It seems like every time I turn around these days someone is touting their “custom” bike. What exactly is a custom?
Harley-Davidson, as you know, has a full line of “dark customs”. Two years ago my pal, Greg White of Speed TV, hooked me up with a Vulcan Custom to ride. And now Honda is putting out it’s own custom, the Fury. If everyone has the same bike, how is that custom?
Some of these “customs” have a great look (and I really wouldn’t mind taking the Fury out for ride) but I think that calling them all custom is really a misnomer. When I think of a custom I think of originality, one-off parts and unique paint. To me, a bike needs some serious modification to be considered a custom. Every motorcycle owner, especially the cruiser owners out there, makes the same basic changes when they get their bike.
First, we change out pipes, air filters, maybe bars and cables then add some saddlebags (or remove them) to give our bikes a bit of our personality and performance-liking. With those minor changes, we can park in a lot with 100 other bikes and pick ours out of the crowd, with no problem. But, can someone else?
What makes a custom motorcycle “custom”?
Lets look at some of the similarities in a few customs.
Vulcan Custom
Iron 883 Dark Custom
Honda Fury
American Ironhorse
HD Cross Bones
Right off the bat you can see that, regardless of the brand, a “custom” is more for the solo rider. They have smaller seats, which are lower to the ground. Fenders are bobbed down, both in the front and rear. Bars are mostly pulled back, although apes or mini-apes are acceptable. Individual stylized wheels are a necessity.
All of these “custom” bikes are just doing at the factory what we normally do when we get our non-customs home. So, I guess in that aspect you might be saving some money if you buy one and keep it bone stock but seriously, who keeps their bike stock?
So, if you buy your own custom, do you have to make all the normal changes to customize your custom? My friend ArtBiker bought a ‘49 panhead and chopped the bejesus out of it. Now that is a custom. Buying a frame and building your own is a custom. For a custom to truly be custom, you need to customize it. Right?
ArtBiker fixing his chopper
Factory Custom Bikes and You
What do you think? Is the world of unique, factory-custom bikes just building more of the same? Would you prefer if they just called them something else? If you bought (or own) one, will you change it or keep it stock?
p.s. I know that some of you have seen, this but it’s too fricking cute to let pass by.
Happy 2009 everyone! I trust everyone has made it through the holidays and if you’re like me, you’re glad to get back to regular life. I have some cool things up my sleeve for the near future and a big road trip planned for this summer. While this may be the year of the Ox according to the Chinese calendar, I’m declaring it Year of the Kitten instead!
So, while I recover from the shock of getting back to the daily grind, I’ll leave you with the top 10 viewed posts of 2008!
Steampunk Motorcycles-even though I wrote this post a year ago, it is the most popular post of my site. The Steampunk movement has gained much popularity since then.
BikerorNot.com: bikers and social networking pt. deux-social networking sites are booming. It seems that every subculture has formed their own social community these days. Since this post was published I have received numerous emails informing me of yet another new biker social community and asking me to join or write about their site. I can only keep track of so many accounts these days and it makes me wonder if more is better.
Bikers and tattoos-Two of my favorite subjects! A brief history of tattoos in America and how they touch my world.
Bring Exile Cycles back to TV-the popularity of this post surprises me a little. Prior to this post I had read a myspace bulletin from Russell putting out the call to fans for some help. This year we’ve seen Russell on VH1’s Rock of Love and of course, that silly Comcast commercial that featured Exile Cycles, with an actor playing the part (instead of “hardcore” heavily-tattooed Russell) that confused so many people. Here’s hoping we see a lot more of him in the future.
Anatomy of the Kawasaki Vulcan-in the summer of 2007, Greg White contacted me and hooked me up with Kawasaki to test ride the Vulcan 900 Custom. I spent a few gleeful weeks riding this bike and this is my dissection of various elements of the bike in detail. Thinking back on the experience makes me remember how much I enjoyed riding this bike. And yes, the skinny front wheel felt safe!
Biker Movie Hell Ride in theaters August 8-this movie was all the buzz for us this summer and it came and went in the blink of an eye. It had a very limited release in theaters and when it finally came out on DVD it would be an understatement to say it is a love/hate kind of movie.
Slayer launches a line of helmets-*RAWK!* Rockhard helmets launched a line of motorcycle helmets emblazened with graphics of our favorite thrash metal band. They’ve since increased their lineup of bands that include: Lynard Skynard, KISS, Slip Knot, Motorhead (yes!), AC/DC and The King. These suckers ain’t cheap but if you’re a fan I’m sure they’re well worth the cash!
