Top 5 Best *Used* Cruiser Motorcycles For UNDER $2500!

Top 5 Best Used Cruiser Motorcycles For UNDER $2500!

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Күн бұрын

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@Paul-in-Viet-Nam 5 ай бұрын

Thank you for this video! #1 Yamaha XVS 650 Custom (avoid the 1100 model) #2 Honda VTX 1300 C #3 Kawasaki VN 900 Custom #4 Yamaha Roadstar 1600 #5 Kawasaki VN 1500 Nomad

@GuysGearsAndGrit 5 ай бұрын

Thanks for the break down! imma pin your comment. that is super helpful for folks!

@Paul-in-Viet-Nam 5 ай бұрын

@@GuysGearsAndGrit I appreciate your work. Wish those were available here, especially the XVS.

@englejas 5 ай бұрын

Great video! I see early 2000s 650s everywhere in Ohio for under $2,500. They are the easiest bikes to convert to a bobber as well.

@shotgunscott 5 ай бұрын

Noticed no Suzuki's or Honda Shadows. I also thought there was a Yamaha V-Star 950, that should be roughly in that range. For the money, the Vulcan 900 Custom is the one I recommend the most.

@GuysGearsAndGrit 5 ай бұрын

@@englejas they are great bikes to convert!

@patheally 4 ай бұрын

I spent 2700 for my 1999 Shadow 1100, but it needed tires. Live and learn. I still own and ride it, so it's mechanically sound. I've jumped on the highway a few times, so I'm glad I have the extra power.

@GuysGearsAndGrit 4 ай бұрын

Hey, $2700 still isnt that bad, you can find them for under $2500 but it sounds like its been a good bike for you!

@blowinmoneygarage 5 ай бұрын

The Yamaha Roadstar is by far one of the best cruisers out there. I love mine. They will go 200k miles with basic maintenance. Plenty of power, good suspension, and can be built into exactly what you want.

@GuysGearsAndGrit 5 ай бұрын

They absolutely will go the length when you take good care of them! like you said basic maintenance will take them a long ways! How many miles do you have on yours?

@blowinmoneygarage 4 ай бұрын

@@GuysGearsAndGrit 60k on mine and been in the family 10 years now. Still runs with new bikes and gets compliments everywhere it goes.

@GuysGearsAndGrit 4 ай бұрын

@@blowinmoneygarage dang man that's solid, that's a lot of life left!! What a good bike to be handing down!

@Poppi-G 3 ай бұрын

I’ve been riding for 50 years and I still love $2500 bikes. Bought one last month.

@GuysGearsAndGrit 3 ай бұрын

They are some great bikesunder that $2500 threshold, both reliable and good looking!

@Poppi-G 3 ай бұрын

@@GuysGearsAndGrit yeah it sure seems like a buyers market out there right now to me😀

@GuysGearsAndGrit 3 ай бұрын

@@Poppi-G Absolutely!

@dennisbogott7363 7 күн бұрын

I have a Star Bolt with many accessories which adds to looks and performance immensely, I wanted a bike with a low seat height and lower weight. It makes a good cruiser but has more of a bobber look. Also costs more than $2500.

@GuysGearsAndGrit 6 күн бұрын

I do like the bobber looks! yeah a bit more than $2500. We did another video where it was best cruisers under $5000, you could find it for under $5k. Not that we put it on the list but maybe we should have!

@dennisbogott7363 6 күн бұрын

@@GuysGearsAndGrit The Bolt engine is an update of the old Virago, a great bike with limited visual appeal. Fuel injection and a better clutch makes the Bolt a much more tractable bike than the Virago. But of course it is a small bike which doesn't work for taller people.

@lawrencedavidson296 4 ай бұрын

vulcan vn 1500 and vn 1600 and vn 1700 and vn 2000cc

@GuysGearsAndGrit 4 ай бұрын

I take it you like the Vulcan series lol. They are some good options!

@FnLn55 3 ай бұрын

Kawasaki Vulcan VN800 1996-2006 👍👍 V-twin, single carb, 5spd, chain drive, 525 lbs, disc front, drum rear, looks & sounds great.

