Huge presence; Comfort; Chrome
Huge presence; Needs rider recalibration
In front the highway bars extend the width
of the bike dramatically, to nearly a metre,
but they were extremely comfortable with
my feet up on longer runs.
One evening, in traffic, I was hard pressed
to make a meeting up the northwestern
motorway. It was 6pm on a pre-Christmas
Thursday, and to arrive on time lane
splitting was essential. It’s surprising how
easily you are seen by drivers when you’re
on a bike the size of Michigan, with three
great brilliant headlights - and how keen
they are to give you room.
Running boards are not my personal
favourite on a bike, any bike, as they tend
to require big leg movements to get up
and on, and off and out of the way when
stopping at the lights, but it’s a personal
preference thing. They are surprisingly far
enough off the deck not to scrape, on all
but hard pushed corners.
Occasionally on a bumpy country road the
front suspension would do a micro shudder
and the steering could be wandery for a
microsecond. It was not enough to bother
me greatly as the rock-solid track and
balance returned instantly, but it made me
aware of the 25 degree rake that takes the
front out a few centimeters more than I’ve
been used to. Time on the bike is always
the answer.
One other thing that I learnt with a bigger
and heavier bike is that street boots with
leather soles are an extremely silly idea.
Any loss of grip on road surface will have an
astonishingly shitty outcome, so as well as
improving the deliberateness of my riding it
also forced me to dress correctly every time
I rode. No bad thing – I’m a child of the 70s
– when safety gear consisted of a hair wash,
jandals and a silver satin bomber jacket.
Times have changed.
Would I own a big Indian like the
Springfield? Ask me in a week or two,
maybe a month. So how does it compare
with other cruisers? In this circumstance,
I think it stands entirely alone. Yes, it is
big. And heavy. But cruising the roads was
an increasingly pleasant experience, and
I have a new understanding of those who
would own this bike over all others. And
slowing my riding metabolism down, while
being more deliberately aware of the whole
road and riding circumstance seems like no
bad thing.
KIWI RIDER 65