well.. I had a C50 for a few years ...which I liked.....so I test rode the C90 before I bought my Vulcan....but didnt like the C90 at all. Compared to the vulcans it just felt underpowered and cheap... know what I mean?

I had the Vulcan1500 for a while and it is a great ride if you like the classic look...plenty of power...I really enjoyed it....but I am so tall that frame was a bit small for me is my main rationale for moving up to the vulcan 2000....which I think is nearly the perfect bike... you can find deals on leftover 2000s at many places now close to your price range.

 

well.. I had a C50 for a few years ...which I liked.....so I test rode the C90 before I bought my Vulcan....but didnt like the C90 at all. Compared to the vulcans it just felt underpowered and cheap... know what I mean?

I had the Vulcan1500 for a while and it is a great ride if you like the classic look...plenty of power...I really enjoyed it....but I am so tall that frame was a bit small for me is my main rationale for moving up to the vulcan 2000....which I think is nearly the perfect bike... you can find deals on leftover 2000s at many places now close to your price range.

Hay there Annie,

Thanks for chiming in. I knew that you had moved up to the Vulcan 2000, and man was I surprised. That is a lot of bike. I sat on one back when I bought my M50, and could not believe the size of that thing. Beautiful bike though, but at 750 lbs, it might be a bit too much for me. How do you handle that much bike? I know that you have a lot more riding experience that I do, at only 12,000 miles on my M50.

You mentioned that the C90 felt underpowered. Was that compared to your Vulcan 1500, and can you expound on what felt cheap about it? As you can tell, I am very fond of the C90, although I have not ridden one yet, only sat on them, but I don't want to buy the wrong bike.

Regarding you feeling cramped on the Vulcan 1500, do you mind if I ask your inseam length, mine is 32, and I am 6'-1" tall. Do you feel that I would have the same issues as you did?

Thanks again for your comments Annie,
Roger

 

I looked at both the C90 and Vulcan 1500 when I got my last bike. The dealer had them side by side on the showroom floor for exactly the same price and what it came down to for me was the fact that I was more comfortable on the C90. It offered me more room to stretch out. At 6'4" and 280 I need every inch I could get. I enjoyed the bike while I had it (2 years, almost 20,000 miles) with no major problems. The main reason I decided to get rid of it was Suzuki's lack of support in the cruiser market. Have you looked at the cruiser lineup lately?? S40, C50, M109..... thats about it.

 

I looked at both the C90 and Vulcan 1500 when I got my last bike. The dealer had them side by side on the showroom floor for exactly the same price and what it came down to for me was the fact that I was more comfortable on the C90. It offered me more room to stretch out. At 6'4" and 280 I need every inch I could get. I enjoyed the bike while I had it (2 years, almost 20,000 miles) with no major problems. The main reason I decided to get rid of it was Suzuki's lack of support in the cruiser market. Have you looked at the cruiser lineup lately?? S40, C50, M109..... thats about it.

Very pretty bike you had there TJ,


What windshild was that? I see that you had a 2-1 exhaust, which one was that, and did you have a processor and open air intake?
Did these make the bike run better?

Thanks for any comments you have on the power of the bike.

 

Roger,
I just put a 2 into 1 Cobra HP Powerpro exhaust on my 2000 and I dont think it made any difference as to the performance... mebbe there is a HP or two which they claim it can do....but my 2000 accelerates like a rocket either way ...lol. The exhaust did improve the sound which was overly muffled IMHO on the stock pipes.

I really shouldnt offer an opinion on the C90 compared to the vulcans you mention... I thought my 1500 performed as well as the C90 ...but that was based on a very small sample test ride size..... and, frankly, I am prejudiced towards Vulcans now... .

