A Star is born... and then it's gone.

A Star is born

The year is 2006. The motorcycle under my carport is a 2001 Honda Shadow 750 American Classic Edition. It's raining, so I'm on the couch, watching T.V. A commercial briefly teases an all-new motorcycle under an all-new motorcycle brand- Yamaha introduces it's new "Star Motorcycles" and the all-new, 113ci air-cooled, pushrod V-twin lineup- The Roadliner, The Stratoliner and the Stratoliner Midnight. I'm intrigued. Very intrigued. The motorcycle has neo-classic styling taken straight out of the 1930's automobile design handbook, a big, pushrod V-twin and classic American styling. The Midnight edition is an almost all black bike and it is nothing like any other bike on the current market. It is a stunning machine and I love it. 

The test ride

After going online and visiting the Star Motorcycles website an obscene amount of times, requesting brochures and promotional DVDs, then reading the specs and watching the DVDs until my eyes hurt... I decided to make a trip to a dealership to check it out in person. I brought cash. The bike was huge, especially compared to my 750 Honda. It was fuel-injected and fired up instantly with a low rumble. I slowly eased the bike out of the dealership doors, feeling like a little kid on his first bicycle. The bike was huge, but it was beautiful. I slowly pulled onto the service road and eased into the throttle, carefully upshifting to get used to the gear ratio of each gear. The bike was huge, but it was geared well and easy to control. I took it up through 4th gear and then downshifted to start slowing to turn around. I pulled into a parking lot and began my u-turn. The bike was huge, but it was nimble and well-balanced. As I headed back to the dealership, I got a little more comfortable and twisted the throttle and let the 1900cc engine roar. The bike was huge... and it was powerful. If you didn't catch it... the bike was huge.

I bought it that day.

Miles of fun

It was on that Stratoliner Midnight, that I became more adventurous on my moto-journeys. Having the reliability of a brand spanking new motorcycle (the first new motorcycle I had ever had) gave me the confidence to travel further, longer. For the most part, I still stayed in my local area, but my rides were longer. I used to only average a couple thousand miles a year on my bikes- the Shadow 750 was a reliable bike, and I loved riding it, but it was small and got a little cramped after a while in the saddle. The Strat, as I came to call it, was big and roomy and had plenty of power to pull me down the highways easily and pass traffic effortlessly, so I more than tripled my yearly mileage, averaging over 6k miles a year. The only real problem I ever had was caused by an uneducated tech at a local dealership. Turns out, the all-new 113ci engine on the 'Liners had 3 holes to drain the oil, but when I brought it to the local dealership for the break-in oil change and inspection, the tech only dropped two, then filled the engine to spec without checking. That ended up blowing an O-ring inside the engine, near the base of the pushrod tube. After fighting with every "local" dealer about it, with each one refusing to fix it, I ended up bringing it back to the dealer that sold it to me (almost three hours away) and he was able to fix it at no cost to me. He even put me on a used Road Star that he had in stock, while my Strat was down. The bike was great and I was totally happy with it... until I got the fever.

Harley fever and the death of a Star

Just a few short years later, in 2009, I caught the Harley fever. With too many reasons to list, and in an attempt to not get distracted from the original story, I'll save my tale of getting Harley fever for another day and simply say- I used my beloved Stratoliner Midnight as a trade-in, on a cold winter night in South Louisiana, and rode home on a sweet new Harley-Davidson Road King Classic. Even though I left the triple tuning forks behind, I never trash talked Yamaha, the Stratoliner, or the Star brand. On the contrary, actually. I encouraged several of my friends to buy Star motorcycles because of their styling and their nearly bulletproof reliability. Once I started riding Harley-Davidson motorcycles, I never went back. Over the next decade, I went through a few different Harleys, added a couple extra to the garage and settled in on my current bike- a 2017 Road King Special. It has the all-black styling of my beloved Stratoliner Midnight, but with the performance, features, rideability, vast dealer network, history, lineage, reliability and styling that I have come to know and love with the Milwaukee USA Motor Company. Fortunately for me, switching to a brand that had been in constant production for over 100 years was the right choice, because not long after, the eventual death of Star would come.

