With big splashes occurring in the cruising market waters these days, Triumph’s Rocket III and Kawasaki’s Vulcan 2000 take a bow, the recent release of Yamaha’s Road Star Tour Deluxe is more of a ripple than a wave. No biggest, fastest, or most powerful accolades adorning the latest Star, but not to worry, in the real world it is going to win awards for some new and innovative ideas applied to a well proven theme.
For 2005, Yamaha has launched the new Star Tour Deluxe in the fast growing segment of the market they call “Cruiser Touring.” Basically, for those like me that haven’t heard of it before, it is a category of cruising that encompasses the elements of both types of riding. According to Yamaha, they have seen a healthy increase in sales of their Road Star Silverado and V Star Silverado’s: More tour focused versions of the stock Star and V Star. So, to cater to this need, they decided to build a bike that could quickly be converted from one application to the other.
To achieve this aim, they started with the trusty Royal Star that debuted in 1996. Featuring a 1294cc V-4, liquid-cooled engine, with a five-speed gearbox and shaft drive, the Royal Star comes without luggage or fairings. The new Tour Deluxe uses this Royal Star platform, but has hard luggage, a windshield, leg shields and a passenger backrest. The cool part here is, the windshield and backrest both remove in seconds, thanks to quick release fasteners that don’t require the use of tools. This allows the rider to change from tour mode to cruise mode, depending on their preference, with the absolute minimum of fuss.
To give the press an opportunity to ride the new bike, Yamaha’s Brad Bannister had chosen the east coast location of Charlottesville, Virginia, for the unveiling. This meant I was able to ride to the launch, and the left coast guys got chance to see some serious green, while enjoying some humidity for a change. It was also a chance to indulge in a little American history, as our route took us past Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, where we stopped for a tour.
This was very valuable for me as I made my assessment of the bike. I tend to be in fast-forward mode too often these days, and hadn’t reprogrammed from the previous day’s 700km Interstate blast. Meandering through the vineyards and rolling hills of Virginia, then stopping to indulge in a little history and culture, gave me a chance to figure out what a touring/cruising rider might want from his machine.
Weighing in at 383kg pounds full of fluids, and sitting on a 1650mm wheelbase, the new Yamaha Royal Star Tour Deluxe has a commanding presence when you approach it for the first time. Surprisingly, and no doubt helped by the low 740mm seat height, it is not too hefty coming off the side stand. The bars are big cruiser wide, and a quick stab of the starter button has the V-Four burbling to life, a nice crackle emitting the four-into-two exhaust system when you blip the throttle. While not enhancing the sound, the muffler tips are actually adjustable, so you can tailor the look of the pipes to your own design. By loosening a screw, they spin through 360-degrees to one of four positions, which I thought was a pretty unique idea.
A light pull on the large “macho” looking clutch lever, and a quick tap with the left foot has the first of the five gear ratios quietly and smoothly selected. In keeping with its cruiser style, the bike uses a heel-toe shifter that has few rivals for ease of operation. No missed or time-delayed shifts here. Just quick, precise gear changes in either conventional or heel/toe mode, depending on your personal preference. The top two ratios are both overdrives, so highway cruising speeds arrive at fairly low rpm. This does mean you need to downshift for swift passing manoeuvres, but one quick click will have you where you want to be in the power band for adequate acceleration from 110kph.
Speaking of power, the Tour Star Tour Deluxe pumps out just shy of 100 horses: 98 to be precise. This figure comes up at 6000 rpm, with a solid 89 foot-pounds of torque being delivered at 4750 rpm. Using a derivative of the venerable V-Max engine that debuted in the early ‘80s, the big V-four uses four valves per cylinder and breathes through four, 32 mm Mikuni CV carburetors that come equipped with their own heaters. The delivery is smooth and progressive, with the bike gathering speed, rather than accelerating hard. And, I have yet to ride a fuel-injected bike that has superior throttle control or such a glitch free power delivery. Ninety-eight horsepower is a useful amount of grunt, even if it is somewhat off set by the bikes weight. But power cruiser the Tour Star Deluxe is not, and rolling along the twisting rural Virginia roads, there was more than enough to get the job done.
