With the Vulcan S, Kawasaki has a unique appearance that, according to Team Green, has been very popular since its introduction. For 2023, Kawasaki has come up with a new color scheme for the little cruiser.
Back in the day, or should we say… earlyah, cruisers were all about who had the fattest. And still if you look at the Americans, but from the Japanese angle, all those fat cruisers like the M1800 Intruder or the VN2000 have died a quiet death – as victims of the increasingly strict environmental requirements.
Kawasaki became the first Japanese to change course and launch the Vulcan S as the fourth model of the 650 platform, after the ER-6n, ER-6f (to be succeeded by the Z650 and Ninja 650) and Versys 650. Honda followed suit with the Rebel 500 (and added a Rebel 1100 last year). The design of a cruiser, but with good handling characteristics and more for the city. It was called an Urban Cruiser.
Despite Kawasaki claims that the Vulcan S has been very popular since its introduction (just like Honda says about the Rebel 500), because of its good handling characteristics (no word of a lie, it steers quite well for a cruiser – and I mean not as in ‘it smells pretty good for someone who stinks’), unique looks and accessibility to a wide audience, other brands outside of Honda have not followed that new trend.
On the one hand, they will find that quite a shame at Kawa, because more competition also means more media attention, but on the other hand… now they don’t have to share a single slice of pie with the competition, because there is none. What makes the Vulcan S unique is the ERGO-FIT system that allows the bike to be adapted to any physique. For example, the footrests can be adjusted in 3 positions.
The 2023 Vulcan S will be available at official Kawasaki dealers from early November in the new Metallic Matte Carbon Gray livery with green accents or the timeless Matte Black color. A 35kW version is available for holders of an A2 driving license. Prices will be announced later.
– Thanks for information from Motorfreaks.