I was thinking of buying the Vulcan Classic 900 SE 2012. I have been interested in the Vulcan 900s for some time they appear to offer most of what the vastly more expensive 1700cc bikes including Harleys offer at a fraction of the cost and have the infinite advantge from my point of view of being a lot easier to ride!! I bought one of the Keeway (Chineese built) 250cc cruisers almost 2 years ago and have had great fun on it (have been all over Thailand plus 2 delightful trips to Lao) .Now I am sure that had I previously owned a quality Japanese Bike I would have been rather disapointed with my Chinese copy of a small Harley,being a beginner, however I have nothing to compare it with and have ridden 22000 (trouble free Kilometres) .

The Classic which I like has just arrived in my local showroom and I was really disapointed to see that it does not come with the same trim as exactly the same bike sold by Kawasaki in the rest of the World.This bike has a great "Retro " look which is finished off with really pretty whitwall Tyres (at least it has whitewall tyres everywhere except Thailand) I am buggered if I am going to pay the inflated price one pays here for all imports to get something which is second best!! I will send an email to Kawasaki Customer services and ask the question'but obviously they have a reason for not fitting the whitewalls (probably financially based) and they are not going to change it for me!!

As I said I will not buy this bike the way it is sold in Thailand,and I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for a 900 cc chopper in the 500,000 Baht price which give or take is the cost of the Vulcan,I have a feeling that given this criterion the choice is rather limited in Thailand,obviously there are tons of Sports bikes for this kind of money but I like Choppers!!

The Kawasaki Vulcan Classic 900 isn't standard equipped with white-wall tires, also not in the USA or Europe, some dealers maybe take the stock tires and upgrade them to white-wall tires.

You can checkout the Kawasaki Vulcan Classic 900 on the USA website, or European website. Personally I love the way the Kawasaki Vulcan Custom 900 handles and feels in Thai traffic, my g/f had one and it was a pleasure to ride. Much better in handling than say a Harley-Davidson Sportster 1200N. Of course everything is personal, it would not be the first time that somebody who tested a bike says the suspension is good and somebody else says it's a nightmare (but what I read online from other owners I can say that most owners love the handling of the Kawasaki VN900).

Not so long ago I found a company in Thailand that sold white-wall tires, but somehow I cannot remember the name and address of that company... (so when I come back to BKK I will try to find it...)

You right to say that a 250cc Chinese built cruiser is nothing comparable with a 900cc V-twin, the price of the two is also completely different. Still I think you get a decent bike from Lifan if you buy a LF250-B, you can also buy a Keeway Cruiser 250, or a Keeway Superlight 200 (but the last one is even less powerful and single-cylinder)

I have a friend with one who says it's no where near as comfortable to cruise on as it looks.
ie seat discomfort and foot-peg placement; both rectifiable.

My g/f also didn't like the Kawasaki Vulcan Custom 900 saddle, she modified it at a shop for less than 400 Thb