Allowing the bike to use the power available is a taut chassis and some quality suspension components. The strong, rigid frame is made of steel and solidly mounts the counterbalanced engine. Attached to this up front is a beefy set of 43mm forks. With 140mm of travel, adjustable over a wide range with the addition and removal of air, I was impressed by the ride quality and relative lack of dive under hard braking. The forks have a 23mm rake, which certainly helps the big Yamaha steer very quickly for such a big bike. Keeping your butt off the floor at the other end, and aiding the broad, comfortable saddle in making for a super plush ride at all times, is the single rear shock. Air adjustable over a very wide 0-57 psi range, it has a useful 105mm of travel. It is also going to be very user friendly when changing from cruising to touring mode, or for the addition of a passenger.
As was expected, cranking up the pace will quickly introduce hard metal parts to the surrounding asphalt. And, while this can be a lot of fun when passing a car full of cotton-topped tourists on smooth four-lane black top, caution is needed when the road surface gets bumpy. It is not that the air suspension can’t deal with the bumps, it can; it’s just not wise to get cranked over too far in case the hard parts hit an area of raised tarmac, as the results could get ugly. Especially if “her indoors” is riding pillion. Keep your throttle hand restrained, your Miguel Duhamel instincts in check and all will be fine.
With its good handling manners and nice turn of speed, the Yamaha has thankfully been blessed with some great brakes to quickly and safely retard this forward motion when needed. Nothing earth shattering about the twin four-piston calipers up front with their 298mm discs, just a good solid system that has plenty of feel at the lever, and more than enough power to bring the bike to a very swift halt. Just don’t expect sport bike two-finger braking, as all four fingers are recommended to make the best of this system. In the rear, a larger 320mm disc also has a four-piston caliper. This provides a lot of additional stopping power, as the long, low machine doesn’t tend to drastically weight the front wheel under heavy braking. The rear wheel will lock if you are too enthusiastic, but there is a good amount of pedal travel and feel before this happens.
For the first part of my ride on the new Yamaha Royal Star Tour Deluxe, I had the windshield and backrest installed. I liked the protection offered by the windshield, but found it a tad awkward at times. I am just under six foot and sitting straight up induced some buffeting at speed. If I crouched it was ok, but this made for some distortion when negotiating the bends. It wasn’t critical, but I would have liked it either higher or lower. With the windshield removed, the breeze hit me smack in the chest and the view forward was a lot cleaner. The bike also exhibited a different feel in this “cruiser” mode, and this was no surprise as it most certainly what Yamaha had intended for this bike.
Ample luggage can be stowed with the large, nine-gallon side bags that are able to take 20 pounds of gear in each side. These are lockable with the ignition key when you want to leave the bike parked for a time. Add in a tank bag, and the accessory rear fender rack and bag, and you should be all set for a short tour. Round the world adventurers might want more, but the bike will certainly hold more than enough equipment for most regular tour duties.
Making all day riding a breeze, Yamaha have spent a lot of time developing the passenger seat and backrest to compliment the super comfortable rider’s perch. With a total gas capacity of only 20 litres, Iron Butt mileage is not going to be happening between fill ups, so rider and passenger should remain the best of friends. Helping with any Interstate work you might do, is a superb automotive style cruise control. Operating in a similar fashion to your family car, even I got it quickly figured out, and had a fun setting it on 110kph, sliding on to the back seat, and passing some of my fellow journos looking like I had lost my rider. This was on a closed course with professional riders of course; so don’t try this at home kids.
Monitoring your mileage, and keeping you on the right side of the law, the Tour Deluxe uses one of the most unique speedometer housings on two wheels. Looking more like the dash from an older American car, it gives your speed in mph as well as kph. I liked the look, but would have preferred the option of turning one or the other, as I felt it was a little redundant to see both while riding. This sits in a beautiful chrome housing that nicely complements the large headlight with its own sea of highly polished chrome. I have no idea how this works at night as our ride finished before dark, but I have yet to test a Yamaha with poor headlights, so doubt there is anything to worry about here.
With our day ending early due to monsoon style rains, it was a little disappointing to turn the bike back in early. I had found it to be extremely comfortable, a lot more manageable than I first thought, and a blast to ride. Making me slow down and relax, while allowing me to take in the peaceful Virginia countryside, the new Yamaha Tour Star Deluxe was the perfect tonic for a speed-crazed journalist in need of some quality ride time. Now all I have to do is talk one out of Yamaha for a few days, deposit the kids at Grandma’s, and take the missus for a long ride.
NB: Yamaha Australia have indicated that this new model will be making its way to Australia in the near future.
