Rider Review: 2004 Honda Shadow 600

Pros – Looks great and has good power

Cons – Cornering at high speeds and too big to squeeze in and out of dense traffic

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The Honda Shadow was first introduced in 1983 and was available across the US and Canada from then on and continues in production today. The bike is a cruiser with a leaning seating position with your feet pushed out towards the front end.

From its entry to the market the signature colors have been black or a candy red with different variants creeping in every once and a while. The speedometer and indicator lights are located on top of the tank which means the rider is exposed to the wind more so than other bikes. However, this is an interesting feature and Honda has made it look good by putting stylish chrome strips under these lights and gauges. One problem with this has been scratching from the keys in the ignition but once you only keep a modest amount of keys on your set you should be okay.

All engines fitted to Shadows are V-Twins with sizes ranging from a lean 125cc up to a grumbling 1100cc. However, all of these engine sizes offer a fair amount of torque on the Shadow and you should have no problem pulling away from a set of lights even on the 125cc version. The engines come fully chromed on some models with a great big exhaust stretching right along the chassis to the back tire in a straight line parallel with the ground.

Riding the shadow is a good experience. Cornering at high speeds takes a bit of getting used to because of the stretched out position but other than that she rides like a dream. The engine gets you where you want to go every time without so much as a flinch and the seat and sissy bar for the passenger are really comfortable.

Overall, the Shadow is a good bike. I wouldn’t recommend it for daily commuting because of its size and indeed the noise over 700cc but as a motorcycle it’s a lot of fun and well worth the buy for weekends and evening cruises around the countryside.

The opinions and observations stated  are solely of the writer of this article. Seattle-Motorcycles.com makes no warranty as to its accuracy; if you’re interested in a Honda Shadow you should do your own research before buying.

Tags: 2004, 600, beginner, cruiser, honda shadow, motorcycle, opinion, power, review, reviews, rider, shadow, twin, vlx

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 27th, 2009 at 7:56 pm and is filed under Cruiser Motorcycles, Hondas, Rider Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.