Yamaha Has Gone Out Of The Cruiser Biz

[yanktar]

A la Toyota and Lexus, and Nissan and Infinty, and Honda and Acura, Yamaha has created a whole new motorcycle company just for cruisers.

It's called "Star" and the V-Max is going with them. Star has only Vees. Mostly vee-twins but the Venture and the V-Max retain the V-4 engines.

I gotta agree that the V-Max is, and always has been butt-ugly. I surprised Yamaha never made a cruiser version--using an UN-CHANGED engine.

Of course, when they brought back the Venture engine in the original Royal Star, they detuned it from ~99 hp down to 65 hp for "the sound". Since the Venture was already a de-tuned V-Max engine, it seemed stupid to me to detune it further.

I STILL like the V-4 engine. I'm sorry it's faded as a performance engine.

So now the ONLY touring bike Yamaha makes is the FJR!

 

[fjrchooser]

Well, the FJR is the only one they need ! The Goldwing has such a following, great aftermarket support and been refined to the point that Yamaha would never overtake it. Nor likely recoup their engineering and tooling costs were they to try.

The Super Sport Touring war is just spooling up, I don't expect Yamaha to let go of the title without a heck of a fight. Things should get real interesting in the next decade !

 

[madmike2]

I suspect that flooring all of the cruiser line-up was killing most dealers (or especially the small ones). If their cruiser line is strong enough to "go it alone", then great for Yamaha. Then again, they may force dealers of a certain size to carry both lines. It will be interesting to watch.

 

[Woodstock]

I thought they (Yamaha) was doing it to make it not as obivious that the bike was Japanese. A lot of the cruiser market is very "buy American-sounding name" (note I didn't say "Buy American" ;-) and something like "Star" might sell better than "Yamaha".

 

[twowheelnut]

Zook has done the same with their 'Boulevard' line.

 

[Geezer]

Took a look around my local UJM dealership last weekend and the place was full of cruisers. There were a couple of beginner style sport bikes, one Goldwing, and the rest were Yamaha and Kawasiki cruisers. I didn't stop to ask if they did this on purpose or if they had sold everything else. This is the dealer who said they could not get me an FJR so I went to another dealer and ordered the one I now have.

 

[nusman68]

Gotta disagree w/you Yanktar...I've always thought Mr. Max was F-I-N-E looking; we all have our own opinions though and that's great..... when I finally made the leap to put down the cash on a new bike, though, the FJR won hands-down; no comparison from the 'touring' aspect, as we all know. The SO also liked the looks of the V-Max....and then she sat on the small pillion....forget it.....then she checked out an 04 FJR in the used section....the deposit got placed soon after despite the higher cost.

Despite all the rumors of killing it, Yamaha keeps the V-Max alive...guess it's big profit since it's 'old' technology: carbs, 150 rear tire, smallish gas tank...the other rumors of an updated version continue to be just that...rumors, much to the dismay of the local V-Max owners group here....THEY have some tricked out bikes....if they ever 'update it' it would probably too close in cost to the FJR, assuming Feejers are REALLY going to be available for take home next year <_< I'm sure Kawi has a similar rationale with the Concours; most people agree it is still a great 'value' despite a design that's largely unchanged since...the mid-eighties? But that is one bike that I think is FUGLY no matter how cheap it is....

I know I definitely exhibit CNS 'Cruiser Nausea Syndrome' whenever I check out a dealer these days...recently the SO checked out a Suz V-star 650 (oh, excuse me.."Classic", I mean Boulevard...I mean.. oh, eff it!)......hmm...good size for her...cheap enough....35 HP?! Tops out at 82 MPH with a windshield!? Um, yeah, right...no thanks... I like the way none of the manufacturers specify HP for any (okay, a few exceptions out there) of their cruisers...only torque...their 'dirty little secret'. Not much 'mean' in a Kawi Meanstreak with only 70-something HP.....

I'm just glad the FJR isn't now known as the "StarFJR" ! Puke! Who do these

marketing guys think they're fooling? Don't answer that....

Star Motorcycles......Boulevard Cruisers.......and now.............

From Kawasaki, the new 'Streetsweeper' line of cruisers! With more than enough torque to take on your average streetsweeper! I can't wait! :haha:

 

[madmike2]

Don't the marketing people realize that "STAR" sounds so...uhm....Korean? 2nd class? Cheap? "Whar' did that-there motor-sickle come from?" "What?"