If you are looking for pure power you cannot beat the 2000... first time I twisted the throttle hard on it, I damn near went off the bike backwards ! It can get up to speed in a heartbeat. It does not, however, get great gas mileage....lol... I am lucky to get 35 mpg.... think it could be the way I ride it? LOL

Annie

 

Thank you Roger. Like I said I really enjoyed my C90. I had a Memphis Fats windshield on it, Roadhouse 2 into 1 Classic exhaust, Bully fuel processor from GMan, and the open K&N air filter. The open air filter and Bully add about 15 percent more horsepower and 30 percent more torque to the engine. I can tell you that it was definitely like waking up a slumbering beast! The bike ran great after those mods... My original plan was after the 2 into 1 exhaust was to mount larger hard (probably HD) bags to the bike but I ended up falling for the Roadliner.

The C90 has a couple problems... Marginal electrical system along with stator issues... and the smallish fuel tank (3.7 gallons) which never really bothered me because I was ready to get off and stretch by the time to get more gas anyhow. If you really want to read up on the bike I suggest you check out the LC1500/C90 forum over at Delphi. www. forums.delphiforums.com/RLCMC Lots of useful information on the bike from a great bunch of people.

 

Thank you Roger. Like I said I really enjoyed my C90. I had a Memphis Fats windshield on it, Roadhouse 2 into 1 Classic exhaust, Bully fuel processor from GMan, and the open K&N air filter. The open air filter and Bully add about 15 percent more horsepower and 30 percent more torque to the engine. I can tell you that it was definitely like waking up a slumbering beast! The bike ran great after those mods... My original plan was after the 2 into 1 exhaust was to mount larger hard (probably HD) bags to the bike but I ended up falling for the Roadliner.

The C90 has a couple problems... Marginal electrical system along with stator issues... and the smallish fuel tank (3.7 gallons) which never really bothered me because I was ready to get off and stretch by the time to get more gas anyhow. If you really want to read up on the bike I suggest you check out the LC1500/C90 forum over at Delphi. www. forums.delphiforums.com/RLCMC Lots of useful information on the bike from a great bunch of people.

I have gone over to Delphi forums, as I was already registered there for there computer forums. I checked out the C90 forum, bit I have to say, there forums are not as easy to navigate as MH, and VR. I find it hard to get threads on the items that I search for over there. I will keep trying however. So you got hooked on the Roadliner did you. Those are nice bikes as well. How has treated you? Did you by new or used?

 

I don't know why the link didn't work... Here it is again. http://forums.delphiforums.com/RLCMC

 

Well I bought the 'liner new (leftover 2008) at the end of October and I didn't get to put a lot of miles on it. As a matter of fact I turned 1800 miles on it today. Like Annie's Vulcan 2000 the bike has a tremendous amount of power (91 hp, 117 lb/ft torque rear wheel) on a bike that doesn't weigh much more than my C90 did. The fit and finish IMO are top notch. Yamaha claims that the bike will get 42 miles per gallon although I haven't gotten any better than 37. I'm sure that will improve as the bike gets broken in and I learn how to restrain my wrist.

 

Old New Biker, I am sort of in the same boat as you and fortunately I have got to ride a couple of larger bikes in the last 2 years. My step-dad has the C90 and one of my riding buddies "had" a Stratoliner (just traded it in for a Yamaha FJR). Of course riding anything bigger than the M50 will seem like it is a rocket. I liked my stepdads C90 till I got to ride the Stratoliner and the winner in my opinion is definitley the Stratoliner. The power was awesome and handled better than the C90 plus it didn't look as "cheap" as the 90. The economy has me holding off on buying a new bike this year (wife needs a new car, house needs a new roof, etc.) but if I was buying right now it would definitely be looking at what Yamaha has to offer.

