Via A&R, it seems that Ducati has been listening to prospective owners about what they’d like to see in the new Diavel.  As a result, Ducati has moved towards the Dark Custom movement with a new model of the Diavel called the Carbon Black.

Yamaha’s Star brand of motorcycles recently joined the Harley-Davidson Rocker C and the Honda Fury in the factory chopper class with the Stryker.  In the cruiser world, of course, bikes in the US are pretty much judged on how they stack up against Harley-Davidsons, so Motorcycle USA pitted the Stryker against the Rocker C. The conclusion was fascinating.

For its better handling, smoother ride, more refined gearbox and a responsive engine, we give the 2011 Star Stryker the nod as the better all-around motorcycle. Its MSRP is $8500 less, too, which holds a lot of weight in these challenging economic times. In comparison to the price of the Rocker C, it also will leave you with money in your pocket for customization. Ironically though, both testers agreed that if they could own one of these bikes, they’d take the Harley. We both enjoyed the extra low end grunt and the superior fit and finish. The Rocker C is full of character that other cruiser manufacturers have yet to duplicate, from the pulse of its engine to the sound emanating from its pipes.

In other words, the Stryker is the better all-around bike, but the testers would pay almost twice as much to buy the Harley.

I guess I understand that, but for the same price, why not buy both a Stryker, and a Ninja 650 for those fun Sunday rides?

Web 2.0 Stuff:

Put a leash to the back pad so it doesn’t fly off when you lean forward

OR

Simply make the Velcro strips larger

-On each of the circular end pieces of leather there currently is a latching system that does not lock.  So although you can lock the bag to your bike, people can still open up the bag and take your saddle bags contents.  There needs to be a way where the latches can be locked.  You could easily add straps with ‘d’ rings on it that extended from the ends of the current latching straps of luggage so they could be locked together

-There is a back rest that has netting in an attempt to allow more air to flow through so a person’s back does not sweat and get uncomfortable while riding.  The netting is simply not large enough to accomplish this.  So you could try larger netting or possibly even use those beads that you find on after market motorcycle saddlebags.