A Review of the Kawasaki Vulcan Mean Streak Motorcycle

Positioned to compete directly with the Yamaha Warrior and Harley Davidson V-Rod, the Kawasaki Vulcan Mean Streak is a V-twin power cruiser that begs for you to roll on the throttle just a bit more. The Kawasaki Vulcan Mean Streak is unquestionably a hot rod cruiser motorcycle, and a simple twist of the Mean Streak throttle will remind you that this is no ordinary motorcycle between your legs. Styled to be a bit heavier than the other contenders in this category, the Kawasaki Vulcan Mean Streak is actually the middleweight of the bunch. The Harley Davidson uses the Revolution 1250cc engine, while the Yamaha warrior uses a 1670cc engine.

The heart of the Kawasaki Vulcan Mean Streak is its 1552cc V-twin engine. The Mean Streak engine is a four-stroke, single overhead camshaft liquid cooled 50-degree with four valves per cylinder. The compression ratio is a meaty 9.0:1, and air and fuel is handled by a digital fuel injection system with 40mm throttle bodies. All this adds up to great low and mid-range power, making the Kawasaki Vulcan Mean Streak a great stoplight racer. It'll grunt and groan, and then rip up a patch of pavement on its way to the next green light even if you, yourself can't hold on long enough to keep your butt in place. Helping to reduce vibration is a gear-driven engine balancer and rubber engine mounts, which leave plenty of thrump for the power pulse while canceling out uncomfortable vibration. The Kawasaki Vulcan Mean Streak is shaft driven, which means that the Mean Streak is as low-maintenance as you could desire, and dual front and single rear disc brakes can stop you with plenty of time to spare should the need arise.