They only come in red. That's right, these three models, all competitively priced and equipped, are only available in the glorious cop-attracting color you see here. With a little give-and-take on the specs, and looks and price, they basically court the same rider... and apparently that guy likes red. They're all within 100ccs of each other, all are belt-driven, all have metal fenders and no unsightly tank seams, all for the guy who wants a full-sized bike with the bare minimum of touring amenities. Did we mention they're red?

This is a weird time for cruisers. The two hot commodities right now are baggers and mid-displacement bikes, and we've been doing lots of bagger tests lately, but it's not like we can do it every issue. So we went casting about in the middle class.

This is a double-dutch throwdown of two Motorcycling Heavyweights: Arlen Ness, the self-proclaimed King of Choppers, versus the man who helped re-define cruisers, Willie G. Davidson. Arlen, a longtime supporter and proponent of the Harley brand, banished to the wilderness by a Milwaukee giant eager to keep aftermarket dollars in-house, has shifted his design focus to a young upstart company whose flowing designs jibe so well with his own. Willie G., scion of the founding fathers, has honed the H-D design team to a point where it arguably contributes more to H-D's success than anything else. When these two guys go to town, it might be a good idea to lay low until the thunder passes.

Highway 76 drops steeply and fast as it unfurls out of the Palomar Mountain Range into Warner Springs, and the Led Zeppelin opus churning out of the Stratoliner's speakers makes me ride faster than I normally would. So when the two-laner widens and straightens out its relentless kinks, I pull over and contemplate changing the iPod's playlist to something more mellow, like say Johnny Cash, or heck, even Sinatra. After all, we're headed toward the serene-but-swinging desert city of Rancho Mirage.

We know most cruiser riders just want to... well, cruise. But there's a significant subset of cruiser riders who either come from sportier backgrounds or are simply more aggressive in attacking the roads. These riders don't want to be spooned onto a sportbike's torture rack, preferring a more feet-forward riding position, but still want ground clearance, handling, and power. They seek out roads that wind through twists and turns, and hopefully gorgeous countryside. There are machines that take this formula to the extreme, like Star's VMAX, but that bike's 190 rear-wheel horsepower requires a fairly high degree of skill and concentration to ride, and it's more than we're talking about here. At the same time, a traditional cruiser, with its considerable weight and squishy, comfortable suspension can also be a handful, touching down regularly and bouncing through the curves. No, these riders would prefer a bike that operated much like an extension of themselves, lithely taking the demands of the road and letting it flow through them naturally. Casual Aggression if you will, or more simply, just fun bikes.