@GuysGearsAndGrit 3 ай бұрын

Thats a solid bike! we got the VN900 though, any reason you would choose the 800 over the 900?

@FnLn55 3 ай бұрын

If I had a choice for the same price, I'd get the 900 too, for it's EFI and rear disc and belt drive. But for the right price, the 800 shouldn't be overlooked. 👍

@GuysGearsAndGrit 3 ай бұрын

@@FnLn55Yeah I get that, you would probably be able to have an easier time finding some good deals for the 800 so makes sense! Thanks for following up!

@derekgamache6294 3 ай бұрын

@@GuysGearsAndGrit the vn800 with exhaust and jetting picks up about 10hp and was beating up a lot of big CC vtwins back in the day. They also rev much higher than other vtwins of the era.

@GuysGearsAndGrit 2 ай бұрын

@@derekgamache6294 100%

@stellarida8797 15 күн бұрын

The Vulcan 900 and maybe the 1500 are the only ones that fuel injected at that price. That might be important for those who don't want to be bothered with a choke.

@GuysGearsAndGrit 14 күн бұрын

Good note to add! thanks for the comment!

@papatorr3669 3 ай бұрын

#1: Kawasaki VN 750 Vulcan. Each contributor has but only so much experience and knowledge. I have been riding 49 and a half years, I have owned 10 to 12 bikes at a time for most of my adult life. I have bought and rode just over 50 bikes in the last 3 years. I currently own just over two dozen bikes. I compare bikes from different categories to what I still call the standard. It's hard to find a better example than the Honda CB750 series that ran in one iteration or another from 1969 to 2003. It is my impression that cruiser riders do not demand good handling. I live 20 minutes from Skyline Drive and I ride twisty two lane mountain roads to get there. By way of comparison, Cruisers compel me to slow down riding up and down mountain roads compared to my 2003 Honda CB750 Nighthawk. I won't bore you with a long list. Suffice it to say that I can relax and ride my Vulcan 750s like a standard. That does not include the Vulcan 1500, or Vulcan 800. I will confess to not riding the Vulcan 900. A corollary to this story is that the first gen Suzuki Intruder 800 is a surprisingly good handling cruiser, not the Intruder 1400s. No, Sportsters do not handle nearly as well, a Roadster is not bad, but then it's a standard, not a cruiser. Shadows need not apply. The VN 750 easily bumps off the Yamaha XVS 650, I have ridden both.

@GuysGearsAndGrit 3 ай бұрын

Some fair points! Thanks for the comment this would be a great comment for anybody viewing this video to read. I appreciate you!

@stanleykania7184 Ай бұрын

2007 C50T Boulevard 5k miles, $2k with new tires. I'm picking it up next week. NOV. 2024

@GuysGearsAndGrit Ай бұрын

Solid pick man! lets go! come back and let us know how you like it.

@19Graywulf 3 ай бұрын

Curious, why you have a royal Star (V4) as the link click picture, but don't include it?

@GuysGearsAndGrit 3 ай бұрын

Great question, it really just came down to quality of the thumbnail (link click picture). We try our best to use as many of our own bikes/photos where we can as possible, while still being able to create the best thumbnail. The bike I used just happened to have the perfect photo for the thumbnail I had envisioned! Any other photos with cruisers we had on hand didn't have great lighting, wasn't the right angle, or the bike itself had damage or missing parts!

@dannysmith9882 3 ай бұрын

The Roadstar is a good call. The shadow is the obvious answer, dont know how it didnt make the cut. The last magnas were great. The royalstars are interesting. I dont really see VN900 at this price point. The Suzuki 800s are a great deal. Those would be the 5 Id mention. Id also empahsize at this price point to carefully consider the tires and forks, if they need attention youll be laying out a pretty good chunk of the bikes value to correct them.

@GuysGearsAndGrit 3 ай бұрын

A lot of other people listed the Shadow! its a good bike! all good bikes you mentioned! The VN900 like we said is rare to find in that price point but you really have to go looking for it. We have personally picked up a couple running ones in that range with very little work to do on them, they are out there, just gotta search! Great call on the tires and forks!

