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This is a weird time for cruisers. The two hot commodities right now are baggers and mid-displacement bikes, and we've been doing lots of bagger tests lately, but it's not like we can do it every issue. So we went casting about in the middle class.

When it broke the mold with its bombshell launch of the VT1300CXA Fury last year, Honda primed the pump for its new-gen VT1300 series. And not a moment too soon, it seems; in the 10 months since it was unleashed, the company says the Fury chopper has become the best-selling metric custom cruiser in America. No surprise that other new VT1300s were following close behind. The remaining three models were unveiled to us this past April in Southern California's bucolic Temecula Valley, where we sampled the machines to see how they measured up against the VTX1300s they were replacing.

First Ride
Pulling away from Mickey's Speed Shop on the Rocket III Roadster, I scan the roadway for the freeway on-ramp. Entrance targeted and locked-in, I click up to the next cog and roll on the big Triumph's throttle. The massive 240mm rear rubber hazes over the road crud, its contact patch momentarily overruled by the 2.3 liter engine's prodigious torque.

The 2010 Shadow RS is the newest in a long line of successful Honda 750cc cruisers, dating all the way back to the original 1983 VT750 Shadow. Compared to its more sinister-looking sibling (the also-new 2010 Shadow Phantom), the RS swings toward practicality and fun. Styling screams sportster, and the RS, while somewhat modest, looks right. The venerable 745cc liquid-cooled 52-degree V-Twin is back with improvements; Programmable Fuel Injection is the big news for 2010.

First Ride
Rites of passage exist to illustrate your movement through time. You know, birthdays, weddings...your first mortgage. The receipt of an AARP card. Those milestones are often accompanied by a painful epiphany, which-in my experience, anyway-is usually an unwanted reminder of one's age bracket.

This far into the season, we'd expected most manufacturers to have firmly announced their 2010 lineups. But in an unexpected sign of industry optimism, the new metal keeps dropping. Witness:

This far into the season, we'd expected most manufacturers to have firmly announced their 2010 lineups. But in an unexpected sign of industry optimism, the new metal keeps dropping. Witness:

Andrew Cherney

Photos courtesy of www.DrivetheTop10.com except as indicated

First Look

This far into the season, we'd expected most manufacturers to have firmly announced their 2010 lineups. But in an unexpected sign of industry optimism, the new metal keeps dropping. Witness:

When it first hit the street last year, the Vulcan 1700 Voyager was touted by Kawasaki as the first "full-dress metric V-twin touring bike". That makes for a great sound bite, but there were a few niggles. Quite a few journalists (and buyers) derided the bike's heat-generating qualities, which roasted many a touring rider's right leg en route.