YAMAHA XVS1100 DRAGSTAR (1998 - on) Review

Comfortable and well balanced.

Low end grunt and will do 110mph.

Never lets me down.

As it sits it looks like a Harley-Davidson Softail but more reliable. I’ve customised mine to be a chopper - my dream bike since I was 4 years old.

To many big things break

3/5 might seem low but I would rate most cruisers lower than that. Front and back wheel and tyre sizes are closer than on most customs, which makes for decent and fairly effortless cornering. Ground clearance is good but you can scrape the floorboards if you choose to. Brakes are among the best I've found on a cruiser, which still isn't saying much. The Classic is so low at the front that windblast is an issue at speed without a shield. But it's comfy and floorboards allow you to shift position.

It's a lazy, lolloping V-twin engine of style that's pretty much gone out of fashion now among mid-size cruisers. It has enough grunt to put a smile on your face but not enough to make your heart race. There's no rev limiter and the sound of floating valves isn't nice if you change up too late. Otherwise it sounds absolutely gorgeous with a pair of slip-ons. As with most cruisers of this era it's geared like a car -- fifth is drive, everything else is for getting there.

I've seen better finishes, particularly on fork legs and cast wheels, but overall everything fits together nicely and there's metal in places most other Japanese cruisers have plastic. And as far as I can tell it's bulletproof.

It's air-cooled and carbed so you can do pretty much everything yourself if necessary. Lots of people make a fuss about the bits that have to come off to change the oil filter but really it only makes the job a bit longer. It's still not hard. In terms of fuel consumption you should be able to squeeze 200 miles out of the 17L tank.

There's a single trip meter and hazard lights, but otherwise it's as bare bones as you can get. No clock, no tach and no fuel gauge, not even a warning light (familiarise yourself with the petcock location). The best single upgrade you can make is a decent set of tyres -- Michelin Commander II are recommended -- you'll be surprised how well it handles then.

The brakes are great however the ride could be a bit more comfortable, however you can't have everything for 8 grand! still, an almost perfect machine!

The bullet proof 1100 can take a tremendous amount of punishment I can run in triple digits all day and the thing just asks for more...I put a kurakyn hyper charger and hard chrome pipes...

In terms of quality and reliability, I've had my V-Star 1100 for 9yrs and north of 12000 miles and I haven't replaced one thing other than the oil! By the way I would consider myself a hard rider every time I jump on the bike I'm in the triple digits...The bike likes to be driven hard it simply does everything I ask of it and more...

One of my favorite features is the factory metal flake two tone paint. In fact I ask the salesman if it was a custom paint job! LOL!