Yamaha Virago 1100 reviews

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

I purchased this bike second hand last year with 50,000 km. on it. It had not been well looked after although it looked great. The worst thing was that the starter motor failed (a very, very common fault that needs to be fixed for your own peace of mind, if you own one that has not had "the kit" retro fitted!) and had to be replaced. Apart from that it has been 100% reliable. My only complaint is the fuel consumption can be high at high speeds. However if you stick to 65 mph. (110 kph.) it is reasonable although still not great (about US 40 mpg. at best and US 30 mpg. at worst - average of 35 mpg. US is about right). Anyway, I've owned three Harleys in the past - an 883 and 1200 Sporty and an Electra Glide. I honestly think the V Star is better once you get over the Harley image thing (although Harleys do sound better in my opinion and look better.....but they just don't have the relaibility). To me, the V Star is what a Harley ought to have been in terms of reliability. Show less

This bike is great! Power and handling is well balanced. The stock seat needs improvement and the bike needs a sixth gear or overdrive at 70 mph. Other than that, the bike is perfect! Show less

I could not ask for a better bike so far. It is extremely comfortable, smooth and well balanced. It also has plenty of power to carry a passenger. It takes curves better than any bike I have ever ridden. Another big plus is the price tag. I highly recommend this motorcycle to anyone. Show less