Star Roadliner

[Dragonsoni]

I currently own a 2005 HD Sportster XL1200C.

Considering getting a Star Roadliner. Has anyone ridden one or own one?

Star Road Star is also another consideration.

Thanks

[wal]

my first ride is a fxr 87, which is great. see my homhttp://www.grafw.com/engl/ride.htmlepage
I had twice a heritage softail rental while traveling to US. I wanted a heritage as second ride. But they just way too expensive as second bike. So stepped into a road star, which was like new and had only 5000 miles, but for 1/3 of the price of HD softail.
It's a good bike. has more power than HD softtail, and it's great to ride. It's the only metric V2 air cooled, and only thing is, that some HD drivers may be bashin', but I don't care. Still keep my FXR as first bike and like it greatly. If you have concrete questions, I'll be pleased to tell as much as possible....

[slotbike]

The new roadliner is a BIG disappointment. I rode one at Americade and would highly recommend the Road Star over it. I have a 2006 Softtail Deluxe but many of my friends have Road Stars and they ROCK!

[BluegrassBoy]

No help on the Road Liner - sorry.

Brother in law has a 50 mile one-way commute to work and decided a bike could potentially pay for itself with gas prices being what they are. Not caring about resale, he figured he'd buy new to have some warranty, keep it forever and ride the thing into the ground.

Not sure I agree with all his logic there (for one thing, he doesn't keep anything very long usually so I think he will get killed on resale eventually) - but he's an adult. That's what he decided to do....

Anyways, he bought a Road Star. He has put 12500 miles on it in about 3-1/2 months. Zero problems so far and he likes the ride - so he's happy.

We're all happy for him - it's a pretty good looking bike - but we are kind of curious at this pace how long the thing will hold up/hold together without some kind of failure.

[FXDRYDR]

A friend got one a few years ago and it's been trouble-free. It looks good and seems well-made.

[Fitzdog]

Originally Posted by BluegrassBoy

No help on the Road Liner - sorry.

Brother in law has a 50 mile one-way commute to work and decided a bike could potentially pay for itself with gas prices being what they are. Not caring about resale, he figured he'd buy new to have some warranty, keep it forever and ride the thing into the ground.

Not sure I agree with all his logic there (for one thing, he doesn't keep anything very long usually so I think he will get killed on resale eventually) - but he's an adult. That's what he decided to do....

Anyways, he bought a Road Star. He has put 12500 miles on it in about 3-1/2 months. Zero problems so far and he likes the ride - so he's happy.

We're all happy for him - it's a pretty good looking bike - but we are kind of curious at this pace how long the thing will hold up/hold together without some kind of failure.

Gee I don't know. How is 125k on a 3 yo Roadstar with zero problems thus far.

I know several others with upwards of 100k again zero trouble.

But I guess to some they are throw away bikes I'm just wondering when do you throw them away 200k 300k or ????


Also if anyone does have a Roadie they are willing to throw away they can throw it my way. I'm looking for a new project.

[Titan1958]

The guys I ride with that have Yamaha's don't complain about having problems. Certainly they aren't "disposable" bikes. I always had the feeling that Yamaha made one of the best engines out there. That said, (even though I've had 3 Harleys, 5 BMW's, etc.), I went Kawasaki the past two bikes. Never had an engine problem with any of them.

[11963]

a bud o mine has a 99 star,96k just put 1k in 4 a top end,yamaha said they couldn't do the crank/cases 4 a rebuild. so he buys a liner nice lookin YADDA yadda, salesman did good,its now 4 sale .cause he dont like the overall effect. spent 17k + on a stock bike +none of the accessorys in the book are available yet. he's keepin the star and wishes he got a new one instead.
ride hard cb

[jdunique]

