Twin gear-driven counterbalancers eliminate shakes throughout the powerband without robbing the engine of its rumble, and instead of solid mounting the engine a’ la Raider, the big twin is supported in the Venture’s frame with special composite engine mounts that also absorb some vibes. The ample mill was redesigned with hydraulic valve lifters that never need adjustment, and camshaft and primary drive dampers to quell the shudder that often occurs at low rpm in big twins. Much of the expensive R&D for a new engine goes into the basic architecture-bore and stroke, bottom end, etc.-so Yamaha repurposed the layout of its 1,854cc Raider 48-degree OHV V-twin, which has four valves per cylinder. The scenery was gorgeous, the weather warm and the roads twisty, and we got plenty of seat time with the new bike and a solid understanding of how it works for luxury touring.Īdvertisement My lovely and patient wife is reminding me to fasten my helmet strap through the intercom system, just one feature of the Venture’s comprehensive infotainment system.ĭevelopment of the Star Venture began about six years ago with a clean sheet of paper, though Yamaha’s surveys and focus groups had already concluded that any new long-distance luxo had to have a V-twin at its core, and surprisingly an air-cooled one with visible pushrods at that. To experience its capabilities, my wife Genie and I rode a Star Venture TC on a 3-day, 700-mile ride with the Yamaha team from Boise, Idaho to Coeur d’ Alene via McCall, Lolo Pass and Missoula, Montana. Yamaha’s answer to the “modern or traditional” question was simply, “Why not have both?” This daring approach ignores the norms and taps into a new and potentially large customer base. The new Star Venture luxury touring bike you see before you aims to solve that dilemma, with a giant, smooth but rumbling V-twin wrapped in modern, muscular styling and most every convenience and comfort feature you can think of, as well as a few firsts. Well, Yamaha says these two approaches have left many riders confused and unable to choose between them. So, what’s the problem? Riders who want modern luxury still have the Wing and GTL, and the traditional/emotional crowd can choose among any number of well-equipped V-twins with retro styling. Despite the high temps, the Star Venture and a Camelbak kept us supremely comfortable the whole time. Our two-up test ride took us more than 700 miles from Boise along the Salmon River and over the Bitterroot Mountain Range in Idaho and Montana. And as our Kings of Comfort comparison showed ( Rider, August 2015), the latest Harley and Indian dressers have evolved to the point that a flat six or four-cylinder engine is no longer required for a motorcycle to excel as a flagship luxury touring machine. Harley-Davidson’s subsequent dominance of the heavyweight touring market and the modernization of its bikes has had a huge influence on luxury-touring preferences, to the point that today we’re left with just the Honda Gold Wing and BMW K 1600 GTL carrying the multi-cylinder flag among a sea of V-twins. Today’s luxury touring motorcycle market is a much different kettle of fish than it was in the 1980s and ’90s, when sophisticated German and Japanese bikes with their smooth multi-cylinder engines defined the genre. The new Star Venture blurs the line between modern and traditional with a big V-twin engine, crossover styling and every modern touring bell and whistle known to man…and then some.
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