The latest info that I could find from what I would call a reliable source was from the STARVMAX site. It was dated a couple of days ago. They are reporting that the bike was pretty much in it's final stages, and I would guess it will be introduced in the early spring, my reasons are as follows, first this will be a halo bike for star/yamaha it's been 23 years since the intro of the orig. I think it deserves it's own time in the spotlight alone. second, it would be just in time to whip the buying public into a buying frenzy for spring/summer season. third, by delaying the intro just a few months they will call it an 09 getting the jump on next seasons models and not have people complain that it was out a year with no upgrades. and fouth, THIS is the big one, as I understand it yamaha engineers got a little carried away with the otodama engine design, evidently the first running mules of that motor are putting down 295 HP :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: I guess yamaha was not interested in trying to market a bike with that kind of HP, so they are detuning it to somewhere in the 210 HP range. Just nice to know that if you would want that kind of power it would not be hard to come by. JMHO. Stan
