[Benjamin St.G]

Anybody know of any V Star specific forums? I have a friend that is looking at them and wants more info from other owners. Any V Star owners on here?

 

[Red Dawg]

Benjamin St.G said:
Anybody know of any V Star specific forums? I have a friend that is looking at them and wants more info from other owners. Any V Star owners on here?

Yeah, there are quite a few Star owners on here. I own two of them. An '00 Vstar Classic 650 and an '04 Vstar Custom 650. Great bikes.
There is a Star forum on Delphi.com. I started one on MSN groups called VstarRiderswelcome. There may be some others out there but haven't done that much searching for them. I'd be happy to try and answer any guestions that your friend has about them. Just let me know.

 

[Benjamin St.G]

He's looking for a smaller displacement cruiser as he is a fairly new rider, and most of the reviews in this class point to the V Star 650 as the top bike. He's been looking at used ones, mostly around '99-'01 range, is there anything he needs to look for that was a problem on them? Is there any specific maintenance that needs to be done on them?

 

[MrJP]

I'm not sure about the 650's, but a friend has a VStar 1100 and you have to drop the front of the exhaust to change the oil filter. Not a big issue for him, but there are relocation kits available if necessary. Other than that, he loves the bike. No problems so far.

One minor note. They tend to click a little. I think he said it was the EGR valve.

 

[frogstr]

www.star-riders.org is the Yamaha Star owners site. There are forums there that may be helpful to your friend. The only problem with the 650 from everyone I've known, is that sooner or later they want a bigger engine and many move up to the 1100. If your friend has any experience at all, He can handle the 1100 as well as the 650. They are virtually identical as far as overall size, except for engine displacement and the 1100 isn't much heavier than the 650. There have been some problems with starter bolts bending in earlier models. Just take a close look at the starter(in plain sight on the front of the engine) and make sure the bolts aren't bent, or he may end up with starter trouble.

 

[Benjamin St.G]

Thanks for the replies, I'll pass all this information on to him. I'll probably go with him to look at the bikes, so I'll keep the starter bolt issue in mind, as it seems to be the only possible major issue.

I'm sure he will want to move up from the 650, but with how limited his street riding experience is, this will at least last him through one or two riding seasons.
I'm all for :small

 

[Racing Rice]

Im with Red Dawg, there are several decent VStar forums on Delphi.

 

[thebull]

I have a 2002 1100 Custom and absolutely love it. I have added the oil filter relo kit, exhaust, maxair (air kit) and various other goodies. It is a great bike and fun to accesorize.

They are right, there are some great forums of dephi. Vstar1100 riders and IRSA to name a couple.

 

[Budweiser8]

MrJP said:
I'm not sure about the 650's, but a friend has a VStar 1100 and you have to drop the front of the exhaust to change the oil filter. Not a big issue for him, but there are relocation kits available if necessary. Other than that, he loves the bike. No problems so far.

One minor note. They tend to click a little. I think he said it was the EGR valve.

You don't have to drop the front exhaust to change the oil filter on the 650's as far as I know. The filter is under one of the side covers on the right hand side.

I haven't had any problems with mine yet. I ride 2 up all the time and have no problems keeping up with other people. 650 is a good overall size in my opinion.

What has a tendancy to click a little?