There is no doubt that cruise is nice to have..... but for us older guys whose first bike never had cruise, ( before it was invented ) it is no big deal. Not having cruise was a non issue for me. Not sure this would be classified as a touring bike , and in reality how often do you really need cruise? The paint is a non issue, although there are several of the boards bad mouthing the paint. Funny how non of the bike mags have said a word? Maybe the economy is not in as good of shape as the government would like you to think it is. I am sure there are plenty of people still hurting and laying out $20K is not in the cards at the moment...