Yamaha V Star 1100 reviews

I do love this bike. True the factory starter motor is not great. The overall build quality is good. The ride and handling are also good. I have had many street bikes from many manufactures and this one is my favorite thus far. Good all around cruise...kudos to the Yamaha project team. Ryan Florida Show less

The bike has been reliable since June, 2011. My upgrades are grips, passenger floorboards and a top rack. Show less

This is my second 1100 V Star Classic. I sold my first one after a year because my wife likes to ride and caught too much air on back. I bought an HD Ultra to solve that issue. I ended up buying another V Star to ride single because I truly love the ride. Especially nice is the low seat and low mass of bike that gives you the comfort of lower to the ground. The low seat at about 27 inches is great for those with short legs compared to the bigger cruisers. Quality for price is outstanding. The retro-like bicycle handle bars are just plain cool and comfortable to ride for shorter runs of 150-200 miles. Longer rides get a bit tiring, especially with the stock seat. You might want to upgrade there with a Mustang seat for comfort. I have a set of Krome double Ds for noise and power, Kurayakan filter for pep and a set of Yamaha passing lights and Iron saddle bags to set it off. I love this bike. PS: The oil change is still a pain with the need to remove exhaust, but once you've done it a couple times it gets easy. Show less

I have been shopping around for a Cruiser. I have recently sold my sport bike and am not thinking twice about it since I purchased this V Star 1100 Custom. It rides great, sounds excellent, handles like a dream and has nice chrome. The spoke tires are a bit to be desired but I can settle. I have a Kuryakyn Hypercharger Pro-R, jet kit, and Cobra Lo-Boy exhaust system. It has a great sound and delivers on power on the highway. It's a must have for the great comfort of the ride, also. It's a great transition bike for those who want to get out of the sportbike phase and into a cruiser. Have fun and happy riding. Show less

Whether it's your first bike or you're an experienced rider, you will absolutely love this bike. It's very smooth and sounds great! It gets lots of compliments. The only upgrades I did were the exhaust, air box, risers and saddlebags. Show less

I bought mine in December of 2011 from a local dealer with 23,500 miles on it. I have right at 27K on it now and could not be happier with my choice. I love it overall, but that seat gets uncomfortable on long rides after several hours. Show less

This bike gives me the style, comfort and power I need. The stock exhaust are terrible sounding. I put a set of COBRA pipes on it and it sounds like a true bagger. I've ridden Suzuki, Hyosung, Harley, Honda and United Motors. This bike is better than them all. I love it! Show less

This my first brand new bike, and I love it! It has the perfect engine size for me, providing plenty of power and low end torque for cruising. I do keep looking for a higher gear when on the highway. But overall, this bike handles very smoothly, and has great balance, especially in low-speed manuevers. The build quality is definitely good, with plenty of chrome standard. Of course it is a neverending process to add more chrome -- it is hard to have too much. But really, it is the ride comfort, balance and feel, as well as looks that really make me love this bike. I definitely gets lots of looks and great comments on this bike. Show less

Things to pay attention to on this bike - the drive train. 10% or so of the V Stars have midshaft failure or final drive issues (in the hub) around the 30k mile mark. No lie, I have had the bike for four years, I was mile one on it. It served well with very little mechanical issues. The biggest problem is right now I am living the final drive failure at 36,968 miles. Highway performance is great. Keep it at 65 and you can get almost 230 miles to a tank. Get over 75 and you'll lose a lot of miles per gallon, but you will still have power. Citywise, there are no issues other than the mirror height is the same as most cars on the highway so be careful splitting traffic. Show less

I just rode my aging 1100 V Star from New Brunswick to Ohio then down to West Virginia, Virginia and the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway back home. WOW what a fantastic ride! The Star did not miss a single beat and was loaded up to the hilt with gear. Ideal cruising speed is 100 KMPH. where you get about 55 MPG. imperial. The bike would sit on 150 KMPH. all day if asked to but the problem is that you get a little vibration over 110 KMPH. I was sitting all day on the Interstates at 120 KMPH. - the engine works a bit harder at that speed but can absolutely without doubt handle it - and I mean for 12 hours non-stop except for food and gas. Vibration at that speed is a little tiresome for the rider though as stated - but that is the only negative. Ironically it seems to smooth out again over about 130 KMPH. but then who wants to chat to the State Troopers about it? All in all these are great bikes (only known fault is the starter motors fail until replaced with a kit which has some improvement). I highly recommend if you want a cheap very reliable bike you can go anywhere on! Show less