Garage Girls: a new site for women, or is it?-this was my initial review of Sara Liberte’s new online venture. I was as honest as I could be while reading through the site (maybe too honest?). So much so that I actually received an email and blog comment from Sara letting me and everyone else know that the site was brand-spankin’ new and to cut her some slack. I revisited the site three months later and was pleasantly surprised at the changes that had been made and the fresh content that had been added. Props to Sara.
Video Tuesday: Harley-Davidson Dark Custom-this video accompanied the announcement of HD’s newest and coolest motorcycle. I also went on a bit of a tirade about how out of touch Bruce Rossmeyer is with a younger demographic.
My first motorcycle love-I’m so happy to see this post made it to the top ten! This is a guest post, written by my nearest and dearest, recounting the love of his first motorcycle, the experiences he had while owning it, and then eventually trading it in for a newer Road King. Definitely a good read. Hmm, that reminds me…I think I’ll bug him to guest post more often!
I said goodbye to my new friend, the 2007 Kawasaki Vulcan Custom. We were only together for one short month, but I will never forget our time together. (You can read all of our adventures together here.)
If you’re a woman looking into getting a cruiser, I think this is a good option. I put on a little over 600 miles during the time that I had it and I got really great gas mileage out of it. It’s a nice looking bike, rides smoothly and handles really well. Plus, it doesn’t feel like a heavy motorcycle. I never worried about dropping it (ok maybe I did worry, but mainly because it wasn’t my motorcycle to drop!). I also fund that I leaned much farther in my turns than I usually do. Some people with back problems commented that they didn’t like the forward foot pedals but I had no problems, especially after riding for a couple of hours straight.
The only drawbacks that I found with this bike: it kicks out a lot of heat on higher temperature days and there’s a lot of vibration at higher speeds that I never really got used to.
Bye, bye little red motorcycle…live long and prosper!
I’d quickly like to say thank you to Greg White for finding my site and pitching the idea of giving a motorcycle to a virtually unknown blogger to Kawasaki. And of course, thank you Kawasaki for giving me the opportunity and for trusting me with your fine-ass motorcycle!
Here’s another self-created video post. This past weekend we had great weather so I took the Vulcan Custom out for a ride to NH where we hit the shooting range. It was my first time shooting a gun and although I was really nervous when we got there, I did great (hit the bulls-eye on the first shot!). We then rode east to Seacoast Harley Davidson to window shop and then made a pit stop in Hampton, NH at North Beach (that’s the part of the video where you can barely understand what I’m saying, ha ha!) to watch the surfers and parasailers before heading home.
It was a great day. And my video editing skills are improving quite a bit, too! By the way, I’ve got a new song, “Scary Kitty” featured in the video (got rid of that awful banjo music!) by my friends, the Missing out of NYC. So, BIG thanks to them for letting me use their song. They rock hard!
This weekend was the first time that the feeling of fall was evident. There was a crispness in the air, some leaves that have fallen from trees were swirling around on the ground and the need for a jacket or sweatshirt apparent.
Unfortunately for me, that also means that riding time is dwindling. Kawasaki graciously extended more time with the Vulcan Custom, which is really generous. But I also feel like maybe I’m letting them down a bit. This is my first experience ever of doing a product review. I have been riding it every chance I get and I think that I have been really good at conveying my opinions about the motorcycle objectively—after all I need to keep it honest and true to my readers. I’ve been waiting to do a final thoughts kind of thing until I give it back, just in case something should jump out at me before then. Other than that, I’m not really sure what else I should be doing.
This weekend everyone was out on their motorcycles, bundled up to brave the chilliness. Added layers of clothing definitely make fall riding more comfortable, but also reflect the kick-off of autumn. We know what’s in store for us in the next few months: more layers of clothing, hot cider, pumpkins and motorcycle trips to mountain areas for fall foliage peeping. The summer is all but gone, the cold is coming in and soon the motorcycle will have to go into it’s winter slumber.
I was looking forward to riding down to Cape Cod for multiple personal reasons and because I was finally going to take the Vulcan out for a good, long ride. The weather was hot-the thermometer read 91 degrees and the sun was blazing.
From Salem to Provincetown, according to Google, is 141 miles. Taking some backroads instead of highway the entire way, the trip was more like 155 miles.
This was the first time I had to pack any gear on the Vulcan and if you have seen the bike, you know it’s not set up to be a pack mule. I put my stuff into a dufflebag, which ended up sitting on the passenger seat. As I was going to bungee the bag down, I realized that the fender rails had no holes on the bottom side (like so many other bikes do) for the bungees to hold on to. The best thing I could do was hook one around the foot pegs and another under the fender itself. Note to Kawasaki engineers: give users a place to put bungee cords.
