Honda just came out with a 750 Shadow that has a chain drive. Excellent. More power. Less to manufacture and purchase. I was bummed when the Shadow line went to shaft drives in recent years.
The RS has the standard 745cc liquid-cooled, fuel injected 52° V-twin. It’s a SOHC with three valves and two spark plugs per cylinder, a five speed transmission, a rear 180mm drum brake, and front 296mm disc with twin-piston caliper brake. It’s 507 lbs, filled with fuel and fluid, has a 2.8 gallon tank, and a transferable one-year unlimited-mileage limited warranty. The Honda Shadow RS retails for $7,800.
It looks very Sportsterish. The difference is this is a great beginner bike and I’ve never believed the 883cc Sportster is. The 2010 Honda Shadow RS costs a few hundred more bucks than a Sporty 883 Low, and I’ve got no problem with that because it weighs 80 lbs less, will get superior mileage, have better reliability, will cost less to insure, and I am going to guess the RS has a better warranty than the Sporty. I have to guess because Harley’s site doesn’t tell you what their warranty is and after a few minutes on Google, I couldn’t find out. Interesting.
I wish the seat was closer to 25″ from the ground than 29″, and that in general the bike was a couple inches lower. Regardless, for the price and the legendary Honda reliability, it’s worth checking out.
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