Sorry I took so long to finish this up.
... I rode the Shad'er for about 50 miles, took my youngest daughter for a spin. She liked it. The oldest sneered at it and went back in the house.
Something I noticed while doin' some city ridin' on this thing is that cruiser riders are real catty toward each other. They don't necessarily wave back and they do a lot of checking out the other guy's bike out of the corner of their eye. 99% of the time anybody on any motorcycle waves to me, on the SwampThing, on the Voyager, on Big Red, but not on the Shad'er. Weird, huh?! My theory is that cruisers are all about looks and all about looks is a distinctly feminine perspective so, of course they're gonna act like bitches toward one another.
Finally, there is no question the Shad'er is well built with all the fit and finish you expect from Honda. That said, it is a royal pig on the road. The front end manages to be heavy and unstable at the same time - neat trick that. The riding position is bizarre and no one who has ridden a modern bike with a rational riding position any length of time is gonna tolerate the gynecological exam riding position (or in Nate's nomenclature the "flying squirrel").
Conclusion: The Shad'er is an OK bike for What It Is. Now, "What It Is" is an antique motorcycle with a few (very few) refinements. I can understand a motorcycle company that has never designed or manufactured a modern, competent motorcycle (Harley) turning one of these out, but not one of the Big Four. Their engineers had to be taught how to make a bike this inept. Sadly that is what the American market demands a lot of. Go figure.
If you took a poll of random Joe on the street:"What kind of motorcycle would you like to have?" Most would answer some form of cruiser, so it is true most people would like to have a cruiser. It is also true that most people don't know shit about bikes.
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