Good bike, I have one and I like it, 113ci loads of torque, lots of room, comfortable boards, terrible seat, not a lot of accesories out there yet.
If you do decide to get one and are in the market for saddlebags and other accesories look carefully at the options before you buy many buyers have opted to get a Roadliner and equip it with after market bags etc. instead of buying the Stratoliner, Corbin has a set of saddlebags that are killer for this bike.
Now, if you ask a 100 people about it you will probably get several different opinions but only a couple will not like it. My guess is you would get the same reaction on any bike you asked about so the best plan is to try one yourself. I know Yamaha has an insurance plan to allow participating dealers to let prospective buyers take a test ride so call around to dealers near you and find one who is a participant and ride it.
And oh yeah just to let you know I am not biased I currently own an Ultra Classic, a Road King, a BMW K1200, a Gold Wing, this Yamaha and I am looking at a Vrod, I rode one last Saturday and found it to be kinda nice unexpectadly smooth, quiet, great power, not too bad comfort wise and
definitely not something I ever expected to experience on a Harley.

Well there is my worth
Jim Davis

[FXDRYDR]

RE accessories, my guess is they'll be coming along if you can wait and if you can't - you still have options with "multi-fit" kiinds of things such as t-bags, throw-overs and such. Like I said, the guy I know who has one has enjoyed it and Yamaha makes a good product.

[BluegrassBoy]

My earlier remarks were in no way meant to slam Yamahas. They're my 2nd-favorite brand of bike. (As a graduation present I bought my son a bike. I was unwilling to spend "Brand-H" money, though, so I bought him a moderately-used 1100 V-Star - and I've enjoyed putting a few miles on it myself.)

My comment about wondering how long my brother-in-law's Road Star would last was just that....wondering. Never heard anybody's torture-test results on one. In any case I hope he does get 200-300K out of it!

He didn't care much about the accessory market. He's not planning to put lots of shiny geegaws on it. He has no time to polish a lot of chrome. He wasn't looking to make a statement of any kind. He just wanted cheaper, fun, reliable commuter transportation. But for whatever reason he didn't like the "Silverado" pkg look so he went with an aftermarket windshield and aftermarket saddle bags. That's all he's added.

Bottom line - he's happy. It's a good looking bike - I'm happy for him.

One more thing. I read Motorcyle Cruiser's online review of the Road Liner. About their only complaint was that the saddlebags on the tourer model were a little smallish.

[Fitzdog]

Originally Posted by BluegrassBoy

My earlier remarks were in no way meant to slam Yamahas. They're my 2nd-favorite brand of bike. (As a graduation present I bought my son a bike. I was unwilling to spend "Brand-H" money, though, so I bought him a moderately-used 1100 V-Star - and I've enjoyed putting a few miles on it myself.)

My comment about wondering how long my brother-in-law's Road Star would last was just that....wondering. Never heard anybody's torture-test results on one. In any case I hope he does get 200-300K out of it!

He didn't care much about the accessory market. He's not planning to put lots of shiny geegaws on it. He has no time to polish a lot of chrome. He wasn't looking to make a statement of any kind. He just wanted cheaper, fun, reliable commuter transportation. But for whatever reason he didn't like the "Silverado" pkg look so he went with an aftermarket windshield and aftermarket saddle bags. That's all he's added.

Bottom line - he's happy. It's a good looking bike - I'm happy for him.

One more thing. I read Motorcyle Cruiser's online review of the Road Liner. About their only complaint was that the saddlebags on the tourer model were a little smallish.

I know you weren't slamming just wanted to point out that the Roadie motor is def tried and trued.

Hope your brother in law has good luck with that bike. I hope he atleast piped and jetted that thing though. Makes all the difference in the world.

[Snaps]

My HD Wide Glide was down for the last couple of months for a blown motor and I wanted something to ride while I got it fixed. Plus, I needed something that my wife could join me on and had been thinking about a touring type bike for a while, so I picked up a Roadliner.

At first I thought I had made a big mistake as it was so much different from the bike I was used to. But once I got a chance to really try it out, I realized I like it. It's quiet, smooth, and has plenty of power with a stock 113 cu.in. stock motor. It also gets about 45 mpg as opposed to the 32mpg I get with my HD.

As was already pointed out, the stock seat sucks. I opted for the Roadliner instead of the Stratoliner because I had already seen the Corbin bags and was planning on getting those. They come painted to match the bike and hold a ton of stuff. I also got a Corbin classic seat while I was at it and couldn't be happier. Very comfy and looks great on the bike.

