Andy Bell brings us his verdict on the lightweight cruiser:
If you’re into your cruisers and want a lightweight one at that, the Keeway V302C could be right up your street.
What is it?
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With its low stance, wide bars and feet forward riding position this bike certainly falls well into the cruiser class. Styling looks the part for sure and this is definitely one of its selling points with bar-end mirrors, chunky tyres front and rear, and a classic round headlight amongst the first of a list of features you notice. With a v-twin motor at its heart and a blacked-out image, it’s not until you approach the Keeway that you realise this is quite a compact machine, which makes it appear less intimidating up close.
Talking tech…
The design of this V302C is also joined by some beefy upside-down forks at the front and twin shocks at the rear, with the latter helping to keep the back end looking tidy and low – so low in fact the seat height is a mere 690mm. LED lights are fitted all round and, alongside the classic headlight I have mentioned, the bike also comes with minimalistic bullet lights at the rear to add to the look Keeway is after.
The 298cc 4-stroke liquid cooled V-twin engine produces 29bhp with 26.5Nm of torque, which happens to be spread well across the range of power to the final belt-driven rear tyre.
Tech-wise, there doesn’t seem much to really get overly excited about… obviously you get ABS but there is no traction control or cruise control, and the suspension is non-adjustable, let alone not having any fancy phone connectivity. The small, round clock is very retro yet simple but does show the essentials needed for a ride out. The switchgear on the handlebars is also minimalistic but at the same time it’s refreshing not to have an array of buttons that you don’t always use when just going out for a spin.
Cracking on…
The already mentioned low ride height did take me a bit of time to get used to, dialling in to how low you had to go before making contact with the saddle. Once in the seat (and I do mean in the seat) it was wide and comfy, and the shape flowed well, keeping the overall profile low. There is an option for a pillion, but I wouldn’t fancy the back seat on here as I don’t think it is really aimed for that, although another seat option with a rest is available should you wish.
Backing out of the garage was an easy affair, with both feet more than easily touching the floor thanks to its relatively lightweight nature. I was pleasantly surprised by the sound produced from the matt black 2-in-to-1 exhaust which seemingly looked uninspiring. There was a noticeable bark from the 298cc motor which improved with speed and a distinctive grunt could be heard through each gear, even at 60mph, unlike some other similar-capacity machines.
I don’t want to sound too negative because I did actually enjoy my time on the Keeway. However, one thing that I did notice from the very first mile until I finally parked it up, was the vibration through the pegs. While it wasn’t enough to shake your boots off, it was very much present and hard not to focus on. The Timsun tyres that come as standard didn’t fill me with a great deal of confidence, especially after a couple of mini slides in the first few miles from the rear when I didn’t even think I was pushing too hard, so I’d look to change them if I bought one.
On a more positive note, the brakes did feel more than up to the job of pulling up the Keyway for the style of riding intended, but the chunky front forks did dive a little too much when asking for anything more than half of the stopping power available. While I’m on a roll of negatives I also took a little dislike to the fact I was never sure if the next gear had been selected on the upshifts, a small point maybe, but with not so much as a click or clunk from the lever I spent a fair amount of time early on looking down to double-check until I got used to this ‘feature’, for want of a better word.
I guess I should add some positives now not just for the sake of it, but there were some other notable points that I did find pleasing. While this is no sports bike or even trying to be one, I did expect the changing of direction to be a bit of a problem. However, this was carried out with relative ease and with minimal input despite my initial thoughts. I also expected the rear to wallow around in the corners and, while this did happen, it was only when I did get into some faster corners and was pushing on a little more. For the majority of my ride, I was quite content cruising along with the bumps being soaked up nicely and effortlessly tipping into one corner after another.
I had covered a fair few miles on this bike while testing it, taking it on both bumpy back roads and some normal A-roads where I could stretch the legs of the engine and take in a variety of slower bends and some faster sweeping ones, and found both to be within the bike’s capability. Without the time to do so myself, I would say that this would also be a confident machine to take on motorways if you had the need to travel on them as well.
Worth a punt?…
This is not a big engine Harley-Davidson by any means, but then maybe that is where it can find its gap in the market. You don’t get the Harley badge, but you only spend a fraction of the price. You don’t get the big monster engine, but you get a smaller, lighter bike to get to grips with. You get the idea. I can imagine if you are a smaller-framed person wanting a taste of a cruiser or maybe you have another bike of a different nature and fancy a cheaper one as a second bike for the garage, this could be an option. It just depends on if you think the low-tech Keeway is worthy of its asking price, but if you are thinking about it, it just might be worth a try.
The stuff that matters…
Power: 29bhp @ 6500rpm
Weight 167kg
Price: £4799.00Contact: [email protected]
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