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Rider Height
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cruiser / default rider 183 cm

Harley-Davidson Forty-Eight vs Kawasaki Vulcan 800 ergonomics

Harley-Davidson Forty-Eight and Kawasaki Vulcan 800 land within a few ergonomic points for the default rider, so the better choice comes down to posture preference and bike category.

Fit verdict

Harley-Davidson Forty-Eight

92Comfortable

All contacts reached

Kawasaki Vulcan 800

92Comfortable

All contacts reached

The two bikes are close enough that posture preference matters more than the overall score.

Rider fit: reaching the ground

The Harley-Davidson Forty-Eight has a 710 mm seat; the Kawasaki Vulcan 800 sits at 710 mm, within a few millimetres of each other. As a rule of thumb you flat-foot a bike when your inseam roughly matches its seat height: about 71 cm for the Harley-Davidson Forty-Eight and 71 cm for the Kawasaki Vulcan 800.

Geometry snapshot

Geometry comparison for Harley-Davidson Forty-Eight and Kawasaki Vulcan 800
SpecHarley-Davidson Forty-EightKawasaki Vulcan 800
Seat height710 mm710 mm
Wheelbase1,495 mm1,600 mm
Wet weight252 kg-
Displacement1,202 cc805 cc

Posture metrics

Knee angle

Harley-Davidson Forty-Eight
Open (107.9 deg)
Kawasaki Vulcan 800
Open (116.4 deg)

Hip angle

Harley-Davidson Forty-Eight
Sport (78.4 deg)
Kawasaki Vulcan 800
Sport (79.3 deg)

Elbow angle

Harley-Davidson Forty-Eight
Relaxed (143.3 deg)
Kawasaki Vulcan 800
Relaxed (143.3 deg)

Torso lean

Harley-Davidson Forty-Eight
Neutral (7.8 deg)
Kawasaki Vulcan 800
Neutral (9.5 deg)