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“A brilliant commuter and all-round fun bike”

written by Rumpleproofskin on 06/07/2011

I've had this cool-looking Marauder for a month now and I'm thrilled I made the right decision. So here's my review in bullet points:
• The low centre of gravity and low-slung seat makes this bike very confidence inspiring – an ideal learner bike. You don't fly around on it like a bat out of hell. It induces a more considered style of riding. It's not called a 'cruiser' for nothing!
• It's large for its engine size but strangely not heavy or cumbersome. In fact it looks more like a 500+cc bike. And that's got to be a good thing.
•Finding neutral can sometimes be tricky when coming to a stop but nothing that causes a hassle; besides I had the same thing on a Yamaha YBR. A quick half-pump of the clutch rectifies the problem.
•Being a car driver, the comfy feet front ride suits me down to the ground. Going round sweeping bends is a joy – you really feel like an Easy Rider. Balance is excellent. And you can easily place both feet firmly on the ground at lights.
•It could do with a little more oomph during acceleration but, hey, it's fast enough to leave cars at the lights and secure your position on the road.
•Top speed is around 50mph. That may seem slow and I'm sure one day I'll wish for something with a higher top end but right now it's no problem at all.
•It's a perfect bike for commuting.
•It's well built, starts first time and is simply great fun to ride. It sounds great too and I've heard some aftermarket exhausts that sound sublime.
•Crucially, it feels SAFE. You're sitting back in the seat, not over the handlebars. The whole riding position makes you want to ride at a sedate pace. Why rush? Occasionally I'll filter past static traffic; other times I'm happy to sit in the queue.
•I guess older car drivers like me will go for this more than whizz kids who love their speed.
•The fat tyres grip nicely, soak up blemishes in the road and don't get guided by road ruts like skinny-tyred bikes.
•In a nutshell, it's the perfect learner bike that's brilliant to ride; fast enough for towns, fabulous round long bends; easy enough on tight corners and it looks the part. Now, where to find some panniers…