Unfortunately for Star and Star owners, after only ten years as it's own brand, Yamaha decided to scrap the Star brand and fold the remaining bikes back into the lineup under the Yamaha moniker. 

The company you keep

It makes sense, I suppose. Yamaha Corporate is a huge company with products ranging from musical instruments, to motorcycles, to factory automation equipment. To say that they have their hands in several different industries is an understatement. While the Star brand was a popular one, I think that Yamaha recognized that there is only so much room in the motorcycle market for an American made motorcycle. You see, a lot of people probably didn't realize that Star Motorcycles was operated out of the Yamaha USA offices in Southern California, and that the motorcycles were designed in the good ole US of A. At their core though, much like many of the V-Twin cruiser motorcycles, they were replicated versions of original designs from the original American-born motorcycle companies, Harley-Davidson and Indian. My Shadow 750 was, literally, named the American Classic Edition (or ACE, for short). It was designed to look and sound like a Harley-Davidson FL; The Kawasaki Drifter was a blatant... umm, let's call it... "tribute" to, the original Indian Chief; The Yamaha Road Star was designed based on the Harley-Davidson Softail models and the 'Liners were designed to take on the Harley-Davidson Touring family. The biggest difference in how the designers did this, was to give it a fresh, new design that, in my humble opinion, was one of the most elegant and unique designs that, while it was still American inspired, still had it's own individual look and personality.

What made the 'Liners so popular was the size, the power and the styling. While the styling was still very retro-American, it was unique to the Star brand, as no other American motorcycles had such unique, sweeping lines and movement-inspired shapes. No other bikes had a big speedometer inspired by a "grandfather clock" and no other bike had a big, chrome strut on the front fender (just for looks) and most of all- a big fuel tank, devoid of any names or monikers, just simply adorned with 3 elegant chrome strips. But, at their core... with their big, air-cooled, pushrod V-Twin, prominently displayed in the frame, a big headlight with custom nacelle and leather covered saddlebags, the Stratoliners were easily mistaken for Harley-Davidsons. While that's not a bad thing, with a price tag similar to that of a comparable H-D and a limited aftermarket (by comparison), the Star brand was fighting for it's place on American soil. I believe that Yamaha saw the writing on the wall, when Polaris bought the rights to the Indian name and introduced their first models in 2014. Market analysts surely predicted that Polaris' Indian brand would re-ignite the battle for supremacy in the US market between the two iconic American brands and, after watching the decline of Victory Motorcycles' sales, they were proven right. 

In 2016, Yamaha discontinued the Star moniker, absorbing all of the most popular models back under the Yamaha name. Shortly after, in 2017, Polaris discontinued Victory after years of waning sales. It made sense for Yamaha. The name recognition of Star just wasn't there, not compared to the household name of Yamaha, that is. After all, everyone knew Yamaha. From jet skis, to dirt bikes and ATVs, to your kid's keyboard or saxophone... Yamaha was a brand name that was in practically every household in America. 

The end of the road

Unfortunately, 2017 not only brought the end of Victory, but it also marked the end of the line for the prestigious Stratoliner. Yamaha discontinued the big cruiser to focus on the Star Venture. The Venture is not a new name for Yamaha's touring motorcycle line, far from it, actually. The Venture name first saw production on the 4 cylinder Royal Star as it's luxury lined version, but Yamaha is now using the name on their only "Transcontinental Touring" bike- the Star Venture. The motorcycle is still basically a Stratoliner, but with a full, frame mounted fairing, new bodywork and of course, saddlebags and tour pack. Basically, Yamaha combined most of their big, heavyweight cruisers into one bike to compete with the venerable Honda Goldwing and Harley-Davidson's Road Glide Limited and Ultra Classic Limited. Yamaha has always had a long history of very successful sport and off-road bikes and, it's obvious by going to their little corner of the interweb that, they are clearly focusing more on that market instead of the heavyweight cruisers.

