General Comments:

This is my first cruiser, and it is a great bike. Looks great, handles very well and is reliable.

I've only just finished breaking it in, but it has plenty of acceleration and lots of low end grunt.

My criteria for my 'ideal' bike were, from front to back:

Wide front tire, cast wheels. Liquid cooled engine, preferably fuel injected, and shaft drive.

The M50 has the lot. Yes the brakes are only 'adequate', and if you like really loud pipes you'll be spending some $$ on aftermarket pipes - or butchering the originals, which I think is probably not so smart.

Seat is not too supportive for my boney bum, so a gel seat is going on.

Checking the coolant is fiddly. Checking the oil sight glass is easy, especially if you lean an old mirror against the side of the garage. (It saves all that bending over or balancing the bike while you squat.)

I looked at HD883S, and was put off by the front tire and forks, as well as the air cooled approach and the inflated price.

The M50 is a good all round bike. Dress it up and make it yours.

Faults:

Nothing to date, it is too new.

General Comments:

A very comfortable and stable bike. It has a great riding position, and getting used to the forward pegs was the only issue, and that didn't last long. The seat is taking a little getting used to, as the base of the spine can get a little sore if I don't make myself sit upright.

The handling is great, and the responsive motor is a pleasure to work with. I have read that a number of people are not happy with the exhaust sound, but as most of my serious riding is long distances (I go away a lot over weekends), I am happy with the sound and volume.

The lack of gear carrying capacity is a small problem, but I am working on getting after market saddle bags and supports, as well as using a throw over bag on the back seat. This will just take some practice and careful thinking.

Faults:

Nothing, I sold it due to family reasons.

General Comments:

Great sport bike with lots of power. Ride was smooth, not great when it came to comfortable. All in all, a good bike.

Faults:

Nothing yet.

General Comments:

Amazing bike, awesome appearance, sufficient power, handles like a dream.

Faults:

Nothing has yet, only 250 miles.

General Comments:

Very much like its ride and affordability. Looks are outstanding.

Very customizable, and a robust online community for ideas.

Faults:

Nothing has gone wrong.

General Comments:

I have previously owned/ridden a Suzuki RGV250, a Suzuki 400 Bandit, a CBR125R and a BMW R80. I recently dumped the 400 Bandit due to long running Carb issues (but seriously it's an '89 model, so I was doing pretty good) and picked up an M50.

Despite my misgivings, having never ridden a cruiser before, the M50 handles much better than it has any right to. It is stable at low and high speeds and in corners and under braking.

The finish and build quality are immaculate.

I find the engine to be responsive, nice and torquey, not much shaft interference when slowing or engine braking, and the fueling is perfect.

I have some issues with my height and the position of the handle bars, but the bar position is more comfortable than everything I've ridden bar the BMW and the seat is also on par with the Beemer. Which when you think about the price premium on the Beemer, is saying a lot. Of course I'm going to just roll the handlebars back and fix that problem anyway.

And of course the only other issue with the M50, as highlighted in most magazine reviews, is the rear drum brake. But them's the breaks; when you get so much for your money there's going to be one or two little niggles.

The day I rode it home from the dealership I had two blokes in a ute honking at me and shouting through the window to find out what type of bike it was - I pulled up next to them in traffic and told them; the driver (a Harley Sportster owner) said he'd never seen one before but was going to go test ride one that weekend. :)