I'm in the market for new bike but an air cooled v twin with a belt drive just doesn't interest me.
I agree with your comment, big twins sell better to the masses. I can't argue that. To me those bikes fall backwards relying style over functionality. A four or six cylinder liquid cooled bike suits my riding style much better. As far as Yamaha is concerned the FJR will run circles around the Eluder in every contest.
I went to Yamaha Demo Days in Mesa, AZ today. I was disappointed in the lack of coordination, effort, and poor attitude from the Yamaha employees. The Yamaha factory website stated the event started at 10am. I arrived at 9:15 to sign up and get a good place in line. The event had already started and I needed to wait while a couple of rides went before I could go. Oh well, that's not the end of the world. When it was my time to go I was told the ride was over booked and the bike I waited for wasn't available because the Yamaha tour leader wanted to ride it. They sent me back inside to reschedule. By that time way too many people had signed up and I would have to wait a couple hours for the bike I was told I could ride at my originally scheduled time. To which their reply was basiclly "oh well there's people in front of you now".
I was there to ride an FJR, and the Eluder just because it was there. I didn't ride either, just ended up telling Yamaha to piss off and left. I really wanted the FJR for the performance/sport touring that I enjoy here on the mountain roads. I don't think I'll buy a Yamaha after the way that went down.
I'm with you. I might could get past the belt drive. And I like V-twins. But air cooled?? That's a whopping step backwards. I have zero desire to sit atop one of those heat blasters in Texas weather. My nether regions have done plenty of market research and that's an untenable scenario.
I have been reading about this bike for at least a month. We were contemplating a full tourer and I find that the riding position on the Gold Wing pushes me too far forward for my liking.
The Yamaha Star Venture definitely caught my eye. At first glance, I came to the same initial opinion that it was air cooled and belt driven. I have friends that have put many long distance rides on the Victory Cross Countries and Visions without issues.
Other comments that I have read are that this bike is under horse powered. Yamaha hasn't put any horse power ratings out that I can see. 1854 cc and a bike that weighs in at around 950 lbs.
Demo events are far and few. There is one in Massachusetts and a Victoria CC friend and I have an appointment to take the Venture out for a ride. We'll see how it runs.
It was interesting to see Yamaha strip down the Star Venture Transcontinental and turn it into a bagger they're calling the Venture Eluder. Hmmmmmmm! Sound familiar? The Eluder has a few more bells and whistles over the F6B but comes with a pretty big price tag in comparison. For me, I'd likely stay with my F6B over the Eluder. However, if I were to pull the trigger on a tourer, the Star Venture Transcontinental would be in the running at this point. We'll see how the demo goes tomorrow 9/9.
In all honesty, my biggest concern at this moment would be if Yamaha was paying attention to rider concerns and introduced a water cooled/shaft driven version in the next model year. The initial roll out of the Venture was to originally take place this month but has been postponed to mid December.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
I have two friends that own and operate Yamaha dealerships. Both expressed dismay when they found out it was air cooled and belt driven. We'll just have to wait and see how it sells.