Kawasaki Mean Streak

Mean Streak? So what are you trying to say here? According to the folk at Kawasaki Heavy Industries, it's a "dynamic, low-riding performance cruiser for riders not content to saddle up with the regular cruising crowd".

Fair enough. While you could be forgiven for regarding the terms "performance" and "cruiser" as mutually exclusive, KHI is anything but alone in spotting this market.

Take a squiz across the Pacific at H-D and you may have noticed it released the V-Rod, which is essentially the same idea. Honda got in on the performance cruiser act early with its outrageous Valkyrie, though it doesn't qualify for the low-rider tag, and recently followed up with the VTX1800.

STREAK OF TWINS
Kawasaki has built up a lot of market goodwill with its 1500cc V-twin cruisers - starting in the Oz market in 1988, lasting about a year and returning in 1994.

The plain Vulcan cruiser (discontinued in 2000) built up a lot of that market penetration, scoring some gongs in the process.

It started as a four-speeder and grew an extra cog. Owners of some models reported carburation glitches - which could be solved but were annoying - and it seems to hold strong resale values.

Along the way we've had a bunch of variations: the Drifter which borrowed late Art Deco styling influences from Indian; the Nomad (still among my fave touring cruisers); and the Classic, which is now the entry model.

All up, it's been a pretty impressive line-up from what has been a single engine series, albeit with many updates as it progressed.

THE NEW CHAP
As far as the Mean Streak goes, more grunt and some new chassis bits is the short version of what you get. The chassis runs 43mm upside-down forks (41mm on the Classic), plus a long swingarm (up 30mm) mated to twin shocks using air-assisted preload and offering rebound damping adjustment.

Seat height is down to 700mm (725mm on the Classic), while the wheelbase is up significantly to 1705mm (from 1665mm). Steering geometry has been kept fairly conservative, but more on that later.

Braking and tyres are where the big gains are made. You get six-piston grabbers on 320mm discs, plus a two-piston item out back on a 300mm victim.

Kawasaki says this is the first time it has fitted radial rubber to a cruiser, and ours came with premium Dunlop Sportmax kit.

In the engine department, you score bigger valves (37mm intake and 33mm exhaust), an upgraded fuel injection system and larger throttle bodies.

There's also been a lot of detail work, such as revised bearings in the shaft drive, plus needle bearings in the upper rear shock mounts to make the most of the limited travel (87mm compared to 100mm on Classic) given their forward slant.

Styling has been well thought-out. There is a lot of chrome in the right places, while the paint runs a metallic flake. I reckon the pinstriping on the tank could be dumped on the basis it looks a little fussy, but that's me.

Instrumentation is a combo of two analogue clocks (with digital read-out for odo and trip meter) where you want them, and the design folk have hedged their bets by including a tank-mounted binnacle for warning lights and ignition switch.

Fuel capacity is 17lt (19lt on the Classic), the low fuel warning light came on at 12lt on our bike, while consumption is around 16km/lt.

FANCY A RIDE?
There's a lot of opportunity for a manufacturer to balls up the combination of a feet-forward ride position, ultra-low seat height, and general cruiser dynamics - particularly in the steering department.

A number have, but Kawasaki hasn't. The Mean Streak (still getting over that name!) steers predictably at whatever velocity you choose. Slow, and it turns in without showing a tendency to 'fold' in on trailing throttle, a common trait for this kind of motorcycle.

The only catch is you need to plan your line ahead, more so than with a 'conventional' bike - but that's cruisers for you.

Engine performance is okay, but nothing to write home about. The Oz tune runs a claimed 64ps at 5300rpm (6000rpm is redline), which is healthy for this market, though not hair-raising when you're talking of a 289kg motorcycle.

It launches off the line very well. Max torque kicks in at 3000rpm, and the power delivery is strong across the rev range. One bitch though, is its tendency to ping on a hot day with standard ULP.

I mention the Oz tune, because versions for other markets run up to 73ps (Canada). For the time being I'm willing to blame our ultra-restrictive noise emission regs for the 9ps gap, though the good news is it indicates there's a fair bit more performance potential there without resorting to ridiculously loud pipes.

An intriguing aspect on the performance front is the US market gets shorter gearing than us - apparently the Yanks might prefer launch performance over the local taste for relaxed revs on the highway.

The brakes are great, particularly when combined with the tyres. This is easily the best braked cruiser out there, and I'm a big supporter of putting real rubber on a class of machine that mostly comes delivered with very ordinary kit.

So far the good news is it goes okay, handles fine, and stops very well. The downside is that, while it has good cornering clearance for a cruiser, it grinds footpegs and the lower exhaust shrouds much sooner than when the chassis wants to give up.

You could tweak the package to pick up more lean angle, though there are limits inherent in the basic design.

The clutch and transmission have also come in for attention. Most recent models have featured Kawasaki's class-leading heel-toe arrangement, while the Mean Streak resorts to a conventional lever. Downshifting is good, but upshifts take a little practice to get right - there's a reluctance to change quickly, while engagement is solid.

WORTH A PUNT
If you look at the development of cruiser and custom motorcycles over the last couple of decades, you'll see the Mean Streak packages a lot of gear that would have been winning trophies at biker shows not so many years ago.

It's also a pointer to the increasingly-specialised manufacturing and marketing being employed by vehicle makers.

Whether it suits is up to you. I like the chassis package - even the limited-travel rear suspension package, which makes a good fist of what it has. Performance could be improved substantially without going silly. Tall people will struggle with the seat height, as there is such a thing as having a seat that's too low. Anyone looking for a low seat, completely predictable handling, and the potential for decent grunt will like it.

At $18,990 (plus ORC), it ain't exactly cheap. Though it's around 10 grand under the top-line V-Rod. A big call. Or is that a Mean call?