The Vulcan 900 is still a heavy motorcycle, too. Floorboards, a heel shifter, and a nice low seat all contribute to making this bike a real easy rider, just as they always have. The 5 speed transmission still has Kawasaki’s user-friendly positive neutral finder, making it easier for newer cruiser riders to take their hand off the clutch at a stop without accidentally stalling. You still get the now-classic 4-stroke, 55-degree, liquid-cooled 903cc V-twin engine-producing 50 hp and 58.2 lb-ft of torque at 3500 rpm. Leaving this model alone for so long was nothing less than a vote of utter confidence in its capabilities, and the 2022 Vulcan 900 still lives up to those long-established expectations. Not giving a bike any significant upgrades for sixteen years is either the most audacious or the laziest move we’ve ever seen a major bike manufacturer make-and as we should all know by now, the folks at Kawasaki are anything but lazy.

That’s just as true for this year’s model as it has been for every iteration of the Vulcan 900 since 2006, when it got its last major upgrade.

We’ll come right out and say it: this bike slaps. There’s a good reason newer motorcyclists who want to learn how to ride bigger, badder bikes have been flocking to the Vulcan for over two decades-and a good reason why Kawasaki has barely changed the bike’s fundamental design in almost that long. Kawasaki’s quintessential middleweight road cruiser might not break any world records-but that’s probably just because Guinness doesn’t have a category for “best all-rounder”.

Vulkan kawa club