Hope is in the ever changing market

While I wish this story had a better ending, at my core I am a motorcycle optimist and I choose to see the best in every motorcycle story and this one is no different. The Star brand may be dead, but the enthusiasm of it's owners is alive and well. Thriving, actually. Yamaha still makes the 113ci, air cooled mill and, as such, they are still building parts for it. That means there is still factory support for the big machines. There is also a growing aftermarket for those that saw the light of the Star, long after it was already burned out. Stratoliner and Roadliner enthusiasts are now finding these amazing motorcycles in the local ads for a fraction of the prices they used to demand. That means more and more of these beautiful machines are being seen on the roads. 

While I may have moved on from the giant Japanese companies' offerings, riding my beloved Harley-Davidson Road King along the interstates, highways and backroads of this beautiful land I call home, I still get a little excited to see a Stratoliner or Roadliner on the road. As a matter of fact- I have several friends that have moved up to 'Liner ownership and I couldn't be more proud for them. The 'Liners are amazing bikes, with lots of power and plenty of style to bring a smile to any real motorcycle lover's face. 

As a genuine motorcycle enthusiast- I don't really care what you ride, as long as it brings you joy, fuels your sense of adventure and gives you a deeper appreciation for this journey we call life. 

Ride safe and enjoy the ride, no matter what you ride. See you out there, MotoFriends!

Summer Bummin'

I'm still here... sorta

If you've been wondering why you haven't been seeing much activity on The MotoWriter site lately, I'd love to tell you that it's been because I've been bummin' around, riding, relaxing and exploring new backroads on my scooter. Unfortunately though, that hasn't been the case at all. I've been working... A LOT... around my house and at my "payin' job". I've had quite a few projects at the house that have been long overdue and I've finally had an opportunity to start working on them. One of the more relevant to this blog has been a fork tube replacement for my Sportster and all the rest has been manual labor stuff around my property. My 8-5 job, which at times has a tendency to numb my creativity like a bottle of cheap bourbon, has been demanding a lot of my time and energy and most nights all I've wanted to do was stretch out and let my brain rest. 

No need to worry though, I've got some new stuff in the works that I hope to post over the next couple of weeks. Doing all this work at my place has been giving me plenty of time to think about, and reflect on, a variety of things and I'm looking forward to sharing some of those observations with you, my MotoReaders. I've also been working on getting some swag designed and made for you guys (think- stickers, t-shirts, coozies and maybe even some kind of bandana). The first to get some goodies will be my BOTM features (Lee, Matt & Presley- I'm talking about you!). Sadly, I never received any submissions for April, May or June... so it looks like the BOTM feature may have been a short-lived venture that met an early demise. I was really hoping to get a little more interaction with my readers, but it's no sweat... not everyone wants to show off their bikes or tell their stories and that's A-OK with me. I'm cool with y'all just popping in from time to time to read my blog or watch my videos. 

So if you haven't given up on me yet, and you're still checking in on my little corner of the interweb, reading my words, thank you. I sincerely appreciate you and I'll do my best to push out some new stuff soon. Hell, I might even try to kick out a new vlog post on my YouTube channel, just to show you what's new on the best little coastline in the country.

Check back soon and in the meantime, enjoy this warm weather, ride safe and make good choices! 

 

Brand Loyalty- how far is too far?

Brand loyalty... how far is too far?

OK, I'll admit... I may not be the "best" brand ambassador for Harley-Davidson. But in my defense, I'm honest, hardworking and I don't make a lot of dough, so I need to actually get what I'm paying for. I would consider myself to be more of a spokesman of the working class for Harley-Davidson. I love my Harley-Davidson motorcycles but I'm not a blind follower of them, or of any brand for that matter. If they do something right, I'll sing their praises to everyone I meet, if they shit the bed on something, I'll do my best to try to point it out so they can improve. Think of it like getting constructive criticism from your best friend. 