@jlrutube1312 3 ай бұрын

I have owned three of these bikes. I had the Yamaha XVS 650 v-star for a couple of years. It was a very good bike. I actually like the looks of the classic one better than the custom. The only problem with that bike is that to me it seemed a bit too low geared for the interstate. 5th gear is shorter than it should be and there is no 6th gear. Nevertheless, if you don't mind running at sorta high rpms on the highway then you won't have a problem with this bike. It will go 70 mph all day with no problem. At 80 it seems a little strained. I also had the Kawasaki 1500 vulcan. It was a big bike, pretty heavy but once you get it moving it's fine. It was fantastic on the interstate and you could cruise at 90 mph all day with no problems in spite of the fact that the ones before the year 2000 were just a 4 speed. Only problem with this bike is that when you shift from 1st to 2nd the tranny will make a grinding noise unless you put a little pressure on the shifter before you pull in the clutch and shift. Also it gets bad gas mileage. Finally I now have the Honda VTX 1300 spoked version. I have owned 13 bikes and of all of them it is by far the best. I have put over 100,000 miles on it and it did that many miles without any mechanical problems on the engine or transmission or clutch or shaft drive. Amazing. It's powerful, it's pretty fast, it handles pretty well for a cruiser and it sounds great and looks great. It isn't slow... I got it up to 113 mph gps. I still have no rust in my tank after 15 years but I didn't let the bike just sit. I ride it year round so the tank is fine. I did have to adjust the fuel/air screw on the carb because it was cold natured until I did that.

@GuysGearsAndGrit 3 ай бұрын

Dude, thanks so much for this comment and your synopsis! it sounds like the ones you pointed out are each reliable, but each have there things you need to get used to? This is a great comment for anybody to read who came to this video to get some solid information. Thanks again!

@GuysGearsAndGrit 5 ай бұрын

Do you think we left out any notable cruisers? comment them below!

@gphilipc2031 4 ай бұрын

VT1100... Shadow Spirit, and other Shadow versions.

@GuysGearsAndGrit 4 ай бұрын

@@gphilipc2031I can see that! Those are some pretty reliable motorcycles that are on the low end, great beginner bikes and cruisers.

@CreativeFocus365 4 ай бұрын

I am a HUGE fan of my Triumph America cruiser. With six bikes in my collection when I want to grab a cruiser ... it is my America every time.

@GuysGearsAndGrit 4 ай бұрын

@@CreativeFocus365 Those are pretty sick! is that one you could find running under $2500?

@CreativeFocus365 4 ай бұрын

@@GuysGearsAndGrit Yep, they are out there.

@MrMoneyHelper 4 ай бұрын

I like the cruiser look but don't like the cruiser weights. I owned a 2001 Kawasaki Vulcan 500 LTD. It weighed 438 pounds with 51 horsepower. It was just as quick as the 800 cc motorcycles of the time because it was 200 pounds lighter. It wasn't a comfortable ride. It was sold after a year with 8000 miles. Even that 650 Yamaha weighed 550 pounds. Someday I want to try riding a cruiser in the 800-1600 cc range just to see if they are really more comfortable and worth the difficulty moving them around while parking. I'm not a poser. My current only motorized vehicle is a 125 cc scooter. It will go 55 mph and weighs only 237 pounds. It is easy to move around. I can push it on grass or dirt with ease. Doing that with a huge motorcycle is very unlikely.

@GuysGearsAndGrit 3 ай бұрын

Yeah I get that! which 800-1600 cc range cruiser would you give a shot first?

@MrMoneyHelper 3 ай бұрын

@@GuysGearsAndGrit Probably a Suzuki C50 because their center of gravity is low and they have shaft drive.

@GuysGearsAndGrit 3 ай бұрын

@@MrMoneyHelper The boulevards are pretty sick, and its just over that 800 cc range that you are looking for so it could be a could starting point. Any reason you wouldnt want to go for something like the VN900?

