hic Cruiser
Yamaha Virago

"This is not my bike!" I'd say emphatically lo any passer-by who made the mistake of complimenting me. "My bike Is a BMW. I'm just testing this one." Preoccupied with how incongruous I must look behind the high handlebars, The raked front end. the sharply angled tank, and the far-out footpegs. I scarcely noticed the good factors about the bike. I was too busy determining what I didn't like about it to bother with what 1 did.
First the bad news: What makes the bike hard for me to corner at speed is, in part, the riding position which is. ironically, very comfortable. The seat works: the up-front pegs are easy on my creaky knees: the upswept bars don't stress my hands, arms, shoulders. But trying to corner hard and fast, I found that the bike and I were not an integral unit. My tendency was to try to steer: the prominent bars were so much there  the front end seemed so far away. Then I'd lean, that high tank and everything seeming to resist, then topple into too great an angle.
Finally, though, by the third day out. I made myself stop riding it like a boulevard cruiser and start riding it without thinking about how different It was from my BMW. And on that day I had fun.
The good news is that It does certain important things very well. The smallest

rider can have both feet on the ground with this 700 (even Bonnie who Is 5 feel 1 Inchl. For that reason it might well be the big bike for the small rider. At one point, after getting on and off several times in rapid succession. 1 nearly leaned it onto the sidestand without putting the stand down. Even though It was past the sidestand lean angle, I brought It back up very easily. The rider has a lot of leverage with that much leg free.
And speaking of the sidestand. it has a built-in safety switch. You can't start the bike with the sidestand down or with the bike in gear even if you pull the clutch. This precaution made it very difficult for me to restart the bike after It stalled in traffic during a panic stop, but otherwise it's a good idea. Neutral Is easy to find. You can also kill the engine by pushing the stand down.
The bike started at a touch, hot or cold, and needed only a brief warm-up period. The controls had no surprises: The clutch engages where you'd expect it to: the brakes are light and strong. it has passing power in fifth gear and is stable on the road al 90 mph. though at speeds much over 65 it chattered my teeth slightly with low-level vibration.
The horn blares, the turn signals are self-cancelling though a little soft-feeling in that they don't click sharply Into on and off: at first I wasn't sure when I had activated them without looking for the flashing indicator. The choke Is also spongy: it kind of oozes into the "on-position, then slides back a little by itself. But both obviously work well. The mirrors are steady at most rpms and the bike is quite stable in high winds.
Several parking lot conversations with women who were non-riders revealed their interest In this bike rather than the others simply because of its low seat height I never had to start it just to move it a short distance: I never needed a push out of a sloping parking spot. For those not as hung up with image as I am or who don't care to go canyon racing every Sunday, this might be their dream bike. even though it's not mine. It's a user-friendly, clean, shaft-driven big bike with lots of chrome and flash on which even the smallest rider can feel (literally!) laid-back and cool. □

Grace Butcher