 

[RickL]

Not ALL of the new cruisers are sleds. I have a cruiser (the red Triumph Rocket III in front of the CS FJR) - 140 horsepower at the crank stock, 130+ at the rear wheel - more with the slight mods I've made (ditched the airbox and cat box, put on K&N and aftermarket pipes). Torque numbers are even bigger. Despite the additional weight (just under 800 pounds wet), it gets there in a hurry. The only nausea you have to worry about with this one is speed-induced.

 

[NoCage]

Dunno RickL... the Rocket3 is more like a street-fighter than a cruiser. I think most of the dialogue here refers to the metric V-Twin Harley wannabes. Don't lower the esteemed Rocket to those things. :dribble:

 

[Vulcan]

Fact of life.....cruisers outsell all other classes of bikes.....goes to show you that the "herd" is none to smart.

 

[RickL]

Dunno RickL... the Rocket3 is more like a street-fighter than a cruiser. I think most of the dialogue here refers to the metric V-Twin Harley wannabes. Don't lower the esteemed Rocket to those things. :dribble:

OK - maybe I'm being overly sensitive. I hate it when some goober mistakes my Rocket for a Harley! :erm:

 

[Toecutter]

Heh heh, my uncle tried to race us on his V Star Saturday. Despite us being two-up and having trouble keeping the front end on the ground, we dropped him like a bad habit. His bike did seem a lot more solid in the gusty winds though. Probably the lack of plastic.

 

[radman]

Most of 'em sound like ****. Then they add pipes looking for that HD rap, and they sound even shittier. The local dealers here are much like those mentioned here-a floor full of ****** sounding HD wannabes.

 

[yanktar]

Not ALL of the new cruisers are sleds. I have a cruiser (the red Triumph Rocket III in front of the CS FJR) - 140 horsepower at the crank stock, 130+ at the rear wheel - more with the slight mods I've made (ditched the airbox and cat box, put on K&N and aftermarket pipes). Torque numbers are even bigger. Despite the additional weight (just under 800 pounds wet), it gets there in a hurry. The only nausea you have to worry about with this one is speed-induced.

When the FJR stock makes 126 hp and 90 ft lbs, and with S/Os and PC makes in the 130's and 99 ft lbs, all in a 600# pack, somehow the Rocket making similar HP and porking out at 200# more doesn't really impress me... Sorry. Hope you love your ride--otherwise, why bother? Not for me. The FJR is now the heaviest bike I want to ride!

Gotta disagree w/you Yanktar...I've always thought Mr. Max was F-I-N-E looking; we all have our own opinions though and that's great.....

Hey! It's a FREE board! (don't you love it!) We can ALL have our opinions! h34r:

 

[RickL]

Not ALL of the new cruisers are sleds.  I have a cruiser (the red Triumph Rocket III in front of the CS FJR) - 140 horsepower at the crank stock, 130+ at the rear wheel - more with the slight mods I've made (ditched the airbox and cat box, put on K&N and aftermarket pipes).  Torque numbers are even bigger.  Despite the additional weight (just under 800 pounds wet), it gets there in a hurry.  The only nausea you have to worry about with this one is speed-induced.   

When the FJR stock makes 126 hp and 90 ft lbs, and with S/Os and PC makes in the 130's and 99 ft lbs, all in a 600# pack, somehow the Rocket making similar HP and porking out at 200# more doesn't really impress me... Sorry. Hope you love your ride--otherwise, why bother? Not for me. The FJR is now the heaviest bike I want to ride!

Gotta disagree w/you Yanktar...I've always thought Mr. Max was F-I-N-E looking; we all have our own opinions though and that's great.....

Hey! It's a FREE board! (don't you love it!) We can ALL have our opinions! h34r:

@yanktar,

The torque (140 ft-lbs, stock, at the rear wheel) is a biggie - the acceleration is incredible. And it doesn't FEEL 200 lbs heavier, until you lean it past 45 degrees

But it's cool - that's why they make so many different bikes. De gustibus non disputatum = there's no arguing about taste.

If you're ever in the MD area, stop by and I'll show you what it will do.

RickL