Eliminator 125 (BN125-MY1998)

Kawasaki built this one around a 124 cc air-cooled single making 12 hp at 9,500 rpm and 7 lb-ft at 8,000, fed through a 5-speed box and a chain. The numbers tell you the intent immediately. This is a cruiser shaped by proportion rather than power: a 57.9 in wheelbase, an 18-inch front and a fat 130/90-15 rear, spoked wheels, a teardrop tank, and a stepped seat that drops your hips to 26.8 in off the ground. At 298 lb wet it weighs less than most people expect a cruiser to weigh, and the shape still reads as one from thirty feet away.

It rides the way it looks. You sit low, roll on gently, and let the little single do its work between 4,000 rpm and the top of the tach. Top speed is 68 mph, so surface streets, town-to-town two-lanes, and the odd stretch of secondary highway are where it belongs. Owned sensibly it ages well, because there is very little on it to go wrong: no ABS, no rider modes, no electronics package to fail. The honest caveat is the ceiling. If your riding regularly involves interstate speeds or a passenger and luggage, this bike will run out of road before you run out of patience.