To get the Cruise’s carburetor motor going use the choke lever located on the handlebar; it warms up quickly. Once underway, the engine is mostly smooth, with some light vibration coming through the seat, grips and footpegs. There’s a decisive “thunk” when you shift down into first from neutral, and then shifting through the rest of the five- speed gearbox is smooth going. It requires a forceful lift of your left foot to change gears and at freeway speeds I kept searching for a sixth gear as the engine seems busy. Finding neutral at stops is easy.
The bike’s male-slider fork is well damped and has seven- way adjustments for rebound and compression damping, and the rear dual shocks offer five-way spring preload adjustment. On smooth terrain and riding over small road imperfections the suspension feels compliant, especially the front end with its superior fork. Bumps are very noticeable in back, though, where the short shock travel jars the rider. I noticed a slight pogo effect when going over potholes; something other testers did not experience, possibly because of their heavier weight.
The belt-driven Cruise is outfitted with Bridgestone Battlax radials, a 120/70 ZR-18 front and 180/55 ZR-17 rear, which provide stability and good grip even in light rain. Some weight savings come from the hollow-cast aluminum wheels. When you get to twisty roads the Cruise is planted and stable, both in long sweepers and tight corners. It has good low-end torque and there’s no throttle abruptness when you get on it coming out of a corner. It holds a line well, and if it weren’t for the limited cornering clearance the Cruise could keep up with some sportbikes in the twisties. UM refers to the Cruise as a power or sport cruiser, and once you ride it you can relate.
The seat is not only low at 27.75 inches, it’s also narrower than the average cruiser’s seat, which should thrill riders with short inseams. With my 34-inch inseam, when the Cruise is parked on its sidestand I can walk up to the bike and literally step right over it and keep on walking. The long wheelbase of 65.4 inches makes it feel like a larger motorcycle when you climb aboard, and the reach to the handlebar is a stretch and the footpegs place your feet way out in front. But check this out: The footpegs are dealer adjustable (the shift rod needs to be changed) to one of two positions, and can be moved back approximately 2 inches from what you see pictured. The seat is comfortable enough that your butt will outlast your upper body and arms at highway speeds. As is typical on a cruiser, windblast hits the rider in the chest so you need to hang tightly to those handgrips at speed. We found that cruising below 75 mph was the best way to ride longer distances in comfort. (There’s also a touring version available with a National Cycle windscreen, three-piece Saddlemen detachable synthetic saddlebags, a backrest, a luggage rack, engine guards and floorboards.)
The Cruise gleams in the sunlight with its combination of chromed metal and plastic. Mirrors provide a good rear view, and though the triple disc brakes are not up to sportbike standards, they’re fine for cruising at more moderate speeds and we didn’t experience any fading or grabbing. The tank pivots up for easier engine service, and you’ll need a large Phillip’s screwdriver to remove the single bolt that holds down the one-piece seat. Our test bike did not come with a toolkit.
Our only complaint is with the Nintendo Game Boy-like LED digital instrument panel that’s sometimes hard to read in sunlight. The fuel gauge seems to have a mind of its own, as it takes anywhere from 2-5 miles after a fill-up before the bar graph registers full, and then it jumps around, so we rely on the tripmeter to figure out when to gas up. The Cruise does gets excellent average fuel economy at 45.7 mpg. The speedometer has a delayed reaction as well, though curiously that seems to be correcting itself—as is the light backfiring when coming off the throttle at highway speeds—as we put on more miles.
We can’t offer any assurances as to how the Cruise will hold up for the long haul; we can report that we’ve put almost 1,000 trouble-free miles on our test bike, and we’re impressed with its handling and rider friendliness. Probably the biggest challenge UM faces is convincing those who are skeptical about investing in a relatively unknown product that it’s reliable, so the company has tossed in a three-year, 15,000-mile transferable warranty. The $6,399 price tag makes it competitively priced as well. Note: The Cruise tested here is a 2007 model; for 2008 the only change will be color choices: silver, black or burgundy. Our test unit came with a Hyosung instrument cover; apparently, late-2007 models have a new one made by UM.