Riding the Roadliner is like a whole different activity than riding my Wide Glide. When I'm in the mood to just cruise and enjoy the scenery, it's great. When I want to tear up the roads a little I take the HD with the 120" in it. The Roadliner still has lots of power though, and when you open it up the fancy 2 into 1 exhaust Yamaha put on it opens up to breathe better and lets out some sound.

It handles really well for a big bike, with a very low center of gravity. Slow, tight turns are easy, and dragging the floorboards through a turn at speed feels pretty natural, too.

I've only had a chance to put a couple thousand miles on mine, but so far I've had no problems at all with it. I was lucky and Yamaha was running a promotion when I bought mine so I got a 5 year factory warranty with it. Hard to beat.

It's a lot of bike for the money. I really don't know how anyone could be unhappy with it if that's what you're looking for. I researched it beforehand and couldn't find one negative review. Try to find a dealership that has test rides and see if it fits.

[Fitzdog]

Originally Posted by Snaps

My HD Wide Glide was down for the last couple of months for a blown motor and I wanted something to ride while I got it fixed. Plus, I needed something that my wife could join me on and had been thinking about a touring type bike for a while, so I picked up a Roadliner.

At first I thought I had made a big mistake as it was so much different from the bike I was used to. But once I got a chance to really try it out, I realized I like it. It's quiet, smooth, and has plenty of power with a stock 113 cu.in. stock motor. It also gets about 45 mpg as opposed to the 32mpg I get with my HD.

As was already pointed out, the stock seat sucks. I opted for the Roadliner instead of the Stratoliner because I had already seen the Corbin bags and was planning on getting those. They come painted to match the bike and hold a ton of stuff. I also got a Corbin classic seat while I was at it and couldn't be happier. Very comfy and looks great on the bike.

Riding the Roadliner is like a whole different activity than riding my Wide Glide. When I'm in the mood to just cruise and enjoy the scenery, it's great. When I want to tear up the roads a little I take the HD with the 120" in it. The Roadliner still has lots of power though, and when you open it up the fancy 2 into 1 exhaust Yamaha put on it opens up to breathe better and lets out some sound.

It handles really well for a big bike, with a very low center of gravity. Slow, tight turns are easy, and dragging the floorboards through a turn at speed feels pretty natural, too.

I've only had a chance to put a couple thousand miles on mine, but so far I've had no problems at all with it. I was lucky and Yamaha was running a promotion when I bought mine so I got a 5 year factory warranty with it. Hard to beat.

It's a lot of bike for the money. I really don't know how anyone could be unhappy with it if that's what you're looking for. I researched it beforehand and couldn't find one negative review. Try to find a dealership that has test rides and see if it fits.

I'ts to bad that those bikes don't have any aftermarket yet. I would like to see one piped and remapped maybe lowered. Time will tell when it comes to aftermarket.

[ReynoldsS]

Originally Posted by slotbike

The new roadliner is a BIG disappointment. I rode one at Americade and would highly recommend the Road Star over it. I have a 2006 Softtail Deluxe but many of my friends have Road Stars and they ROCK!

I had a Road Starr, the power was a joke. I'll be damn if I'm going to have some old lady in a Rambler that I can't get away from. No passing power, pushed like crazy in the corners, wabbled in the corners. Scared my ol lady , she hated it . Good looking bike, but just did't work for me. I have a Roadliner in the garage and it's a fine bike. Plenty of power, killer brakes, looks good, handles good, and faster than my Valkyrie. 112 ft lbs at 2100 rpm is nothing to sneeze at. I've been riding 38 years and had almost a 100 bikes so I know a little about them. I have talked to a couple of people that wasn't expecting that much torque and it scared them a little. Not me that's what it's all about. The roadstarr wouldn't hardley pull Black Moutain with the ol lady, the Roadliner, well what ever you want to do. I recommend riding one and gather your own opinions, because I love my Roadglide like no other and some people hate em. You be the judge.