Honda VTX 1800F, Yamaha Stratoliner, Victory Vegas

[818Guy]

Looking around for possibly a cruiser. Anyone have info to pass along to me regarding the following:

Yamaha Stratoliner

Honda VTX 1800F

Victory Vegas

???

(BTW, I am not interested in a Harley whatsoever.)

I like the looks of the Honda (but haven't seen one in person). I am, though, reading that it gets relatively "horrible" gas mileage (around 30 mpg).

Sat on the Victory. It was nice, but I'm not necessarily ready to drop $20k into a bike at this time.

I question the Yamaha and it's EFI on the bike. If it's anything like my FJR I'd pass on another Yamaha.

Thanks for any info.

 

[spklbuk]

Road demo-ed a Stratoliner a while back. Enough umph, but efi hiccupped when I pulled a slow speed u-turn and I nearly dropped it. Friend likes his 2003 VTX fwiw.

 

[818Guy]

efi hiccupped

Yamaha EFI --> :headbonk:

Thanks for the info.

 

[87Doodle]

efi hiccupped

Yamaha EFI --> :headbonk:

Thanks for the info.

I had a VTX1800R. It was a nice , big, heavy bike..like a Big Buick you might say.

 

[818Guy]

"had" the VTX. Why do you not have it anymore?

 

[FJamR]

I also had one, a 1800N. Big and beautiful and tons of torque. I had quite a few mods on her. I hated the ground clearance and the suspension was very lacking. The bike loved the open road though. After I bought the FJR the VTX sat in the garage all the time.

 

[C&C]

Just on looks, I like the Victory, but as you said, very pricey.

 

[timk]

An alternative MOTY runner up in the cruiser catagory is the Yamaha 1300.

 

[gr8eyes]

I've not ridden any of those bikes but I was very impressed with the feel of the Stratoliner. The C of G is extremely low so the manueverability was quite good.

 

[quietguy]

No experience with Strato.

Victory is noisy... engine and trans, and feels sloppy, loose. Strong motor and overdrive are pluses.

Had a VTX1800N. Too big, way too heavy, never felt confident or comfortable on it. Good power, trans was okay.

Had an 07 Softail... really nice bike, well built, good mpg, solid chrome. Sold for FJR.

 

[818Guy]

I will say that reading about the HDs, they do get pretty good fuel economy. Just can't bring myself to buying one.

Thought the Victory was noisy? Hmmmm. While at the dealership they started one up for me, didn't think that. I did not, however, take it for a test ride which they offered. I was more shocked they offered that to me. First time in the Los Angeles area I had a motorcycle dealership offer a test ride.

 

[sgoat]

An alternative MOTY runner up in the cruiser catagory is the Yamaha 1300.

Good advice! I took one for a demo a few weeks ago and was very impressed. Great price for very nice cruiser. Rode HD for many years and this one is a winner. Actually rode the Stratoliner as well and while it had a bit more grunt, I liked the 1300 better. Go ride one!

 

[818Guy]

An alternative MOTY runner up in the cruiser catagory is the Yamaha 1300.

Good advice! I took one for a demo a few weeks ago and was very impressed. Great price for very nice cruiser. Rode HD for many years and this one is a winner. Actually rode the Stratoliner as well and while it had a bit more grunt, I liked the 1300 better. Go ride one!

Just looked at the Road Star. 1600cc and it has a Mikuni carburetor. :clapping:

Maybe Yamaha isn't out of the race.

 

[mptruck]

You should check out the Yamaha Warrior. Got rid of my last cruiser due to back pain with the relaxed seating position and slow steering, but missed the lower sitting cruising style ride for those shorter 2-4 hour rides or cruising around town, etc. Picked up a Warrior this week for that and it is an absolute blast to ride. Sort of a sporty cruiser if you will... notice the front forks - basically the R1 front end. Very responsive steering compared to my previous slow clumsy cruiser. Does not handle like my FJR of course, but I can certainly "flick" this Warrior around. Great cruiser for the performance minded IMHO. Found it very comfortable for a 200 mile ride this past Saturday. Got the midnight edition:

 

[jcolman]

I've ridden a VTX1800 on two long road trips. The bike has pleanty of power for a cruiser but I didn't much care for the handling. It takes alot of effort to initiate a turn. The bike really wants to go in a straight line.