Take my boots

A year ago, I picked up a pair of TCX riding boots from Union Garage in Brooklyn, NY. I paid $199 and got free shipping... so I got a sweet pair of boots and still had enough left over for a Snicker bar. I bought them without ever even trying them on. Why? Because I read a ton of honest reviews from fellow riders who, like me, refuse to blindly follow a brand name. I believe in the tried and true method of evaluation and review from people who understand that sometimes companies get it right, and sometimes they don't. I did a six month review of my boots back in May (and I'll be doing a one year review soon) so that anyone on a budget that is looking for a new pair of riding boots can read it and, hopefully, get a little insight on them. I got some good feedback on my review and even had some guy claiming to be a rep of the company reach out to me and ask if it was okay if he posted it to the company website (I told him yes, but I don't know if it ever got added). I look at it this way- there might be somebody out there who, like me, has just enough extra scratch at the end of the month to be able to ride motorcycles. Chances are, they probably don't have thousands of dollars a year that they can spend to experiment with gear, so just like reading Yelp reviews on the local greasy spoons- we can get a better idea of where to, or not to, spend our hard-earned money. I don't believe in being a rude, over-critical ass; I just believe in the effectiveness of constructive criticism. 

Die-hard loyalists

I get a kick out of these die-hard loyalists who take the brand loyalty thing way too far. I have a friend, who will remain nameless, that is that guy. His bike is the best- it is the fastest, makes the most horsepower, the most torque, has the best paint, the highest quality finishes and is the most nimble, as well as the most comfortable, motorcycle that has ever been built in the United States and abroad. Of course, that is strictly his, not-at-all humble, opinion. I also get a kick out of these Indian riders who claim that Harley-Davidson is now suddenly going to file for bankruptcy because Polaris has recently breathed life back into the long-dead Indian name. I seem to remember all those same comments being made by the Victory Motorcycle guys a few years back and we can all see how that turned out.

You might be saying, "now hold on just a dag-gummed minute Mr. MotoWriter... you can't compare Victory to Indian!" No? Why not? Because Indian has been around "Since 1901" or because it was "America's FIRST motorcycle company"? Well... I wrote a little nugget about that, too. You can read the brief history of Indian Motorcycles here if you'd like. Look, I like Indians and I think that they have a LOT of potential and if the executives over at Polaris want to give me a loaner bike for a year, and some of that sweet Indian swag to go with it, I'll do a fair, honest long-term review and evaluation of their bike and products. Hell, if I like their products enough, I might even buy 'em. 

Harley guys aren't the worst, but they're close

Harley-Davidson is an iconic brand. It has somehow survived over a century, through good and prosperous times and through countless recessions; not to mention, surviving the Great Depression which befell the country a mere 26 years after the company first rolled out their first production motorcycle. They've managed to keep a consistent customer base over the decades, have seen years of profits and years of losses, but yet they remain. The guys and gals that stand behind the Motor Company are, no doubt, a big part of the reason that the Milwaukee based company is still churning out new bikes after all these years. With that said, they can be a bit ridiculous. I've heard people say things like "I'd rather push my Harley than ride a Honda." Really? I'll call bullshit on that one. "Harley's don't leak oil, they mark their territory." Yep- bullshit. If I buy a brand new motorcycle (or any vehicle for that matter) and it leaks oil- somebody's gonna hear about it. I think that one of the reasons Harleys catch such a bad rap from other brand enthusiasts is because of those die-hard loyalists who defend the company even when it's failed or failing it's customers. 

Warning- this next part might offend you.

We may not all agree on this- but defending a company when it produces a crappy product is akin to giving out participation trophies. You're doing them a disservice. You're telling them that putting in a half-assed effort is good enough and that losing is still winning. By blindly defending Harley-Davidson, you are basically telling the MoCo that it's okay that they made a crappy product. In my long term review of my 2017 Road King Special, I beat the MoCo up a little. I wouldn't say that I picked the bike apart, but I did point out some deficiencies in the quality. Maybe, if we are all lucky enough, somebody over at H-D HQ will watch that video and say "damn, we need to correct those issues." If you go to a restaurant and the food is awful, are you going to tell your friends how great it was? I would certainly hope not.

