Yep, I think that is what is going on. The bike has a lot of attributes ... tons of storage, great infotainment, top notch build quality and hardware ... but ... its a dying segment of the market that they all of a sudden decided to compete in. It's similar to Toyota or Nissan trying to make a big splash in personal luxury cars in 2019 when that market died out in the early 90s.
If the Star had a liquid cooled V4 or even a liquid cooled twin, it would at least partially tap into the BMW and Wing markets, arguably ... though I do not profess to be a marketing guru on bikes.
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Meanwhile, I sat on a new Wing and once again feel like it fits me like a glove. It will likely be my next bike. Drives me nuts that it makes that much sense.