@Paul-in-Viet-Nam 3 ай бұрын

I understand. I had a Suzuki GD110 and a Yamaha YB125. Each was a LOT of fun to ride, because they were so light; they'd go anywhere.

@GuysGearsAndGrit 3 ай бұрын

@@Paul-in-Viet-Nam the lightweight makes them fun to throw around!

@Col_Pan1c 4 ай бұрын

Dunno how the shadow 750/1100 doesn't make this list.

@GuysGearsAndGrit 4 ай бұрын

A few people have mentioned that. We tried to stick to 5 motorcycles, which would you have personally swapped out for it?

@dannysmith9882 3 ай бұрын

the 650, just too weak for many use cases

@lawrencedavidson296 4 ай бұрын

i had a vstar 1100 when i sold it it had 135,000kms on it...only replaced the starter at 102,000kms

@GuysGearsAndGrit 4 ай бұрын

just a testament to how reliable it is! thats awesome! what do you ride now?

@eggomyleggos 5 ай бұрын

Honda shadow 750?

@GuysGearsAndGrit 5 ай бұрын

That’s also a worthy mention, we just feel like it doesn’t stack up as well as the 5 we mentioned. It is a pretty reliable bike, plenty of them out there, good starter bike. There’s plenty of great bikes out there under $2500 but we were limiting ourselves to 5, and wanted to get a variety of displacements up there.

@Star-Trucker 2 ай бұрын

The guy conducting the interview forgot to wash his hands.

@GuysGearsAndGrit 2 ай бұрын

Yeah lol, that was me, I went straight from working on motorcycles to the video without thinking 🤦‍♂️

@Tbasker 3 ай бұрын

i guess you are not Suzuki fans i would take a c 50 over all your small bikes and c90 or c109 over all your big bikes Or the M versions i just like the look of the C versions more :-) but if the budget is a bit more the VN 1700 the yamaha 1900 and the vtx 1800 i would look at ;-)

@GuysGearsAndGrit 3 ай бұрын

Its not that we are not Suzuki fans, and we actually like the Suzuki M109r, the look is pretty sweet. We were just trying to limit our list to 5 bikes, which obviously when you are narrowing it down that much you are going to have to cut out some good options. We just felt for the budget, reliability, price of used parts, these were some of the best contenders. maybe we will find some Suzukis when we do a best cruisers under $5k, or $10k ;)

@kevinbresnahan3394 3 ай бұрын

Harley Davidson sportster.

@GuysGearsAndGrit 3 ай бұрын

Man, they are good, and classic looking, I just feel like the parts are cheaper and if you want to own a Harley you’ve gotta want to like working on your motorcycle. They are good classic bikes! Just not sure if top 5 in the $2500 market

@lotuscorpse 3 ай бұрын

As long as you own an 883 or 1200 Evolution based Sporty you're golden. Never own an Ironhead, they're awful and only run right when they sound like they're falling apart. The 84-86 1100cc Sportys were awesome, but because they were only made for 3 years parts are beyond hard to find. There is such an aftermarket for the Sporty that parts are cheap and easy to find, they're easy to work on, and they have the straightest valve train for a Harley. But I will say this, if you have to have fuel injection, buy a Yamaha Bolt, they have an awesome aftermarket and you cam actually flash the ECU itself instead of a damn Power Comander that cuts signal to the ECU and sends a wrong pulse signal to your ECU for fuel and air ratio delivery.

@GuysGearsAndGrit 3 ай бұрын

@@lotuscorpse Great synopsis boss! thanks for sharing.

@LinuxHurts 5 ай бұрын

what about the Kawasaki 454 LTD?

@GuysGearsAndGrit 5 ай бұрын

Yo! we skipped out on the Kawasaki 454 LTD because it was only made for a limited amount of years, its super cheap. not overly reliable and is undesirable by a lot of people. so its just a bit obscure for the list here.

@jlrutube1312 3 ай бұрын

@@GuysGearsAndGrit My friend had one of them and he let me ride it. I liked the looks of it and enjoyed riding it. It isn't a big bike though so I think it was more of an around town and back roads type of bike but I didn't take it out on the interstate so perhaps I am wrong.