Tony 'Pommie' Wilding is known for his wild custom bikes, wheelies and general high speed hooning, so we figured a LAMS cruiser would do him good. Here's his Eliminator SE test...Photos: Graham Bain
In 17 years of reviewing bikes, I realised when I was asked to test this one that I’d never even ridden a cruiser before! So even though it’s not my style of bike, I was interested to see what the cruising life was all about, and it’s great! Check out my Eliminator SE test.
The Kawasaki Eliminator SE has extras including fork gators, a headlight surround, USB-C outlet and premium paint.
With zero knowledge of the bike before I saw it, I was surprised it was only a 451cc parallel twin, because the Eliminator SE looks far more muscular than its small capacity lets on. My first job was to load the bike on the back of my ute, this is always a bit nerve wrecking, but the bike looks a lot heavier than it actually is, at only 177kg it’s practically a lightweight and feels it too, especially when pushing it around and up the bike ramp.
The Details
With the bike home and unloaded it was a great opportunity to have a good look around the Eliminator SE to see what you get for hard earned dollars. The overall quality of the bike is pretty good, but the standout for me is the tank, the quality of finish on it is really good, there are no edges whatsoever between the two-tone paint finishes and the lacquer has a nice deep gloss finish. Great quality.
The Eliminator SE is not overly complicated with electronic features and you wouldn’t expect it for this price point, but it has all you really need, a cruise control function would have been the only feature I’d have liked to have seen, even if it was an option. The LCD dash is simple, easy to read and has all the info you really need, such as a fuel gauge, fuel range, gear indicator, trip and clock, on this SE model you also get a handlebar mounted USB-C outlet, which is a bit on the large size. The Eliminator comes standard with a slipper clutch and ABS brakes, you also get LED lights front and back, with the front being very bright and great for night riding.
You get LED lights front and back, with the front being very bright and great for night riding.
Sitting on the Eliminator the seat has to be one of the comfiest I’ve ever sat on, it’s low though, as you’d expect on a cruiser, at 735mm and there’s also a lower one available at 715mm and a taller option at 765mm so even the shortest people should have no issues getting their feet planted firmly on the ground. The ‘pegs are also low and set slightly forward, but they need to be to get your legs into a comfy position. The fuel tank is pretty wide and looking at it I’d of thought it would have a large capacity, but I was wrong, it’s only 13 litres, but luckily the bike is economical and the fuel gauge indicator was giving me a proposed 260km fuel range.
The Ride
Once I’d thrown on my bike gear, I was ready to meet up with some mates for my first ride. I hit the start button and the 451cc parallel-twin came to life, the sound from the large exhaust is muted by those Euro emissions rules as you’d expect, but it sounds OK and has a deep rasp as the twin spins-up. I pulled in one of the lightest clutches I’ve ever used, selected first gear and I was off up the road.
Comfortable ergonomics even for a taller rider, and the Eliminator SE sits right in the meat of the torque curve at highway speeds.
As I clicked through the gears the first thing I realised was, there’s no point in revving the ball out of the engine, there’s a nice little sweet spot, which starts around 4000rpm and tapers off around 7000rpm, this seems to be where the bike produces most of its torque and the Eliminator just feels great here. However, if you do want to rev the engine it will go all the way to 11000rpm, it really is a little gem of a motor and lots of fun.
If you do want to rev the engine it will go all the way to 11000rpm, it really is a little gem of a motor and lots of fun…
Heading out through traffic, the Eliminator SE has no issue lane splitting and the mirrors even work pretty well and don’t protrude from the handlebars, they also have minimum vibration, which is a pleasant surprise on a twin. The gearbox is nice and precise and finding neutral at a stop is no problem and like I said before, the clutch is a joy to use.
The liquid cooled, parallel twin-cylinder, 451cc DOHC four-stroke puts out 33kW and 42Nm.
On the freeway at 110km/h the bike sits nicely on 5700rpm right in the sweet spot of torque, so overtaking is easy and it purrs away nicely at these speeds. However, as you’d expect I was copping a fair bit of wind being sat straight upright and with the bike having no screen, there’s nothing to deflect it.
