Manky Monkey Motors

;D as requested:

(http://www.bikercafe.co.uk/images/stories/KAWASAKI%20VN900/2007_kawasaki_vr900_black_side.jpg)
(http://www.xtremerevolution.com/store/images/section/92.jpg)

I bought this new as my first bike. It fantastic if you're looking for a big, beautiful cruiser, but don't have or don't want to spend a fortune to own one.

I test-rode a few different models and engine sizes of Harley Sportsters and found them cramped, uncomfortable, distinctly average looking and a little out of my budget. ... but they are a Harley, so they do sound fantastic, and i did want one, plus their customer service is awesome.... but now i've got my Vulcan, I'm not sure I'll ever bother with a Harley. Especially as Kawa do the VN2000. Any HD would feel a little wimpy after riding one of those i think :D

I'd never actually seen the VN900 until i went to the '07 NEC show and Kawa had one on their stand. I sat on it and fell in love. It's a big bike. It makes the 883 and 1200 Sportsters look very small. On paper the Kawa is slightly better too... especially as you're paying £1-2k less. It's got a bigger tank, better brakes and more fuel efficient. Plus i think the power is a little better than the 883.

It does everything i need out of a bike, plus it's gorgeous and there's not too many on the roads so they don't look 'common'. It happilly cruises at 80, I've had it to 125mph and it was a bit much as i don't have a windshield... but it's by no means underpowered.
It's got a 5 speed box, but it likes to rev... which some people don't like in a cruiser.
I get about 200 miles to my tank so it's good for mid-distance touring.

Bad side... the stock seat gets uncomfortable after an hour. I bought an aftermarket gel seat from the US and the comfort has improved greatly.  Other than that I really have nothing bad to say about it. Aftermarket parts aren't too difficult to find over here, but the US has a lot more available. I got pretty much everything on mine from there.
The stock pipes are good looking and a definite eye-catcher but they're quite quiet, which isn't always what a cruiser rider wants.

There's a Classic and a Custom model.
The Classic model has wire spoked wheels, floorboards, swept back bars and more traditional wheel arches.
The Custom has a skinny 21" front cast wheel and a solid cast rear, different arches and slightly sportier bars... but they're the same engine etc.

I got mine as my first bike so didn't want anything too big and didn't want anything too small that i'd get bored with. The 900 is perfect in my opinion. I've done 2 day trips to France and the National Rally (18 hours non-stop riding) and haven't had any problems with it.
The petrol gauge is a little off, but i just use the trip counter and when it gets to 190 miles the warning light comes on, and at 200 i fill er up again.

I'd recommend the 900. Especially as they're under £5500. I got mine last December for £4700.

Brilliant. Do you have any more photos? If you look on the main site in the motors section you will see how we set up the write ups. We can copy your words from here to put on the page but a few more photos would be good please. Best email them to Manky and in a minimum size of 800 pixels please as most of the photos you can click on to view a larger image.  ;D

I'm sure they'd like some info about your bits of customising as well IM !

Yeah, show us yer bits.  :P

Ahh, i'll get right on that tomorrow.

Sorry, works been very hectic. My boss is in the US and absolutely nothing is going on, so i've been enthralled while watching V for Vendetta and Casino Royale, in between some facebooking and whiling away some time playing computer games. ... gotta love the peaceful festive season...  :D

I'll dedicate some time to getting my pics sorted and emailing them in. I've got quite alot :)

hasta mañana!

ah ok...
i didn't see the 2 wheel section on the main site!

i'll email over an ammended write up with some pics too :)

watch this space

 ;D

Humungus write up safely recieved Mr Minx.  ;)
Got any close up piccies of the changes you've made?
You didn't see an entire section of the site? Sheesh, I dunno, why do we bother.  :(   :)

 :'( well the button said 'motors' so i assumed it was about cars.
To be honest i just went straight to the forum after looking at the old biker photos.
I did since look around the whole site when i had enough spare time. Some of those cars are awesome!

Ummm, close up piccies... that's pandora's box you're about to open.
There's too many to choose from so i went for the before and after pics.
http://photobucket.com/steve_cky_uk  has nearly all the pics of my bike i've taken. They're in a weird order as i've changed cameras a few times and it sorts them by file name. Most were taken to link into other forum articles.

Off to bed now, I'll email you a few aftermarket add-on close-ups for you in the morning Mr. Monkey :)