[FBDayoff]

Glad you all came to Kentucky; we have a lot of excellent riding here, in the central Bluegrass region around Lexington, and in the knobby area beyond that. Anywhere in the SE can be hot and humid in July. Get a DeLorme atlas for the state and look for the squiggles. Stay away from the far southeastern counties, though, as there's lots of coal trucks there and they are not good about sharing the road with anyone.



The best bike for our roads would be an R1150GS, not a cruiser, though.

 

[starvingstudent]

Hate to be nitpicky...

But you made a grammatical error in the TITLE of the article. I normally let those in the text slide, but it's gotta be said this time: "apostrophe-s" shows possession, not a plural noun. The title should read "2000 Yamaha Silverados" not "2000 Yamaha Silverado's"

Besides that...un-removable saddlebags are DUMB if you're actually going on a trip (unless it's a big touring rig with removable liners that you can use to carry stuff into the hotel). If Yamaha really wants you to believe that those saddlebags are for function and not for looks, they should include a set of removable liner-duffel-things (value of what, $20?) with the bike.

 

[Poser]

Middleweight? Lightweight?

OK, so we are talking about cruisers, but since when is 1100cc even a middleweight? Have motorcycles gone the way of SUVs? Anything bigger than a 650 is a "big" bike, if ya ask me!

 

[Philbiker]

Re: Are Speed star parts worth it?

The performance improvements would be negligible. Riders do those changed primarily because they want to annoy people with a loud racket. They think it's "cool" to piss off every car driver around them with an annoying loud frickin' motor. The m/c and aftermarket manufacturers know this so they build their aftermarket parts to suit this clientelle. The performance improvements are there, but as I wrote before, very small. And you usually end up sacrificing low end/midrange power (which you use about 90% of the time you're riding) for more power high in the rev range.

I would suggest that if you're serious about wanting more performance without a sportbike riding position, that you take a look at the current crop of standards and "naked bikes" like the Kawasaki ZRX1200, Suzuki Bandit 1200, Yamaha FZ-1, Honda 919, and Triumph Speed Triple. Any of these bikes will knock your socks off in both looks and perfoemance, and you won't have to annoy everyone around you to get "better" performance.

 

[Philbiker]

Yes....

Motorcycles, at least cruiser motorcycles, have gone the way of SUVs. You hadn't noticed???

 

[NickdaBrick]

You guys need some perspective.

Poser's right. These are big bikes. Even the "little" 650 weighs in at more than 500 pounds and is about as big, about as heavy, and probably about as powerful as an old Indian Chief or Harley Knucklehead.

You really don't need a 750 pound bike to ride across country, and you don't need 100 foot pounds of torque to ride around town.

How about a comparison test featuring an MZ 125, a Kawasaki Eliminator 125, and an Italjet Amarcord 125?

 

[WickedPainful]

1100 a starter's bike?

The article mentioned that people were starting to look to these bikes as a starter bike.

That's a big mistake. They need to learn on something a little lighter than an 1100. I can see somebody starting out on the 650. I knew a guy with one, and it was a nice little bike, but 1100's are just too big.

 

[minime]

Re: Are Speed star parts worth it?

Check out the modified Road Star we tested a while back. There were some decent improvements made as the dyno chart shows.

 

[minime]

Re: Hate to be nitpicky...

I bugged Calvin about that first thing this morning. He said something about things not replicating across the servers fast enough. I say he's lazy. But tonight's his birthday party, so as long as he fixes it within 20 nanoseconds of this posting, he's exonerated.

 

[GregP]

Ok, this year Yamaha has decided that riders need windshields and bags, but Honda (check out their 2002 models) have decided to pull all of their "tourer" models off the market. ??? I personally think that Yamaha is right, but of course, only the marketplace will tell

 

[kawasakiLTD]

Re: 1100 a starter

I know what you mean, my 1100 Shadow felt frickin' huge when I first rode it, of coures, that's in comparison with my LTD 400 which was my first bike and IMO it was a great starter bike, even if it was 22 years old when I got it.

 

[Joe_Momma]

What's next? A Dodge Vulcan? Chevy Roadstar? A Toyota R1?

 

[minime]

I say, Venture vs. Venture.



Redundant? No. Chevy Venture (the minivan) versus the Yamaha Venture (touring bike). Hmmmmmm...

 

[GS850Fan]

Now here's a question - the first year V-Stars were this wonderful Red/burgundy combo that makes me wish I had bought one the first year they came out - I had no idea that they were going to abandon the 2 tone red until it was too late...



Now I look at this article, and one of the silverados is 2 tone red - I'm in heaven ! But then the bad news - Yamaha motors.com shows the bike available only in some odd blue combo - will they be available in wonderful reds, or am I stuck waiting for another year ?

 

[starvingstudent]

Re: Middleweight? Lightweight?

Hahahaha...yes, motorcycles have gone the way of SUVs with the bigger is better (yech) thing.

Well, I'm too young to remember this, but someone told me that when the CB750 came out, it was a big-bore bike as opposed to a novice's budget bike.

 

[starvingstudent]

> The best bike for our roads would be an R1150GS, not a cruiser, though.



I'd say you could make that statement a lot (also equating the F650GS to the Silverado 650). In every _tangible_ comparison, the dual-sports are better--more comfortable, handle better, as much/more luggage room (when you add luggage to the GS, of course), make better power without being at all peaky, etc. It's only in the intangibles--looks and "character"--that people end up choosing cruisers over them.

 

[BadAndy1670]

I hope Yamaha, has some bags for the new Road

Star/Warrior.

I like the high pipe, but I still would like to try to

fit a small leather bag on it.

 

[Poser]

Re: Middleweight? Lightweight?

Keep laughing! My first bike was a 1979 CB650 , and it was frigging huge. My bikes have been getting smaller (well, not that much) and lighter (I think a Suburban is lighter than a CB650) ever since.

Funny thing is that the CB650 is just a destroked 750, more or less. Now, instead of a superbike, it would be just a heavy, underpowered, underbraked disaster. Kinda like a cruiser without the awkward riding position!

 

[tony]

Hard telling which boat would win. Do they come with an anchor?

I guess I still haven't figured out why so many people like big ugly bikes.

Tony

 

[twobeagles]

What do you mean 'muggy?" I came up from southern Georgia and it was great. You must be a bunch of California pu**ies!



As far as the Silverados go, this is something we knew months ago. You guys have any original thougths!