Bigger, Badder Road Star

BIGGER, BADDER ROAD STAR

In the muscle-bound world of bruiser-cruisers, Yamaha's Road Star 1600 was starting to look a little puny, particularly compared to Honda's heavyweight champion, the VTX1800. So for 2004, the Tuning Fork Folks upped both the Road Star's displacement and power output. Henceforth known as the XV1 700, the air-cooled V-Twin was enlarged from 1602cc to 1670cc through 2mm-larger bores, while revised cylinder heads allow a higher redline and a claimed 15 percent boost in horsepower and 8 per-

cent boost in torque. Fourpiston front brakes sourced from the YZF-R1 sportbike provide whoa! power to match the go power. Available by the time you read this, the ’04 Star comes in five different flavors with MSRPs ranging from $10,999 for a Pearl White stripper model to $13,999 for a Raven-colored Midnight Silverado bagger.

Brian Catterson