YAMAHA XVZ1300 ROYAL STAR (1996 - 2001) Review

Version: Boulevard

Year: 2001

Annual servicing cost: £100

Rare less mentioned of the Royal Star family

Buying experience: Private party purchase, $3200.00 advertised, paid $3000.00

Version: 2018

Year: 1998

Annual servicing cost: £70

got this with only 20000 miles runs and rides spot on

Buying experience: i got this one second hand but with 20,000 miles and service history it was in good condition

Version: Venture Royal Star TF in Silver

Year: 2001

An amazing bike not for the faint hearted, it had some nasty tricks up it's sleeves. Particularly very slow speed control. Very easily forgiven when up and moving 1 or 2 up Sit back, enjoy, chill. All I can say is make your mind up what are you looking for?. I bought mine ready for retirement, I then did 30.000 miles a year on it. I bought it in 2005 for £4000 with 10.000 miles. I was taken out on the M5 Dec 2008 with 80,000 miles on the clock. The final benefit as I had watched the prices climb (rarity value) AND INSURED ACCORDINGLY the insurance paid out £7.750.00. The down side after the smoothness of the Royal Star although I enjoyed the style I could not stand the clunckyness sorry made up word. I replaced it with a Honda ST1300 Pan

Version: TF Venture

Year: 2001

Previous bikes include, GPZ 600, a Falco, Capanord and prior to the XVZ a Blackbird. The bike cruises all day, cruise control a real bonus, the radio, with IPod plug in, is fine in the garage for listening whilst cleaning, but not really my thing when riding.

When looking to replace my Kawasaki VN1500 Nomad I looked long and hard at all types of big cruisers (didn't consider Harley as they are too overpriced for me). I narrowed it down to the Honda VTX 1800, Suzuki C109 and Kawasaki VN 2000. All big powerful cruisers but not quite right. I stumbled in my research across the XVZ 1300. The smaller capacity turned me off until I discovered it was a V4. That really got me interested. Fast forward I did my research and opted for a low km one owner CT version in pearl white. The motor is superb. Mine has slip on BUB exhausts and sounds amazing. The V4 really rumbles like a V8. Sounds much better than a V twin. Comfort is excellent, performance is exceptional for a BIG bike and economy/range is good when not pushed. Remember this is a big and heavy bike but for my 6'4 115 kilo frame is perfect. I find it is easy to handle at low speeds and fast in straights. Remember this is a long distance tourer and not a sports bike. It's not a fan of the twisties. Yamaha build quality is outstanding - period! Before you consider a Harley Road King, Kawasaki Voyager and/or Nomad, Goldwing, Suzuki C109 strongly consider the XVZ new or used.

I have owned this bike since 1999 and have the silver and gold model. I first saw it in a motorcycle magazine and thought it was beautiful. Yamaha obviously borrowed some styling cues from the Harley Davidson Classic and made just enough changes to make it unique. I love the look and especially the dash which looks like a 1955 corvette dash. What You don't know is that the Engine was designed by Porsche for Harley Davidson!!! Harley passed on it because they were afraid the Harley faithful would not go for the 4 cylinder. Porsche later designed the twin cylinder V-Rod for Harley and it has mixed reviews from the Harley Faithful. The 4 cylinder V Engine Porsche designed was later sold to Yamaha who put it in their 1983 Venture Royale Touring bike. Later the folks at Yamaha thought it was too nice an engine to waste on a touring bike so they added V-Boost and put it in the V-Max in 1985. Yamaha stopped production of the Venture Royale in 1989 but brought it back as the Yamaha Venture in 1999. The Engine in the V-Max makes 145 HP at the crank, in the Venture it maked 98 HP and 89 FPT. This is a lot of power for a touring bike and the bike tops out at 135 MPH!!! What I like about the bike is it can tour like a Gold Wing, but cruise like a Harley. With the aftermarket Bub's Pipes, it sounds like a chevy V-8 small block and I should know because I have owned two - a Vette and a Z-28 so I know that sound!!! I like that the bike looks a lot like the Harley Classic - so much so that the Harley Faithful wave to me all the time!!! I love the smoothness and sound of the engine which gets 45 mpg in touring mode! I love the comfort of the riding position and I added the backrest for even more comfort! I love the paint and the colors that looks like a custom job to me and my friends. I love that Yamaha thinks enough about the bike to provide a 5 YEAR Warrantee!!! The Radio/Soundsystem is excellent and it consists of 18 FM channels, 6 AM channels, cassette tape player, plug in for my Sony I-pod, CB Radio, and I have the Clarion 6 disk CD player!!! I have put on almost 30,000 trouble free miles in the last 10 years and in three years I plan to buy a brand new one to take me through my retirement years!!! What I don't like about the bike is it is heavy (809 lbs) so the handling is rather heavy and slow. It is an excellent bike for cruising and touring on open roads with the same limitations the Harley classic has which is the handlebar mounted fairing (less stable in the wind), the heavy handling (heavyweight), and the limited ground clearance. The pipes and floorboards scrape but it is better when one up and with the aftermarket (Bub's)pipes which are smaller in diameter. As long as you remember that this bike is not a sport bike, or even a sport tourer, You will be fine. What it is is an excellent heavyweight cruising touring bike! When I bought this bike back in 1999, I had a Harley Davidson Classic on order! It was due in in 3 months, but a friend talked me into a test drive on the Venture and I was sold!!! I saved $5,000 over the cost of the Harley and got an excellent bike for my money. What I hope Yamaha does to improve the bike is add fuel injection, anti-lock brakes, heated grips and seats and GPS as options. They might also think of putting a water cooled, fuel injected, high performance twin cylinder engine for better mileage (55 vs 45 MPG), and higher torque. Bottom line is I will probably buy another Yamaha Venture in three years when I retire!!! I think that says it all!!!

IF YOUR LOOKING FOR A BIKE THAT DOES ALL WHAT A GOLDWING DOES AND COSTS LESS, WEARS BETTER,AND LOOKS LIKE A BIKE ,AND NOT A SPACESHIP THIS IS FOR YOU .YAMAHA GOT THE STYLING SPOT ON " WITH SOME HELP FROM HARLEY DAVIDSON.THERE IS AMPLE LUGGAGE SPACE THE ONLY MINOR GRIPE IS THE SCREEN HEIGHT TOO HIGH FOR SOME RIDERS .APART FROM THAT ITS WORTH A TEST RIDE I THINK YOU WILL BE SURPRISED