in the last. Cooler. Sovereign. But the Honda still has a few Jokers up its sleeve. It weighs less and rolls on narrower tires. That makes them a little more manageable than the Kawasaki.

With its controllable thrust, the Honda Shadow 750 is more for novice drivers.

She steers more casually and playfully than the sedate VN – the downside of grandeur. On undulating surface or country roads of the second and third order, however, the Honda can only play out such advantages to a limited extent. On the one hand, your cardan drive is not as reactive as the VN’s toothed belt. On the other hand, its chassis is designed to be more comfortable than that of the Kawasaki and allows significantly more movement. That dilutes the steering precision. In addition, you think you can feel that the frame warps when you walk briskly or when the passenger is riding. The Kawasaki remains more stable, calm, more deliberate in all situations. Whereby we have come back to being sublime.

Honda’s last wild card: ABS-assisted brakes. There is no question that there is hardly any other motorcycle category where there is a greater need for anti-lock braking systems, since the locking limit is very difficult to feel due to the vehicle’s mass and comparatively rudimentary spring elements. At first glance, the braking performance with both bikes is worthwhile: The VN 900 decelerates at 9.0 m / s2, the Shadow with 9.5 m / s2. Tea "ace" is much more crucial here than that "how much". While any relatively inexperienced rider can get on with the Honda in order to achieve approximately similar deceleration values, the Kawasaki required a very experienced tester who achieved this maximum deceleration with a punching front wheel and a locking rear wheel with a certain risk of falling.

After extensive test drives, one could sum up as follows: The technicians at both camps focused on completely different things when designing their mid-range cruisers. At Honda they put a Yamaha XV 535 on the table and said: "Guys, this part was once the absolute top seller. Build something that is just as easy to drive, sounds a lot more robust, looks better and has more pressure." A Harley-Davidson Road King might have been on the table at Kawasaki a few hundred kilometers away, and the technicians were told: "You only have sum X. Visually orient yourself on this Native American and make sure that it drives almost as cool." They all did their best. Nowadays you can be seen everywhere with both bikes. Without fear of pyre or rotten tomatoes.

Technical data Kawasaki VN 900 Classic

Henniges

Black and beautiful: The black painted engine block of the Kawasaki VN 900 – the chrome is also good.

Engine:
Water-cooled two-cylinder four-stroke 55-degree V engine, a balance shaft, one overhead, chain-driven camshaft, four valves per cylinder, fork rocker arm, wet sump lubrication, injection, Ø 34 mm, regulated catalytic converter with secondary air system, 448 W alternator, 12 V battery / 10 Ah, mechanically operated multi-disc oil bath clutch, five-speed gearbox, toothed belt, secondary ratio 66:32.
Bore x stroke 88.0 x 74.2 mm
Displacement 903 cc
Compression ratio 9.5: 1
rated capacity 37.0 kW (50 PS) at 5700 rpm
Max. Torque 78 Nm at 3700 rpm

Landing gear:
Double loop frame made of steel, telescopic fork, Ø 41 mm, two-arm swing arm made of steel, central spring strut with lever system, adjustable spring base, front disc brake, Ø 300 mm, double-piston floating caliper, rear disc brake, Ø 270 mm, double-piston floating caliper.
Spoked wheels with aluminum rims 3.00 x 16; 4.50 x 15
Tires 130/90 16; 180/70 15
Dunlop D 404 tires tested

Mass and weight:
Wheelbase 1645 mm, steering head angle 58.0 degrees, caster 160 mm, suspension travel f / r 150/100 mm, seat height * 705 mm, weight with a full tank * 283 kg, payload * 179 kg, tank capacity 20.0 liters.
guarantee two years
Service intervals 6000 km
Colors Blue, black
price 8.695 euros
Additional costs around 180 euros

* MOTORCYCLE measurements

Technical data Honda Shadow 750

Henniges

In the case of the Honda Shadow 750, it’s a matter of opinion: a lot of chrome-plated plastic and an aluminum-colored engine block.

