2002 Yamaha Road Star Silverado from United States of America

Summary:

Awesome, rock solid, dependable and durable

Faults:

One recall for a defective trans clip - repaired no charge.

Wiring loom along handle bars turned brown from sun.

Headlamp and turn signal bulbs.

Battery.

Brass bushings in clutch and brake levers worn.

Stock tires and Dunlops last only 12K - Metzlers have over 16K on them.

Headlight rattles.

Occasional valve noise in hot temperatures.

Windshield starting to get worn with nicks and such.

Have had some issues with squeaky drive belt after tire changes - hard to align.

General Comments:

I bought this bike while waiting for a Harley Heritage and never looked back. It is a rock solid dependable bike.

I had to get picky about the complaints box as you can see. I have added Vance and Hines Long Shots, Dyna 3000, Arlen Ness Big Sucker Air Kit, risers and lots of chrome, leather and accessories.

At 41K I have only replaced the oil religiously. I run synthetic.

Replaced the battery, back brakes, tires 2 times (and I need a 4th set), and last week the front brakes.

Original plugs, and the valves were checked during the recall.

Some clip in the transmission could break and it could lock up. I never had any trouble.

The dealer (and Yamaha) was very cooperative.

This bike has tree stump pulling low end and can keep up with an EVO VIII until the Mitsu gets in the higher revs. I like all the guys in Mustangs, and muscle cars try to beat me off the light! Hahaha.

And I ride sometimes 600+ miles in a day, very comfortable. I always seem less fatigued than my Milwaukee counterparts. The risers really help (and the highway pegs on the crash guard). I switched to Metzler 880's - best tire I ever owned.

This bike still purrs all day at 70, and the only real problem is my cheeks get tired from all that grinning! It is just getting broken in. Go Asian Hogs!

Would you buy another motorcycle from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 17th September, 2008

22nd Feb 2010, 17:51

Well, I can't get excited about Asian bikes, even though I own one (Honda Shadow) and enjoy it.

I would love to buy a Harley, but refuse to be a tool and pay that kind of money when there are much cheaper, equally viable alternatives.

For the record however, I have friends with Harley's. One has an FXRT with well over 200K miles and another has two Harley's (forget the models) each with well over 100k miles. So, I don't buy the Harley's are crap / Japanese bikes are infallible argument.

My purchasing decision was purely financial.

When Harley gets serious about selling bikes instead of ego trips, I will gladly sell my Japanese bike and get one.