 

[Yamma Jamma]

I also had one, a 1800N. Big and beautiful and tons of torque. I had quite a few mods on her. I hated the ground clearance and the suspension was very lacking. The bike loved the open road though. After I bought the FJR the VTX sat in the garage all the time.

+1 I had an 1800 Retro for two years . Good solid bike. But when I bought the FJR, The VTX just sat because I wanted the power, smoothness, lightness, and handling characteristics of the FJR given a choice. Sold the Honda. Not knocking the Bike. Cruiser category is just not for me. Never plan to go back. Did have rough suspension and was very cumbersome in slow turns.

Rode a Warrior for a day...not that impressed. Chuggy, VTX engine was smoother and just as fast.

Rode an Electra Glide three days in California....comfortable bike with good suspension, adequate horsepower to get around but not for what they charge for them. Personally hated the brakes. Went into a skid twice when the brakes locked up. That never happened on the VTX.

 

[MKO]

818:

I have a 2002 VTX 1800 RC. I love the handling - for a big cruiser. It doesn't have the clearance of the FJR but the florboards are hinged and fold up nicely when cornering agressively. There is (was) a good 3/8 inch feeler on the lower outer edge of the floorboard and grinding it away in corners does not affect the VTX's rock-solid handling.

My gas mileage is in the upper 30's, but I'm not in love with the engine characteristics. It is geared tall and hits its rev limiter at 5750 RPM. 5th gear is an overdrive and lugs the motor below 60 MPH. Don't get me wrong, this bike makes plenty of torque down low but it shudders terribly when cracking it open at low rpm. I find myself cruising in 4th below 60 mph.

Ergonomically the bike is comfortable, but I am not happy with the Corbin seat. Starts to bug my tailbone after a couple of hours and the rest of my ass can only take about 4 hours before complaining. My wife likes the passenger seat better than the stock FJR seat so that was our bike of choice for short cruises. But there is no comparison to the Russell seat I put on the FJR. It's Butt ugly (no pun intended) but my ass wasn't even a little sore after a 1000-mile Iron Butt ride.

I test rode the Stratoliner and loved it. I didn't experience the FI problems others wrote about and felt the motor was much smoother than the VTX - especially when rolling on the throttle at low RPM. The overall quality seemed to be higher. I loved the stock seat, but my wife was not a big fan of the pillion perch. Easy fix.

If I had the $$ I might have bought the Stratoliner and swapped out the rear seat. But the budget would only allow a used bike and I found the VTX set up the way I wanted it for about half the price.

 

[Medium Al]

I have a Yamaha Roadliner S and love it. Less weight than the Strat, no bags and so forth. More of a mellow cruiser with a monster motor (almost 1900 cc's). PCIII really wakes it up, and minor mods (Patrick Racing BAK) are reputed to add significant grunt, not that it needs it. Nice handling, never would guess what it weighs. It is my favorite bike of the three I own for plain old upright relaxed cruising, around town or in the hills. No windshield so not for high speed highway stuff. Real good ergonomics (for my build at least), perfect handlebar/seat/controls distances. Very comfortable and I can cruise all day on it without much fatigue (except for the wind). FI is nowhere near as messed up as the FJR. With the PCIII the Roadliner is about perfect. It's like an old big block Cobra (as opposed to a BMW say), with modern electronics and manufacturing. Huge torque. 5500 rpm redline so yeah, it is like an old big block. But each cylinder is nearly 1 liter.

They are giving these away at dealerships, you should be able to get a new 07 for 12K or less.

 

[818Guy]

Thanks guys for the input. Looking at the Road Star Midnight. I like the look - at least on the website. Haven't seen nor sat on one in person.