Blue and Green Drill will roll out at $ 12,190 and the three-tone Stencil White will top the order at $ 12,390 . And for that money , its spec-sheet is pretty impressive . The whole idea behind the Shotgun , and in particular the Grey option , is to customise , personalise and basically use it as a starting point for a custom ‘ cycle . Again , not a new concept in the cruiser genre but a quantum shift for the brand . Is it perfect ? No , but the only real shortcomings are both expected for this money and easily sorted . I ’ d lash out on fork internal upgrades and some blingy and more pliant rear shocks mainly because I reckon the Shotgun is worth spending that bit more on and making it significantly better without blowing the price out of the park . Mind you , I ’ d do that to the vast majority of new bikes , so that may well be me being a pedantic , suspension-hugging weirdo .
LOOKS AND FUNCTION We did get out in the twisty roads in the hills
behind the Yarra Valley and the Shotgun acquitted itself well . Dual front stoppers would cope better if you forget you are on a cruiser , sure , but the 320mm single rotor and Bybre caliper working with a 300mm rear rotor are well up to par on a LAMS machine . Cornering clearance is better than the styling suggests , so having fun on winding NZ roads and dodging potholes is all good on a Shotgun . After a hiatus of several years , it took some time to adjust to the new ‘ Media ’ deal . On the twisties , Chaz , our guide , set off to play . Now , back in the day , those who wished to follow , did so . If any who did not want to or could not play were behind him , they would move aside and let others move ahead when there were not many ‘ polite ’ passes to be had . It took a while to realise that while back in the day , most of the riders could seriously bang , it has changed in the new era , apparently , so it was a case of sorting it out when the front paused ( often ) to
64 KIWI RIDER