Engine:
Water-cooled two-cylinder four-stroke 52-degree V-engine, one overhead, chain-driven camshaft, three valves per cylinder, rocker arm, dry sump lubrication, injection, Ø 34 mm, regulated catalytic converter with secondary air system, alternator 399 W, battery 12 V / 14 Ah, mechanically operated multi-disc oil bath clutch, five-speed gearbox, cardan shaft, secondary ratio 34:11.
Bore x stroke 79.0 x 76.0 mm
Displacement 745 cc
Compression ratio 9.6: 1
rated capacity 33.5 kW (46 hp) at 5500 rpm
Max. Torque 64 Nm at 3500 rpm

Landing gear:
Double loop frame made of steel, telescopic fork, Ø 41 mm, two-arm swing arm made of steel, two spring struts, adjustable spring base, front disc brake, Ø 296 mm, double-piston floating caliper, rear disc brake, Ø 276 mm, single-piston floating caliper, composite brake, ABS.
Spoked wheels with aluminum rims 3.00 x 17; 3.50 x 15
Tires 120/90 17; 160/80 15
Bridgestone G 701 / G 702 tires tested

Mass and weight:
Wheelbase 1640 mm, steering head angle 56.0 degrees, caster 161 mm, spring travel f / r 116/90 mm, seat height * 660 mm, weight with a full tank * 261 kg, payload * 189 kg, tank capacity / reserve 14.6 / 3.5 liters.
guarantee two years
Service intervals 6000 km
color black
price 8750 euros
Additional costs around 170 euros

* MOTORCYCLE measurements

MOTORCYCLE measurements

Drawing: archive

Power on the crankshaft. Measurements on Dynojet roller test stand 250, corrected according to 95/1 / EG, maximum possible deviation 5%

The 17 percent less displacement of the Honda is well reflected in the performance curves. Both V2 engines are well tuned for cruising. The Kawa is already producing a lot of torque just above idling speed. The greater ability of the VN engine to turn is only advantageous when overtaking.

Measurements:

Maximum speed (manufacturer information):

 Manufacturer  Km / h
 Honda  151
 Kawasaki  160

Acceleration:

 Manufacturer  0-100 km / h
  0-140 km / h
 Honda  7.9  19.9
 Kawasaki  7.3  18.1


Draft:

 Herteller  60-100 km / h
  100-140 km / h
 Honda  8.3  13.8
 Kawasaki  5.8  9.7

Fuel consumption (country road):

 Manufacturer  Liters / 100 km
 Honda  Normal 4.1
 Kawasaki  Normal 4.1

Range (country road):

 Manufacturer  Km
 Honda  356
 Kawasaki  488

Conclusion

From a distance, the VN 900 and Shadow 750 can only be distinguished by trained eyes.

1st place: Kawasaki VN 900
More powerful engine, better chassis, greater emotions – a really big fish in the pond. Now an ABS, then the machine would be perfect all round.

2nd place: Honda Shadow 750
The concept is right. The technology is great. Unfortunately, there is no substitute for displacement in cruisers. The Shadow is the better choice for novice drivers or those returning to the sport.

Scoring:

Category engine:
More sophisticated: The Kawa drive does its job more confidently in most disciplines. It looks more agile, runs smoother, is more potent and has less annoying load change behavior. However, the gearbox is a little less difficult to shift, the clutch force is higher compared to the Honda, and the engine starts rather unwillingly at low temperatures.

Winner engine: Kawasaki

Category chassis:
In a nutshell: The Kawasaki chassis is more tightly tuned. The cornering stability and the pillion ride benefit from this setup, but it slightly reduces comfort. The Shadow can be steered more easily and carefree. It also has a little more freedom of lean angle.

Chassis winner: Kawasaki

Category everyday life:
Driving a Honda is a maximum penalty. The pegs for the pillion are far too far forward and too high up. Despite the higher weight, the Kawa is easier to turn due to the larger steering angle on the road. The Honda shines with its electronic immobilizer, the Kawa with the larger tank volume and better visibility thanks to larger rear-view mirrors.

Winner everyday: Kawasaki

Category Security:
With a big lead: ABS is necessary in the cruiser segment, as the blocking limit of the front wheel is usually very difficult to feel due to the design. The VT sets accents here and also scores with the better brake.

Safety winner: Honda


Category costs:
Slightly lower inspection costs give the Kawasaki a slight lead here.

Winners cost: Kawasaki

   Max points
  Honda Shadow 750
  Kawasaki VN 900
 Overall rating  1000  455  470
 placement    2.  1.
 Price-performance note  Top grade 1.0  4.0  3.9

Price-performance winner: Kawasaki
For almost the same money, you get more motorcycle at Kawa, more technology at Honda (ABS, electronic immobilizer)

Price comparison of the Honda Shadow 750 and Kawasaki VN 900

Used Honda Shadow 750 and Kawasaki VN 900 in Germany

The price-performance ratio of the two cruisers is once again messed up on the used motorcycle market. There you can find the Honda Shadow 750 and the Kawasaki VN 900 in good condition and at reasonable prices: Used Honda Shadow 750 and Kawasaki VN 900

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