Kawasaki Boss 175

[amaran]

Thinking of buying a Kawasaki Boss but are there any tall people out there who have experienced riding it. Is it comfortable. Otherwise, what bike should a tall person over 6ft get? I don't want a big bike. Thanks.

[msg362]

I'm 182 cm ( about 6'.00'') and have had a Boss for 2 years. I find it very comfortable. My run into town is about 25 km. I get about 30-333 Km/ litre ( ca 100 mpg in Brit terms) I put 'Harley' style foot plates on which mean you can move your feet around while traveling. I've got the alloy wheels, but Kawa had fitted innertubed tyres. I changed them for Dunlops and ,it might be my imagination, but it feels much better on the road. I got the bike shop to move the turn indicator up onto the handlebars so it is more visible, difficult to notice on the fuel tank- I kept leaving it on! I find 5 speeds fine, I had a Phantom before and since i can't count above 5, got confused as to what gear I was in!

[amaran]

I'm 182 cm ( about 6'.00'') and have had a Boss for 2 years. I find it very comfortable. My run into town is about 25 km. I get about 30-333 Km/ litre ( ca 100 mpg in Brit terms) I put 'Harley' style foot plates on which mean you can move your feet around while traveling. I've got the alloy wheels, but Kawa had fitted innertubed tyres. I changed them for Dunlops and ,it might be my imagination, but it feels much better on the road. I got the bike shop to move the turn indicator up onto the handlebars so it is more visible, difficult to notice on the fuel tank- I kept leaving it on! I find 5 speeds fine, I had a Phantom before and since i can't count above 5, got confused as to what gear I was in!

Thanks for your perspective. It seems you find the Boss is a better bike than the Phantom. Just out of interest, is it easy to find places to carry out maintenance on the Boss?

[bangkokrick]

I'm 182 cm ( about 6'.00'') and have had a Boss for 2 years. I find it very comfortable. My run into town is about 25 km. I get about 30-333 Km/ litre ( ca 100 mpg in Brit terms) I put 'Harley' style foot plates on which mean you can move your feet around while traveling. I've got the alloy wheels, but Kawa had fitted innertubed tyres. I changed them for Dunlops and ,it might be my imagination, but it feels much better on the road. I got the bike shop to move the turn indicator up onto the handlebars so it is more visible, difficult to notice on the fuel tank- I kept leaving it on! I find 5 speeds fine, I had a Phantom before and since i can't count above 5, got confused as to what gear I was in!

Thanks for your perspective. It seems you find the Boss is a better bike than the Phantom. Just out of interest, is it easy to find places to carry out maintenance on the Boss?

I am 6' 2' and have been the proud owner of the Boss for 9 years. I find it a comfortable ride and the performance is still good with the 5 speed box. The only things that I have had maintained on the bike are the normal replacements, battery, brakes, lights etc. Very easy to work on, just find a decent local mechanic.

Cheers, Rick

[Richard-BKK]

The Kawasaki Boss 175 is a perfect machine, but its only been outclassed lately by bikes like the Lifan LF250B and others. But the Kawasaki Boss is really a old model of the Bajaj Avenger which Kawasaki borrowed from there technological partner Bajaj Auto India, who is by-the-way also major shareholder in Kawasaki Thailand.

Currently Bajaj Auto sells the same model in India, okay they improved a few things, now with a modern 220cc engine and better suspension to combat competition.

The nearest real Thai build competition, the Honda Phantom TA200, already stopped production at the beginning of this year.

Can you ride a Kawasaki Boss if you 6'5” sure I did it and it doesn't feel that weird, the only weirdness is the no power availableness... but if you not used to big bikes you maybe not even notice...

[msg362]

I'm 182 cm ( about 6'.00'') and have had a Boss for 2 years. I find it very comfortable. My run into town is about 25 km. I get about 30-333 Km/ litre ( ca 100 mpg in Brit terms) I put 'Harley' style foot plates on which mean you can move your feet around while traveling. I've got the alloy wheels, but Kawa had fitted innertubed tyres. I changed them for Dunlops and ,it might be my imagination, but it feels much better on the road. I got the bike shop to move the turn indicator up onto the handlebars so it is more visible, difficult to notice on the fuel tank- I kept leaving it on! I find 5 speeds fine, I had a Phantom before and since i can't count above 5, got confused as to what gear I was in!

Thanks for your perspective. It seems you find the Boss is a better bike than the Phantom. Just out of interest, is it easy to find places to carry out maintenance on the Boss?

I live in Chiang Mai and there is a great new Kawa shop on the south side of the moat

[amaran]

To those who replied to my post, it's much appreciated. It's very useful advice. Cheers.