Drifter

Drifter

Kawasaki samples Springfield

BY RIGHTS, I ought to abhor this motorcycle.

With two genuine Springfield Indians in my garage, this skirt-fendered retro-’Saki should be viewed as an affront, little more than a two-wheeled kit-car Bugatti with a VW motor stuffed inside.

Well, take away my 50-weight and cut up my Antique Motorcycle Club membership card, I actually like the Drifter. Hey, at least it doesn’t have a lookalike Harley motor.

Some history: Two years ago, customizer Denny Berg and the aftermarket empresarios at Cobra Engineering built a feature bike for our friends at Rider magazine. Based on a Kawasaki Vulcan 1500 Classic, it was poked and prodded and primped and preened into a pretty good facsimile of a late-1940s Indian Chief. Reader reaction was strongly favorable, as was the response when the copycat Chief hit the show circuit. So, Kawasaki boxes the bike up, airships it to Japan, engineers descend upon the poor thing, tape measures and verniers at the ready-and as you read this some 2500 Drifters have made their way to dealerships across the country, each carrying an $11,500 price tag. They’re not quite as faithful as the Berg concept bike, but given the exigencies of the production line, they’re surprisingly good.

Along with 50 members of the world press, I had a chance to try out the 1500 Drifter in Miami Beach, then jockied one around Daytona for the latter half of Bike Week. Besides those big oT fenders, the Drifter’s biggest difference from the standard Vulcan is in the engine bay. Hiked compression, altered cam timing and a pretty sophisticated fuel-injection setup yield a useful 4-bhp gain, up to 52 as verified by the rearwheel dyno at Carl’s Speed Shop in Daytona Beach. Another improvement resides out back, in the form of air shocks four-way adjustable for rebound damping. Plush City all the way,

although following a gaggle of Drifters as they hit a dip in the road looks like an exercise in synchronized structural failure. See, unlike original Indians, which had suspended seats and fixed fenders, the Kawasaki’s seat is stationary while the fender-bolted to the swingarm-moves up and down. No harm, just different.

That seat, by the way, while no aesthetic achievement, is wide and comfortable for both rider and passenger, with a substantial grabrail at the rear-in fact, it may be the best non-touring-bucket perch in the business. Add a copbike-style windscreen, fringed saddlebags and head for Route 66.

If there’s a problem with the Drifter, it’s that some K-types may be taking it all too seriously. The bike is fun, a hoot, an adult-sized carnival ride, but certainly not “one of the most talkedabout, watched-for, lusted-after motorcycles of the 20th century, ” as a hopelessly over-the-top press release would have you believe. Full-page ads for the Drifter proclaim, “It’s Amazing What You Can Build When You Put Your Soul Into It. ” Which, of course, begs the parenthetical coda ( “Even If You Have To Borrow It From Someone Else’’). And this babble, included in the press kit as if validating the concept: “The Drifter is a work of art that goes beyond transportation. With its neo-retro style and esoteric performance, the Drifter embodies the essence of form and function. ” Puh-leeze! The quote is from the director of some second-string design museum you never heard of.

Note to Kawasaki: Cease this silliness. The Drifter doesn’t need puffery and hype, and it certainly doesn’t need outside justification. People will buy the bike because it’s your best cruiser yet. The Springfield styling is a side benefit.