[Scruffy]

I've ridden both. The older version of the C50 was a detuned, single carb 800 Intruder motor in a heavier chassis. The current C50 isn't bad, but still has no bottom end grunt. The brakes are still lousy, but better than my Vulcan's. Suzuki has a better factory seat.

The 800A is pretty impressive as a whole. Don't even need fifth gear on the freeway. Quality control is better than any Suzuki I've checked out. The chain maintenance is an occasional minor annoyance. The brakes are still stuck in the 1970s, but, such is life. Much more adaptable gearing than a shafty. More power at the rear wheel than a comparable size shaft driven bike, as chains have less parasitic loss than shaft/cush drive. My single carb Vulcan regularly walks all over my wife's dual carbed 800 Intruder (with identical mods). If you can still find one, the A model 800 will outhandle a B series or any of the Boulevards (the skinny wheel turns easier). Better seat to peg to bar ergonomics than the C50.

In the grand scheme of things, they are both good bikes. The Vulcan 800A was for me the best choice in the middleweight cruiser field. I've had and was unhappy with Suzukis. I don't particularly like the 800B and Boulevard 16 inch on both ends wheels (funky handling versus what I'm used to). Wanted a baby Drifter, too hard to find around here, and has 16s on both ends. The hidden monoshock chassis was another big plus, I won't have another bike with exposed shocks (not fond of slant or hard saddlebags). Wouldn't have a fuel injected vehicle if it was free.
-Scruffy