Yamaha Bolt bike comparison - did I buy the right bike by the numbers

Yamaha Bolt and Harley-Davidson Sportster 883R rode back to back

By now it's clear as day, that buying a bike solely by the numbers is just plain wrong. There's so much more to a motorcycle than just the spec sheet. Most of the stuff is hard to put in words and are based on a "feel".  Only riding different bikes, will tell you what fits you and what will not. That said, it's interesting to look at what this Bobber/small cruiser/"Sportster" category has to offer, when you look at the numbers. Sportster is the bike all others will be measured against and while Harley deserves some of the crap they get, the fact is that the Sportster is somewhat of an icon and a legend and has an aura that other manufacturers can only dream of. The Bolt is Sportster copy, no denying that, but a relatively tasty one.

Price

Yamaha Bolt pricing comparison.

Testing the Vulcan S in 2015

Price is usually the biggest deciding factor when getting a bike so let's look at that first.* The Indian Scout and H-D 48 are in a class of their own Guzzi being a close third. Japanese bikes are clearly cheaper and the soon to be replaced Speedmaster can be bought for down right cheap. The price difference of a Bolt and a Scout is so big that many people are probably not seeing them as competitors. Bolt's MSRP is the second cheapest topped only by the very affordable Kawasaki, so the Bolt does well in the pricing category. What you actually have to pay for each bike in real life, is another matter entirely.

* Prices are based on 2016 US MSRP prices

Cubic inches

Not an important number in my opinion as you can get a big engine that produces little joy and vice versa. The Scout and 48 are naturally kings and only the Kawi is left significantly behind. If this is important to you, the Bolt does ok, being 4th biggest engine in the comparison.

Wet weight

Weight is always a very important for a motorcycle. Except when you ride a cruiser. Then your machine is unnecessarily overweight to begin with compared to everything else. The parallel twin Kawi and Guzzi do "well" here and the glorious Indian is the fattest. These being cruisers, small differences will not be noticeable in real life. Bolt comes in 3rd behind the Guzzi and Kawi.

Horsepower

Yamaha Bolt horsepower comparison. Not in last place, but not far either...

Testing the 2015 Iron

Here the Indian just blows everyone else away. No contest. Harley has given up even giving out any HP numbers, but I think it's safe to assume that nothing much has changed from few years back when they did give out the HP data. The Bolt sorta hangs in there, but only really tops the basic Iron 883. Guzzi is also a slight let down as the looks and Italian heritage makes one expect more.

Max torque

Yamaha Bolt torque comparison. Indian wins again.

Testing the 72. (not stock)

When you get a cruiser, you expect torque. One of the reasons that the good old V-twin is still alive. The Bolt does better here than it does on the HP category. The Scout is a winner here too, but now the 48 gets pretty close. Naturally the bigger engines rule.

ABS

Whether you want it or not is a matter of personal taste, but not having it as an option is not good. Why Yamaha for example is not offering as an option in the US is a mystery as Euro Bolts do have ABS.

CONCLUSION

No first places in any category for the Bolt, but no last places either. If you don't count the shared last place in the ABS category. Overall the Bolt is "middle of the pack" bike that doesn't excel in anything. Choosing the Bolt over other plainly looking at these numbers is not justified.

If you play around with the numbers a bit and place more emphasis on certain numbers the Bolt may climb up a bit. Making a chart where the best in category gets 10 points and others are scaled accordingly you get something like the one below. With a strong emphasis on price, the Vulcan S seems to give the best bang for buck followed by the Scout 60. This sort of weighted points chart makes the Guzzi the worst choice of all.

All that said, these numbers mean very little in the real world and many many things are left out.

THE ERGO NUMBERS

To be continued....