Let's help them survive

Look, I don't know about you, but I want ALL of these companies to improve and survive and the best way to do that, is to hold them each accountable when they screw something up and not be so blindly loyal that we refuse to offer them any sort of criticism, or even recognize what their deficiencies are. I'm not saying let's boycott Harley-Davidson because they put a shitty finish on a few parts and I'm not suggesting that we force Polaris to kill off Indian because they have had some electrical issues. I am, however, suggesting that we, the customers, give them good, honest and constructive criticism so that they can improve their products for us. After all, we will all benefit from those improvements- we (the customers) will get a better product and the companies will make more money in return sales and be able to stay afloat going into the future. 

I truly love the diversity in the motorcycle market. I don't just love Harley-Davidson motorcycles- I love ALL motorcycles. I want Polaris-Indian to put pressure on Harley-Davidson and I want Harley-Davidson to continue making motorcycles that set the standard for overall style, comfort and performance (some people will roll their eyes at this, but history proves this statement to be true). I really hated to see Polaris shut the doors on Victory and it was such a disappointment to see Yamaha dump the Star line of cruisers. Honda is still going strong, introducing an all new Rebel 1100 for 2021 and Suzuki's Boulevard line and Kawasaki's Vulcan line both seem strong. BMW's new R-18 is an exciting addition to the cruiser world and Triumph's line of "Modern Classics" offer even more styles for us to choose from. To be completely honest, I'd love to see the resurrection and success of some of the old motorcycle companies that have fallen to the wayside. Can you imagine if BSA, Brough Superior, Vincent, Victory, Excelsior-Henderson, Pierce-Arrow, Ace, Crocker or Acme were still pushing out new products? Think of the innovation and the options that we might have! I get giddy just thinking about it! 

Competition is a good thing 

Competition drives advancement and each one of these companies should be in a head to head competition with each other, not to destroy the other guys, but to earn our money instead. If we do our part as the end-user and tell them what we want, what we don't want, what we like and yes, even what we don't like, we can give them a clear path to the future to build products for us that we can enjoy for years to come. They might even earn the business of our kids and grandkids and if things work out- maybe every motorcycle company can eventually brag about being in business for over a hundred years.

As for me- I'll just be down here in South Mississippi riding my Harley-Davidson along our beautiful coastline, and writing a few things to entertain you good folks, while I'm waiting patiently for one of these companies to reach out to me to do a long-term review of their products. 

Stay tuned for more reviews coming up, and in the meantime, ride safe and make good choices!

Are you a REAL biker?

How do you know if you are a REAL biker?

I cringed as I typed that. Seriously, I can’t stand it when we label people. Labels are for underwear and beer bottles, not for people. We all do it; we label everyone. This person is my “best friend and ” that person is my “socafriend” (you’re welcome for that one, by the way); George is a “freak”; Candice is a “slut”; Fred is a “loser”; Tom is a “biker.” We just can’t help ourselves. 

So, how do know if you’re a REAL biker? Well, let’s take a look and see if we can figure out what a real biker actually is. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a biker as, “a person who rides a bicycle or motorcycle” while the Urban Dictionary defines a biker as “someone who not only owns a motorbike but rides it for pleasure as well as mere transport. They tend to be a friendly bunch but any who crosses them will be ‘persuaded’ not to do so again!” Ooohh… UD's definition seems pretty ominous, right? Of course, the Urban Dictionary is implying that a “biker” is someone that may, or may not, be associated with a certain group, or groups, of motorcycle enthusiasts that don’t necessarily consider themselves to be a part of the “99%” of law abiding motorcyclists out there. While not every entry into the Urban Dictionary may be on par with our trusty Merriam-Webster's, the UD certainly is reflective of our societal trends and common colloquialisms. Take the word “ratchet” for example, UD says that “ratchet” is “a ghetto-dialect mispronunciation of the English term "wretched." Meanwhile, we all know that a ratchet is a tool that we use when we are wrenching on our bikes. As it were, it seems that the only thing that these two, certainly reliable sources of literary information, have in common is that for there to be a biker, there must be a bike. 

