YAMAHA V STAR 1300
Written: May 04 '07 (Updated Jun 19 '07)
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Pros: performance, cornering stability, taller gearing, quality finish and price
Cons: no fuel gauge, no tachometer
The Bottom Line: We bought this bike because of the quality, power, relatively light weight, low fuel consumption, price and it fitted me and the wife like a glove.
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| didav's Full Review: 2007 Yamaha V Star 1300 Tourer |
**NEW THE UPDATE 15 MAY 2007****NEW THE UPDATE 20 JUNE
This bike is a WOLF IN SHEEPS CLOTHING, looks like a cruiser, sounds like a cruiser, goes like a real bike !
This bike is a real surprise, I had a suspicion this bike was a goer when I found out it rated 73hp @ 4800rpm and 100nm torque @ 4000rpm.
Because the peak torque is reached at 4000rpm (instead of around 3000rpm for a normal cruiser)and taller gearing, this bike likes to rev, you wouldn't think 1000rpm would make much of a difference, but it certainly does. You need to change gears around town on this bike unlike a "normal cruiser" where you can chug along in top gear at very low speeds, I enjoy going through the gears, you get to hear that beeeuutiful exhaust note ! Cornering is a joy, very stable tracking and not even a hint of the "wobbles", breezed through some long sweepers with the wife on the pillion pad at way over the recommended road sign speed and the stability was a breath of fresh air.( PS just read a review saying they noticed 80MPH in second gear!woohoo!) I am still running the bike in at the moment but I am looking forward to opening her up ! The bike feels solid under you and the quality finish gives a feeling of pride of ownership. Dianne and I love it.
*******************UPDATE 15 MAY 2007**********************
The V13 has put the enjoyment back into motorcycling for us with it's ease of handling, and the power is there if you need it.
Last weekend we hit the 1100 klm mark after two days of riding for a total of 450klms. On Saturday we rode to the township of Ballan through the Anakie Ranges here in Victoria Australia, a mixture of highway straight-aways and some nice sweeping corners. A couple of the sweepers I know well from previous rides on our, (now sold),Kawasaki 1500 Nomad, one particular very long right hand sweeper sticks in my mind because on the Nomad it was a case of "GET READY HERE COMES THAT CORNER", but on the V13 I only had to make one slight adjustment half way through the corner and we were through ! I thought, mmmmmmm, not bad. The rest of the ride was fairly bland highway riding, except for one steep section where we crossed a small one car bridge at low speed and then accellerated through the gears to the top, the V13 just kept on easily building speed right to the top, very satisfying.
Sunday, (Mothers Day), Dianne suggested a trip for lunch to Lorne along the Great Ocean Road, a local icon known for lots and lots of corners of all shapes and sizes, (a somewhat frightening experience on the Nomad), with many cliff edges plummeting hundreds of feet to the ocean. I was in two minds because of my Nomad experience but decided to give it a go. On the way there we went the easy back way, still quite a few hairy corners but very little traffic to contend with. The V13's cornering stability put me at ease and we stopped for lunch on an absolutely georgeous Autumn day. One the ride home we took the Great Ocean Road, with all it's left and right hand hairpins and dozens of other testing corners, after we had gone through all the corners we both remarked "that was very easy" no trauma at all. The V13 has put the enjoyment back into motorcycling for us with it's ease of handling, and the power is there if you need it. Fuel economy is also very good, on this trip we achieved 21.6 klms per litre, (53 MPG)
PROBLEMS.
One thing I am having difficulty with is abrupt throttle response when doing a turn at very low speed usually when waiting for traffic to pass from the opposite direction so I can make a turn into a side street, the problem is that when bringing the power back on you launch away rather than moving off smoothly, very annoying for me, maybe practise will make perfect, as they say.
Dianne finds the Passenger seat hard and flat, and I must agree after sitting on it, we will definately need to change it before we go exploring again.
*******************UPDATE JUNE 20 2007******************
We have had our first service now so I have been able to open her up a couple of times, she really gets up and boogies, second gear puts you way over the highway speed limit. 85 MPH passing a truck on the highway was just a slight twist of the throttle in top gear.
Since we fitted a sissy bar and pad a few weeks back the wife says she can sit more comfortably on the pillion pad now, and the soreness dosen't kick in as early as before. dianne loves the sissy bar, say's she feels a lot more secure with it there.
First service cost $177 including the initial valve clearance adjustment, next valve clearance adjustment is in 12,400 miles.
The problem with the abrupt throttle seems to be fading, or I am getting used to it now, perhaps it was just a associated with the newness of the machine.
Cornering is very enjoyable now after having a little practice, my confidence has built considerably and I am now zipping around corners, scraping the floor boards dosen't enter my mind. Low speed cornering I am finding much easier now having found that if I turn the front wheel a little more and lean a little less you can take the corner a much more reasonable speed.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 13,500
Condition: New
Model Year: 2007
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Epinions.com ID:
didav
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Location: VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA
Reviews written: 12
Trusted by: 0 members
About Me:
Hello, I am a self employed lawn mowing/gardening contractor, hard work ! but satisfying.
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