Pommie is used to sportsbikes and nakedbikes and couldn’t help himself but give the Eliminator SE a run!
As I headed to my local twisty road, I was thinking that going around a corner the bike would be a slug, because the Eliminator SE has fairly chunky tyres, a 150/80/16 on the rear and a 130/70/18 on the front, along with 30 degrees of rake. However, this turned out to be the biggest surprise of my whole test, the Eliminator handles pretty good and steers relatively quick, the only thing that stops the fun is the lack of ground clearance from the ‘pegs (sorry Kawasaki I owe you a set of hero blobs).
The suspension is non-adjustable apart from preload on the rear twin shocks, but it’s set up pretty well for my 80kg frame, but I think heavier people may have to increase the preload because it is a bit soft on the rear in the initial part of the stroke, which I quite liked because it takes some of that initial hit out, if you find a bump or pothole.
The Eliminator SE handles fantastically in the corners for a cruiser.
The bike is LAMS approved so you’re not going to get arm wrenching performance at 34.4kW, but I’ll be honest I didn’t know that until I was writing the review so it’s not underpowered for what it is. In fact, it gets along pretty well and if you keep the motor in that sweet spot and short shift the gears, you can have a lot of fun on the little Eliminator, I know I did…
Acceleration off corners is impressive for a small capacity twin LAMS bike.
The brakes also work pretty well. You only get a single 310mm rotor with a Nissin twin-piston caliper at the front and a single 240mm rotor with Nissin twin-piston caliper at the rear, but this proved more than adequate to bring the 177kg cruiser to a stop in quick fashion.
Conclusion
The Eliminator is a fantastic bike and fun to ride, and being a bit of a tight arse, I did love the fuel economy! I was seeing low 4L/100km and I wasn’t cruising – pardon the pun… If you’re in the market for a cruiser and especially if it’s your first bike, I’d recommend getting a test ride on one of these Eliminators, I think you’d be pleasantly surprised.
Read about the standard version of the Kawasaki Eliminator ($10,721 ex Sydney) here…
2024 Kawasaki Eliminator SE Specifications
Price: From $11,236 Ride Away ex Sydney
Warranty: Two-year, unlimited kilometre
Colours: Candy Steel Furnace/Ebony, Metallic Matte Carbon Grey/Flat Ebony
Claimed power: 33.4kW@9000rpm
Claimed torque: 42.6Nm@6000rpm
Curb weight: 177kg
Fuel capacity: 13L
Fuel Consumption (measured): 4L/100km
Engine: Liquid cooled, parallel twin-cylinder, four-stroke, 8-valve, DOHC, 451cc, 11.3:1 compression ratio, 70.0 x 58.6mm bore and stroke, single injector per cylinder, 32mm throttle-bodies, six speed constant mesh gearbox, wet, multi-plate clutch with dual action slipper clutch, cable actuation, 14/43 final gearing, chain drive.
Chassis: High-tensile steel tube trellis frame with engine as fully stressed member, box-section steel swingarm, Rake: 30°, Trail: 121mm, Steering angle 35º/35º
Suspension: 41mm fork, 120mm travel, Unitrack gas-charged rear shock absorber, preload adjustable, 90mm travel. Brakes: Single Nissin 310mm semi-floating front disc, two-piston caliper, Nissin 240mm rear disc, two-piston caliper. Nissin ABS Wheels & Tyres: Aluminium alloy, 130/70 – 18 (f), 150/80 – 16 (r) IRC Grand High Speed.
Dimensions:
Wheelbase: 1520mm
Seat height: 735mm
Overall length: 2250mm
Overall width: 785mm
Ground clearance: 150mm
Instruments & Electronics: Digital LCD display with smartphone connectivity, ABS.
Ratings | Bike Review | 2024 Kawasaki Eliminator SE LAMS Cruiser
Brilliant!
The Author
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