If we can all agree that a biker has to have a motorcycle, we can move on to dissecting the “REAL” part of the term. We don’t need a dictionary to tell us what real is, we all know what’s real and what isn’t, so what makes a biker real or not? Is it his clothes- does he have to wear a leather vest with patches to be real? If so, what about all those motorcycle clubs that wear denim? Would you be so bold as to walk up to a group of them and inform them that their Levi Strauss denim vests do not meet the proper “leather vest” requirements, therefore they may not refer to themselves or their counterparts as “real bikers”? Perhaps the measure is their particular state of employment? Does a person have to be employed in some kind of labor trade to be a “real” biker, or can they be a doctor, an engineer or maybe even a cop? For that matter, can a woman be a real biker? What about a homosexual? 

Maybe we are just overthinking this whole damn thing… maybe it is as simple as their motorcycle? Perhaps, as the common perception goes, the only real bikers are Harley-Davidson owners. Unless, that is the particular biker in question does not have a Harley, but rather, he has a 1945 Indian… then maybe he can be a real biker. But, wait... what about the guy that rides the vintage Triumph chopper? You know, the guy that hand built his own hardtail frame then rebuilt a Triumph pre-unit that he found in a junkyard, bolted it in, then rode the ole beast across the country? Can he be a real biker, even though he’s kicking around on an old British powered machine? What about the guy in Japan that cut, chopped and built a badass custom bike out of a 1986 Honda Goldwing? And since we are talking about Goldwings, what about the Goldwing riders that have over 300,000 miles on their bikes and have ridden their machines in all four seasons in every state (and abroad) wearing their hi-viz jackets and mustard yellow safety helmets? Are they real bikers? What about Ted Simon, you know the guy that wrote the book, Jupiter's Travels (which, if you haven't read it, I HIGHLY recommend that you do)? Ted Simon wrote that book after he spent four years riding his 500cc 1973 Triumph T100 around the world through 45 countries. Is Ted Simon a real biker? You're damned right he is.

You see, I've known a lot of people that have Harley-Davidson motorcycles who say that people who ride bikes like Suzuki GSXRs, Kawasaki Ninjas, Yamaha Stratoliners or Honda Shadows can’t be real bikers, no matter how dedicated to riding they are, simply because they don't ride American bikes. These are the same guys, by the way, that have their $25,000 Harley-Davidsons parked in the garage 10 months out of the year. You know them, they are the guys that brag about all the rallies they go to, yet their bikes see more miles riding on the back of a trailer than they do rolling on their own rubber; they're the same guys that only ride to the local bike nights whenever the weather is "Goldilocks perfect." I’ve also heard that only men can be real bikers, but I've seen some ladies rippin' the curves in the mountains and they sure as hell looked like real bikers to me. I've known a few folks that live, as the polite folks would say- an alternative lifestyle, that ride motorcycles (some of whom ride Harley-Davidsons). I know cops that are in motorcycle clubs and I've seen more than a few nurses, doctors and several engineers that ride. 

Growing up as a ginger kid, I was given plenty of labels. It certainly didn't help that I wore those auburn locks in a fantastically awful, late '80's powered mullet and wore ripped up, stone-washed jeans. In my youth, I had a few second-hand dirt bikes and I took an old Suzuki GN400X that came to our house in boxes, fumbled my way through putting it back together not knowing what the hell I was doing, and got it running. I rode that thing until my folks got rid of it one day while I was at school. All their best efforts to protect their baby boy from the dangers of two wheels was all for naught, though. I started back on a Kawasaki EX500, then I moved on to cruisers. I've had a couple of Hondas, a Yamaha and... well... a few different Harley-Davidsons. It's bizarre to see it typed out, but I've ridden over 100,000 miles of paved roads on two wheels and countless miles of dirt trails. Does that make me a real biker? Honestly, I don't know, and frankly, I don't care. Neither should you. If you want to call yourself a biker, or even the highly coveted real biker, then go for it. It's just a silly label anyway.