A few questions about the Meanie et al...

[bigjohnyeti]

I never considered the powerband to be "peaky" at all.My meanie pulls pretty even from about 2500 on up. For normal driving it doesn`t exhibit any of that stuff,except in like 1st or 2nd the throttle is sensitive,which I attributed to the torque.I just feather the clutch or rear brake ,depending on the circumstances.Other than that I really can`t find fault.To me it has all the power I`d need to get myself in trouble with the law in any state.I`ve really grabbed a whole handful of throttle maybe 10 times since I`ve owned it and I put on almost 11k miles last year. The shaft thing is just the nature of the beast.Get used to it and move on.I find it only happens at real hard throttle and it doesn`t seem to adversly affect anything `cept you just become more aware of the torque at hand.It`s not the fastest bike around,but it`s not the slowest.It easily outran my friend`s Road king,but his friend`s HD something or other(lotsa alphabet letters,w/screaming eagle kit) left me behind after about 50mph..may not be apples to apples,but the bike is about in the middle of the cruiser pack..If you want to go fast buy a rocket.If you want to cruise,lay back,feel the wind,feel the machine,get a cruiser.Somewhere in between is the Meanie,depending ob the bling factor you can slide the scale a little more to either side.
John

[Deeppurple52]

Lattimer..

Right on. Bikes are an individual thing. There was definately a time during my riding career that peaky horsepower would have turned my crank. The Meanie guys (and girls!) love them and rightly so. What I may have deemed a negative would be quite alright for someone else. That's why we have a choice of bikes. From reading the posts, the Meanie has a great following and the great looks and ballsy attitude makes it perfect for many.
My point was to make sure you get out and ride any bike you are considering buying. It will answer many of your questions. After sorting through a couple dozen types, I settled in the 1600 Classic. It isn't the right bike for some, but for my taste it was just right. During Bike week and the Cycle World show here in Phoenix, demo rides of most makes are available. The rides are reasonable long, 15-20 miles over a wide variety of conditions. It is great fun to ride a Kawasaki, and then go ride the competition (Star, Suzuki, Honda, Harley) equilivent. There are HUGE differences in bikes of the same size, weight and power and this is the best way to compare. I would never criticize anyones ride. The wind in your face is the same nomatter what you are riding.

[Rainbow]

Originally Posted by Tiger77

Sat on a '05 Meanie today and cranked 'er up. Okay - this one had the tornado air and the Cobra pipes. I just wanted to hear a Meanie run before purchasing one. It sounded a little loud to me (but then I'm kinda old). Are the Cobras a lot louder than stock pipes? Personally, I would prefer that it be a little quieter - even if it meant less HP.
Also, I only sat on it while running the engine, but there seemed to be a lot of vibration. I could barely make out anything in the mirrors for the vibration. Is that what I should expect from the Meanie? Or does it sound like something is wrong here? I thought the Meanie had motor supports that would reduce most of the vibration (one of the main reasons I've been looking at this bike). Have I understood this wrong? Should I have let it warm up longer or something (even though I think it had time to warm up)? It seemed to vibrate about the same at any RPM. I couldn't really tell that much difference, even though it planed out a little at higher RPMs.

One thing though - I could almost feel the power this thing has just racing the engine. It felt pretty sweet to me. I'm used to a 805cc engine - big diff.

Cobra pipes are definitely louder than stock ones. I have Cobra Slashdowns on mine and the sound is an awesome throaty sound. I've got stock mirrors and don't notice any problems with vibration at all. Warming up time for the meanie is only a few minutes.

[johNTO]

Like many have mentioned, it all depends on what you're looking for.
I never really looked at cruisers until I rode the MS. It was low, loud, rumbled and shook like a raw "hot rod".
In addition the handling, stopping power, and looks sold me. When I'm ready for a "couch" I'll look at a bagger.
My $0.02CDN

[Tiger77]

"In addition the handling, stopping power, and looks sold me."

Those are some of the same thoughts I had since the first time I saw one of these bikes.

I am actually in-process of getting this MS. We're waiting on the title to come back from HSBC in order to complete the deal. Maybe within 1-2 weeks?? or so they tell me.

I'm trying not to get too excited in case the deal falls through for some weird reason. But I'm already picking out the add-ons (what few I can afford).

Thanks everyone. If I can get this deal completed - then I'll be back with even more questions.