Just when it looked like competition among big-inch cruisers was turning into a battle of wretched excess, Yamaha has returned to sanity with a big twin that delivers more of everything without crossing the line between "enough" and "too much." The new Star Roadliner is big, elegant and almost luxuriously comfortable but also easy to manage, responsive and more powerful than other members of the 100-cubic-inch club.
It didn't get there without some missteps along the way. Yamaha's first stab at its new maximum V-twin was a lot bigger than the 1853cc final product. Yamaha must have caught wind of Kawasaki's then-unannounced 2053cc Vulcan 2000, and the first Roadliner prototype it took to its product evaluation people was in the neighborhood of 2400cc. "That was not an enjoyable motorcycle," said one of Yamaha's American testers, who said the bike was too tall and heavy. The team went back to the drawing board with instructions to make the next version lower, less bulky and lighter overall.
The bike that eventually made it to production has a 48-degree air-cooled V-twin engine displacing 1854cc, making it shorter and lighter than the first effort. It rides in an aluminum frame with an aluminum swingarm. The aluminum not only saves weight-making the frame just 37 pounds (versus 62 pounds for the Road Star's steel item)-but is simpler (just eight pieces) and better lends itself to shaping in the interest of style, which is easy to see at the steering head and the swingarm.
Yamaha went all-out styling its new flagship. It took its inspiration from the Streamline era of design, with windswept shapes on everything from the handlebar clamps to the swingarm. Many small pieces bear artistic touches too. For example, the two-piece shift lever has nicely sculpted lines, the front fender strut has been carefully shaped, and the guards for the passenger footpegs have a pleasing stretched-teardrop contour. Instead of the massive fenders of some retro rides, the Roadliner's front fender is a bit leaner with a sweeping curve that fits the rest of the machine. The broad, seamless fuel tank appears to hold a lot, but it only accommodates 3.7 gallons because a big 3.5-liter airbox is tucked underneath it. The 0.8-gallon auxiliary tank under the seat brings the total fuel capacity to 4.5 gallons.
Yamaha says the Roadliner was intended to have "artistic style with room for technology." The engine combines those elements. Pushrod valve operation was chosen both for the look of those big, tapered pushrod tubes and the fact that it helps shorten the engine top-to-bottom, especially when combined with the Roadliner's dry sump lubrication system. The pushrods are actually shorter than the 1700 Road Star's. Air-cooling has a visual appeal too, especially after Yamaha machines and polishes the ends of those extra-deep fins. The 113-cubic-inch engine looks like the Road Star mill but is actually all new. Unlike the 1700, the 1900 has twin counterbalancers. It gets its own high-efficiency lubrication system. New four-valve heads have very straight intakes fed by a new twin-bore fuel-injection system with 43mm throttle bodies and 12-hole injector nozzles. On the exhaust side, a first for a cruiser, an EXUP (Exhaust Ultimate Power) valve adjusts back pressure for optimum power. The 100mm-wide pistons stroke through 118mm in plated cylinders.
Though Yamaha's previous flagships have made somewhat lethargic power, that's not the case with the Roadliner. Yamaha claims 91 horsepower and 117 foot-pounds of torque at the rear wheel (101 and 124 at the crankshaft). This bike definitely has muscle. In fact, it pulls harder than its Honda or Kawasaki counterparts. However, it has lost none of the wide power spread and easygoing delivery of previous Yamaha big twins. The Roadliner's drive starts way down low and grows quickly right to the 5000-rpm redline. The torque peak arrives at 2500 rpm, at which point it's running 65 mph in fifth gear, so top-gear passes are rapid. Throttle response is seamless and immediate with no abruptness.
The rest of the drive train is equally smooth. The hydraulic clutch requires a strong pull, but engages smoothly and predictably, making it easy to pull away without jerking your passenger. Gear changes are remarkably smooth and quiet. The engine has plenty of grunt off the bottom to let you jet away from a stop without a lot of revving or clutch slipping. There is enough flywheel inertia to keep the engine smooth but not so much that you have to be overly careful when synchronizing engine speed during downshifts.
The only engine issue we had was that it was sometimes reluctant to start when hot. A few times we had to crank it for 10 seconds before it would awaken. There is probably some sort of throttle setting that would resolve this, but we never found it.
We'd also like to mention the exhaust note. Several people were surprised that the pipes were stock based on the sound of the bike. Yamaha apparently got as close to the limit as possible. Owners who automatically change the exhaust system may want to reconsider that habit with this Star. Not only does the standard two-into-one system sound good, you'll almost certainly notice a power loss-in the range where you use it most-if you replace the full system by giving up the EXUP valve.