We left Salem and hit the highway around 10:30 am. This was the first time I got the Vulcan onto the highway and paid close attention to how it handled. I noticed a lot of vibration as I hit the speed limit and got a lot of hand-stinging bike vibration at 70 mph (um, Kawasaki peeps…not that I was speeding while riding this borrowed bike or anything! ‘k, thanks.). I don’t know if I eventually got used to the vibration or if the bike itself mellowed out but after ten minutes I barely noticed anymore.
On my Volusia I have highway bars with pegs, which is helpful to stretch my legs out on longer rides. The nice thing about the placement of the foot pegs on the Vulcan is that I didn’t have a problem stretching my legs out on them, they’re nicely placed for riding comfort.
We blasted down 95 and 93 south, through Boston and picked up Rt. 3A in Quincy-my hometown and home to a couple of dead presidents. We rode some twisty backroads through some of the more affluent Boston suburbs, then into more rural areas. Then we hopped on to Rt 3 to take us to the Sagamore Bridge, which for the first time in my life, was a pleasure. (For the past 3 years they have been doing construction in order to eliminate a rotary (a roundabout for all my UK peeps) which usually blocked traffic for miles). Up and over the bridge and we were finally on the Cape of Cod. Rt 6 and 6A took us down to the house where our surfer friends were staying in Welfleet.
After we unloaded the bikes we headed down to Provincetown (P-Town to us locals) to the absolute furthest point on the Cape, while the boys went surfing over at the beach.
Live webcam shot with real time photo of Cahoon Hollow Beach and the Atlantic Ocean from the Beachcomber.
One of my yearly traditions when I’m down the Cape is to get some fried clams and a root beer for lunch. I also pick up some dessert-type goodies for everyone from one of Provincetown’s many candy stores. If you have never been to P-Town before here is the low down: lots of motorcycles end up there and lots of gays-as it is a huge vacation destination for them. The main strip is arranged like this: art gallery, bar, candy store, restaurant, adult toy store, t-shirt shop…repeat for the next 3 miles.
Entering P-town, parking the Vulcan and a plate of delicious fried clams
Inside one of P-town’s many candy shops.
We had a large dinner with our friends, had some dessert (I ended up getting some fudge for everyone) and all the boys commenced with their monthly stogie night-sipping scotch and smoking cigars. Even though I was tired from the day’s ride, we stayed up to the wee hours of the morning.
Unfortunate for us, the next morning was overcast and cold. It was much cooler than the previous day-30 degrees cooler and 90% humidity. Luckily we packed our leathers and some warmer clothes, but it was still a miserable ride home (especially while hungover!). Our intention was to stop off at the last day of the Boston Tattoo Convention, but we were so cold, damp and tired that we headed straight home narrowly missing a parade blocking off the only road in and out of the cape.
Round trip we topped a little over 300 miles, not too shabby for a little weekend ride.
My plan for a long weekend road trip got kiboshed. I won’t go into detail because it really doesn’t matter. I did go for a little local ride through a couple of the coastal North shore towns: Salem, Swampscott and Marblehead. I took as many winding and turning roads and I could to get a good feel for how the Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Custom maneuvers them (not to mention a bunch of brick and cobblestone roads, which the suspension easily handled).
Since the Custom has such good throttle response, I did find myself getting a little daring with it. At stop lights I would pull up in the right hand lane next to other cars waiting at the light and just blow past them when the light turned green. I generally don’t do this on my Volusia because it just doesn’t have that kind of throttle response. I also noticed that more people tend to watch me ride down the street on this motorcycle and I think it’s because of the eye-catching paint color.
A kind of funny observation I had about the Custom is that the engine makes a whirring sound on acceleration that reminds me of a hovercraft from Star Wars. Which made me think of Star Trek and the obvious “Vulcan” reference. And the candy red color of the bike made me think of a lyric from Prince’s song “Little Red Corvette“-which made me giggle when I thought of Mr. Spock actually saying that line from the song:
“I’m gonna try to tame your little red love machine.“
Stream of consciousness while riding a motorcycle can be a funny thing sometimes!
I have to be honest: when they told me this was the model of the motorcycle they wanted to loan me I immediately looked it up on Kawasaki.com. My initial reaction to this bike was kinda eh. I didn’t like how the bike seemed to be mash-up of a sport bike and a cruiser with the rear fender so high off of the wheel. I also didn’t really like shape of the seat or the front wheel.
But I will say that I was pleasantly surprised when I laid my own eyes on it. It is much better looking in person. Perhaps I was dazzled by the gorgeous red paint…(just kidding!) Sometimes just looking at photos of a bike (especially online) don’t do it justice.
