This is as close as I can find in this area....  
https://albuquerque.craigslist.org/mcy/5850918807.html

Dave wrote on 10/29/16 at 10:29:51:



Pacific Coast........who was it that made those........Maytag?

With the extra storage, it would make a good tour bike.

With the requirement for a shaft drive (or belt), low seat height, low weight, 80 mph cruise....15" rear tire with wide rim, and a $ 1,500 budget, I am afraid you won't find anything that meets all those standards.

You could update your Savage to meet most of those needs without too much of a cost.  A 94mm Wiseco could get you a bit more power, and with the Kawasaki pulley conversion you could drop the rpm down and make the bike capable of cruising at 75 mph without too much of an issue.  It would not be too hard to put a wider 15" rim on the back of the bike.....just a new rim and maybe some new spokes.  And maybe some upholstery work to make the seat more comfortable for you, and maybe a shock upgrade to get a better ride.

The other bike I think would be a good fit for you...is the Vulcan S.  I sat on one about a month ago, and it felt really nice.  It is chain drive and a 17" rear rim...and I doubt you can get one for $ 1,500 yet, as the  first year of production was a 2015 model.

About 6 months ago my neighbor had his Volusia 800 for sale for $ 1,400 and I posted it on this forum....and it was a steal at that price.  He had mounted aluminum wheels so he could run tubeless, and it had fresh Michelin Commander tires, a windshield, and he had put the shaft drive from the larger Volusia to cut the rpm down at cruise, and I think the bike only had 7,500 miles on it.  The seat height was low, and the center of gravity was low - but it still was a bit heavy....but pretty easy to move around with the low seat height. It was a typical V-Twin cruiser.....it was limited in how far you could lean in the corners!

A Virago might be a good choice.  Looking at the Cincinnati Craigslist shows that there are a few nice ones for $ 3,000, and a number of beat up ones for much less - but there was one that looked to be in good shape for $ 1,500.

https://cincinnati.craigslist.org/mcy/5834683020.html

You just hit on my big sore spot with Yamaha. But, they do have parts.  They just don't make any parts for anything over 10 years old and they won't service it.

They still have parts for my '73 80cc dirt bike.

Actually, all of the specs came from a VN750 Vulcan I was considering, but I was surprised by by the bike by how much it masses wet when I was expecting 489 pounds and I actually got 560 pounds in reality.

Weight and mass are something of interest to me now, today I go look at a $1500 Barcalounger that weighs in at 600 pounds just to see how far my limits can mentally and physically stretch.  

Both Dave and MM keep a long distance bike ..... mebbe I should too.

MM wants to go places ..... and his idea of how far is pretty durn far both for the trip and for today.   Dave is the same way, he likes to ride.   I'm going to up the mass ante in my mind to see what kicks out.

Issue with both is they like to go too slow (semi-legal) in strange places.   And it is all too strange for going out busting Hurleys.

Speaking of busting Hurleys, you do remember the White Whale up on the Dragon that passes everybody all the time?    Passed us too, although we all fought, we couldn't stop the silent White Whale from easing on by.   I wasn't insulted at all, really, I admired his skill more than anything else.



Which do you think would be more insulting to Hurley riders, being passed by a Granny sickle or being passed by a White Silver Whale?

Reminds me of the old joke (that's actually true):

Customer: I need it fast, cheap and with high quality

Sales: You can only pick two of those

Your list is too specific, especially with a $1,500 ceiling as it puts you into RatBike or rode-hard-put-away-wet territory.

For what it's worth, and it's a bike that's been mentioned already, I had a Kawasaki Vulcan 750 (VN750) some 20 years ago. It was a great light (relative term) cruiser.  Mine was a 1986 model, but I think they were unchanged for most of their production.

Shaft driven, low seat height, liquid cooled, 66hp, 47 lb-ft torque, weighs around 500 lbs, 50-60 mpg, can be found in the $1,000 to $2,000 range all day.