Motorcycle Forum / General / Yamaha / September 2006

I have a 96 star. I'm 6'0" and 270 LBS my wife is kinda hefty too. the
passenger pad is ok for short trips.If you ride any distance invest in an
after market seat, or do what I did and build one yourself and have it
upholstered. performance is good. at 5'9" you should be pretty close to flat
foot when sitting still. Bike feels big but is very nimble ( I've scrapped
the running boards a few times) My biggest complaint on the 96 is the rev
limiter. I found that under hard accel it hit the limit in first gear
(41mph) just a bit to quick, time wise. After market brain box took care of
that for me now first limits out at about 47 mph which is enough time for my
size 12's to bang the shifter. Very stable at speed, I drive every day to
and from work part of the trip is on the interstate about 7 miles I ride
with traffic at 85 mph no problem. around town the bike is agile enough and
very balanced so stop and go is no problem. A friend of mine has one also,
his big complaint is the fuel economy around town 35 mpg is about tops (hey
its a big 4 cyl motor). Keep the ignition (key switch) lubed up it can get
sticky. Bike is easy to clean and keep clean, although after 10 years of hot
Florida sun some of the clear coat on the aluminum controls is starting to
flake. The chrome is still like new, I ride in the rain of the sun sometimes
both on the same trip) I average around 130 miles a week commuting, and
another 100 or so every weekend riding with the wife (she has her own bike
now) The only bike I ever liked better was an old 86 Venture (same motor)
but it died at around 100,000 miles. I've owned 12 Yamahas since I was 16
and would rate this one number 2 overall.