And all this time I thought the first Road Star was one of the best cruisers on the road, one that combined the All-American cruiser styling with incredible cutting edge engineering, but that quickly changed a couple of weeks ago when I had the opportunity to test ride the newest Yamaha superstar during an event that gathered dozens of automotive journalists from all over the world in Morro Bay, CA.

Yamaha certainly hit another homerun with this new Road Star, solidifying the original cruiser’s solid base and adding 15% more power, an impressive list of refinements and delivering an even more elegant and classic styled cruiser. And that’s just the beginning, for I was very impressed with all of the above but also the fact that you can trick this bike out to your heart’s content from a colossal amount of Yamaha’s accessories that you can choose from, thus putting a personal stamp on the Road Star.
The engine on the newest Road Star, an air-cooled, pushrod V-twin displacing 1,602 cc underwent extensive revision and you can certainly feel the increase in power when you hit the road with this new slugger. Twist the throttle and you can easily squirt out of potential four-wheeled trouble with a big smile on your face. You can practically outdistance almost anything on 4 wheels with the greatest of ease; and noticed I said almost, so let’s not get carried away with thoughts of beating Murcielagos, or Enzos, or Spykers, or Saleen S7’s, or Koenigseggs, for these supercars or impractical baubles that can do 0 to 60 in under 4 seconds, are for those lucky few that can afford to have a vehicle worth 3 times the amount of my house and drive it a couple of hours per week, so they don’t count.

We left for an awesome trip on the twisty and ‘snake-like’ curvy legendary roads around the NAPA Valley area of California, and I can only tell you that this new Road Star flicked into corners with no discernable lag between thought and action. The riding experience is most definitely in sync with its ‘killer’ style, tonnage and mission statement.
The new rocker arms were shortened for reduced inertia and higher rpm capability, thus the ratio has gone from 1.9:1 to 1.4:1, while a new and more radical camshaft keeps all eight big valves open longer for increased flow and power production. A much bigger and less restrictive airbox gives air and fuel an easier path into each 835 cc cylinder, while larger-diameter exhaust pipes lets the motor breathe freely and sound very healthy.

In addition to a slight compression ratio increase, twin plug combustion chambers are there to promote clean and complete burn at higher rpm. And to take advantage of its new high-revving capability and power, slightly shorter overall gearing in the form of a one-tooth-smaller countershaft sprocket gives even more lunge than before, while a slightly taller first gear ratio drops fewer rpm at the first-to-second gear-up shift.
While we found great and new acceleration in this new Road Star, we also found outstanding and a much-improved deceleration with biting dual front 298mm brake discs which are the same four-piston monoblock calipers found on most Yamaha sportbikes.

Around 120 miles later, almost half way through our journey, a couple of things hit me: “this bike is really comfortable” – “I’m not tired” – how come? Well, thanks to Yamaha restuffing the 28” low seat, making it four millimeters wider and way thicker, specially for those long days on the road like we were experiencing, it was noticeably comfortable enough to feel the difference. I also think we all love that leading edge performance on our bikes but we also love to ride in style and comfort, and that you can, with this new Road Star; even your passenger won’t mind the long rides as the rear seat has also been worked on. Further, when you saddle up, your feet will rest on new rubber mounted, floating floorboards making the ride even better.

The more we rode the more we liked the bike, the longer we put it to the test the better we felt about this Road Star; it certainly made evident Yamaha’s unrelenting obsession with achieving motorcycle perfection. I guess this is the result of years of dedication and experience building technically advanced bikes with superior reliability and low maintenance requirements.
I was impressed at the handling, performance, and functionality. I guess things like hydraulic valves and belt drive means it’s also very easy to keep, while little things like integrated fork, seat locks, dual trip meters and a clock make all the big differences in the world.

In addition to the base model, the Road Star Silverado is available with an adjustable windshield, leather saddlebags, a passenger backrest, studded seats and white wall tires, all standard; while a Raven Black Midnight Star edition is also available in both the standard Road Star or Silverado model and includes additional extras like a chromed front fork, special speedometer face, studded saddlebags and a few other goodies.
At the end of the day, most of us were impressed at the comfort level, performance and execution of this new Road Star. Forget everything you ever knew about cruisers and go test ride this new slugger from Yamaha. This is one motorcycle that actually lives up to its name.