Right now I’m going to take the time to post some of the specs here (pulled from Kawasaki’s website) and highlight, in my opinion, what I believe to be some of the nicer features of this motorcycle.
Engine:
903cc V-twin SOHC
Gear-driven balancer allows use of single pin crankshaft without heavy vibration
-This is very true. There is minimal vibration and that contributes to a nice, smooth ride. It’s smooth like “buttah!”
Electronic Fuel Injection:
Dual throttle bodies with sub throttles provide optimum performance and rideability
-what this means to me is: no choke! It’s great to be able to start the bike up cold and not have to worry about warming it up to go.
Dual Slash-Cut Mufflers:
The mufflers are angled so that they look good when the bike is on it’s side stand
Include honeycomb catalyzers to help reduce emissions
-They do look good, but they are very quiet. Almost too quiet. But if you’re a “green” person and care about things like emissions, then this is definitely a benefit!
Belt Drive:
Lower unsprung weight than shaft drive to improve ride quality and suspension action
More efficient so more power reaches the rear wheel
Low maintenance and low noise
-All three of these features appeal to me. The less maintenance and the more power, the better.
Custom Cast 21 in. Front Wheel:
Arranged in pairs, the wheel’s 18 “spokes” were designed by hand
Tapered and flanged in two directions, every line and surface of each 3-D spoke is exquisitely curved
-Basically, it looks nice. It’s also easier to clean than spoked wheels, which some people would appreciate. I know from experience that it’s a bitch to clean spoked wheels.
Cooling: Liquid
Rear Tire Size: 180/70-15
Wheelbase: 64.8 in.
Front Brake/Rear Brake: 300mm hydraulic disc/270mm hydraulic disc
Fuel Tank Capacity: 5.3 gal.
Low Stepped Seat:
Ultra-low 27 in. seat height allows riders to easily plant both feet on the ground at stops
-Seat height is a huge deal for some women riders. I’m 5′7″ tall and I am lucky to say that I have no problem putting my feet flat on the ground when I’m on this motorcycle. I don’t know if I could say the same for a woman who is 5′5″ or under. I’m also not so sure how easily (if at all) this bike could be lowered-if so desired. I’ll have to do a little research.
Dry Weight: 549 lbs.- I was surprised to learn that this motorcycle is this heavy. It feels, and handles like it’s much lighter.
As promised, here’s a few pictures from yesterday when the Vulcan got dropped off to me!
This is Harold, who made a special trip fro NJ to MA to drop off this pretty machine.
And to give me paperwork to fill out and sign. There it is. The 2007 Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Custom. Ain’t it purdy?
Before I took it out for a spin…
And here’s the video shot shortly thereafter:
I also want to thank Mr. Forrest Frazier for all of the support, photo and video work that he has done for this site!
When I started this blog back in April, I didn’t know what it had in store for me. I wasn’t sure if I could get traffic to this site. Didn’t know if anyone would be interested in what I had to say as a female biker. In the early months I even considered throwing in the towel because I wasn’t getting the amount of visitors I was hoping for. Everyone told me to stick with it and I agreed to do so for a year.
But recently there’s been a big difference in the performance of Rippin-Kitten.com. More and more people are coming to this site, linking to it and actually liking it. Hmm, maybe I don’t suck after all!
Earlier this month I received an email from someone I’ll call “Mr. White”, because that’s his name (hee hee). He said he worked for Kawasaki’s PR firm. He said he had read my blog and was wondering if I might be interested in riding and writing about the 2007 Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Custom. He said he had a red one. He said it was in NYC and that they would have it shipped to me. He said I could have it for a couple of weeks. All I would have to do is ride it and write about it-no strings attached.
Wanna know what I said?
[insert sarcasm]
ARE YOU SERIOUS?
[end sarcasm]
I was absolutely positive that it was a big, fat joke. That Mr. White was some kind a scam artist looking for a sucker, and that sucker was ME. But I did a little research and it turned out that Mr. White was actually Greg White (you may know him from Speed TV) and the company that Mr. White worked for was legitimate and down with the blogging community.
And they were going to give me a motorcycle to ride and write about.
A week went by and I hadn’t heard from Mr. White. I figured that perhaps he was having some trouble convincing Kawasaki to give a shiny, new motorcycle to some chick with a blog. And I wasn’t surprised. I was just flattered to even be asked.
Another week went by when I discovered that I had a voice mail…from Mr White. I promptly called him back and much to my surprise he got approval to have that shiny, new red 2007 Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Custom shipped to me.
Guess what I got today? That’s right…..
More pics, vids and my first impressions tomorrow.