 

Old New Biker, I am sort of in the same boat as you and fortunately I have got to ride a couple of larger bikes in the last 2 years. My step-dad has the C90 and one of my riding buddies "had" a Stratoliner (just traded it in for a Yamaha FJR). Of course riding anything bigger than the M50 will seem like it is a rocket. I liked my stepdads C90 till I got to ride the Stratoliner and the winner in my opinion is definitley the Stratoliner. The power was awesome and handled better than the C90 plus it didn't look as "cheap" as the 90. The economy has me holding off on buying a new bike this year (wife needs a new car, house needs a new roof, etc.) but if I was buying right now it would definitely be looking at what Yamaha has to offer.

Interesting that you should bring that up, as I came here today to mention that I have been looking at the Yamaha Road Stars. The Road Liner and up are just out of my price range, but I have found a fair amount of Road Stars in the $5,000 to $7,000 price range, and some with low miles to boot.

Road Star Engine Specs:
9.5-1 comp. ratio
155 nm (115 fp) torque at 2500 rpm
90 hp at 4700 rpm

C90 Engine Specs:
8.5-1 comp. ratio
114 nm (84 fp) at 2300 rpm
67 hp at 4800 rpm

It is clear that the 1600cc Road Star outstips the 1500cc C90 by a wide marging.
My only, obvious, downer with this bike is the wire spoke wheels. I wish it had allowy weels instead. I am not thrilled with the idea of cleaning spokes. Upon some checking on model year pics, it looks like some of them do have alloys.

Any comments on the Road Star, Ridability, Dependability, etc.....

 

I think the Roadstars are nice bikes too... Just a little too small for me!

 

To small in physical size, or in power?
If I may be so bold, how big are you, so that I can compare?
I am 6'-1" tall, weigh 250 lbs, with a 32" inseam.

 

I don't know what you think about the Yamaha 1300's (never rode one myself) but a few months ago I saw where you could get 2009 models (brand new) for around $8500 or so.

 

I really do like the V-Star 1300. I have even sat on a few, but the sas fact that they did not use hydraulic lifters puts it on the bottom of my list, at least at this point, until I see some great reason to put it above all the other bikes available.

 

Thank you sir. I see that you made it over to Delphi. Those guys know the C90 inside and out. Great forum to be on if you decide to go that way. The Roadliner is air cooled... Just a small oil cooler out front... Like the C90. I do wish it had the hydraulic lifters on it. I think I'm going to have to learn how to do my own valve jobs!

 

Skip the 90 and go straight to the 109! You can get 'em cheap now that they are out of production. No power deficiencies here!

 

Skip the 90 and go straight to the 109! You can get 'em cheap now that they are out of production. No power deficiencies here!

That is a very nice looking bike, ACE.

I realy do like the 109, but that is just too much bike for me. I have scored a 90 that has been modded thru and thru, including a Bully full stage 3 setup, and has about 20 more hp and torque than stock. I don't have it yet, as the current owner is doing some conversions for me. I will have to do something about those mufflers, or at least the tips. They are Road House pipes, so I can't just buy new tips, but I am pretty sure something can be done.

Here is a pic.

 

That looks like a sweet setup. Even has a Corbin seat already. Nice! I couldn't even find a local C90 to sit on when I was looking to up-size. Now I'm glad there weren't any. I have an E-Z chair on wheels!

 

Correction about the pipes on the bike in the pic above.
Those are the Cobra StreetRod Slashdowns that he had when that pic was taken.

The bike now has Road Burner Double Eagles that have kind of a bullet tip.

 

anyone check out the c109? it will give any off the large v-twins a run for their money! i test drove all the bikes i was interested in , including the stratoliner(a favorite also) and harley's twin cam. don't want to knock anyones ride but try a c109. you will be impressed with the performance! low to mid 40's for mpgs. but will go down in the thirty's when behaving badly lol. love this bike! sure hope they kee p making them.

 

you can get a slightly older vtx 13/18 in that ballpark as well., and i've seen new strykers for $9k

dont forget if you can live with your ride till fall you'll get a better buying price more than likely ( end of season new model year approaching)

 

don't forget the c109.big and roomy and it's faster than the stratoliner