KIWI RIDER MARCH 2018 VOL.1 | Page 52

QUICK QUOTE KAWASAKI VULCAN S CAFE 14,695 Monthly premium: $41.25 Excess: $250 Agreed Value Full Cover premium including Apparel cover, Roadside Assistance, Track Day cover, Keys and Locks cover, Completion of Journey costs, Salvage Costs. The quoted premium is based on the following assumptions: Experienced rider, over 25, living in Auckland, correct NZ Licence for the Motorcycle, no claims or convictions within the last 5 years, private use only. can have a lot of fun before you are gouging smooth circular grooves in the tarmac. At 225kg the Vulcan is not too heavy, but it certainly isn’t light, and that 650cc parallel twin DOHC engine is a superb unit. The way it builds power through the rev range is linear and rapid, and it responds in a very pleasing manner when used in earnest. I got used to wringing its neck, everywhere, and damn it, the bike liked it! And that exhaust bellow added piquancy to the experience. 52 KIWI RIDER With the engine delivering 54hp at 7000rpm the Vulcan is a ripping hoot to get to the shops and back, but it wasn’t until I took it for an open road burn of a good couple of hundred kays, in the company of bigger bikes, that I discovered just how wrong first impressions can be. While preloading with coffee I had an experienced biker come up and say he had seen it, wanted one and thought it looked very cool. Seconds later a middle-aged woman came up and asked