Vstar 1100 Review

[Basspiece919]

The tires on the 919 are shot and I have been waiting for my new pilot 2CT's all week now. Luckily for me Dad lets me ride his bike when I need it and he takes his jeep to work. Over the past year I have done at least 1000 miles on it.

His bike is an '05 Vstar 1100 with 48,800 miles on it.

Engine
1100cc's just doesn't seem like enough I want to ride an 1800... Maybe its because I am so used to the 919. I know it is designed as a CRUISER but the it just seems to slow and sluggish. I have a lot of seat time on a Shadow 750 and that bike seems more lively in my opinion.
SUPER reliable! Almost 50,000miles since '05 and not a single problem. Dad rides it about 100 miles to and from work each day.
Carbs are no fun, I hate having to choke it and wait for it to warm up and all that crap... FI is the way to go.

I give it a 7/10 for the reliability

Handling
Its like driving a 15 passenger van compared to the 919 being a sports car, but that is to be expected... It weighs almost twice as much. But once it is leaned over in a corner it feels pretty stable, I rake the foot boards around every single turn which is kind of fun. I love watching the sparks in the mirrors! and I also accidentally touched the left highway peg down once. (that was SCARY because it didn't give much...)

6/10 Its good for a cruiser I suppose

Brakes
They stop the bike... And that's what matters, but they could do it a little faster. I need to make a conscious effort to use the back brake more than with the 919 though.

6/10 Same as handling, its good for what it is.

Comfort
Here is where this bike is designed to shine!!! And also where it comes up short in my opinion. Seat is very comfortable and the backrest is great!! The windshield dad has on it kills me though. It is a few inches to short for me (I am 6'2) and the wind blast off the top of the windshield rattles my head so bad. I have to wear dads half helmet (exo-100) because with my exo-1000 I have an unbearable headache after 15 minutes of the shaking.
Foot and leg position is cramped for me, the seat is to close to the ground and and both the engine guard mounted highway pegs and foot boards are to close to me and force my knees up above the tank.

9/10 not because its comfortable to me, but because I know it is in fact a comfortable bike

Aesthetics
I think the bike looks GREAT! Not to much chrome but still has some flash to it. I also love the paint color. It is a very pretty bike and I prefer its looks over any other cruiser that I can think of.

10/10

Overall
Despite all the harsh criticism I have for it I LOVE to ride that bike. There is something fun about cruising through town on a big, old, slow, poor handling, hard to stop, beast of a bike.

38/50 or 7.6/10


Dad is looking to trade it in sooner or later. On his shortlist of bikes are the Star Raider, Goldwing, FJ1300 (<-- I am trying to talk him into the second two)

COLD ride


Looking good!

[BigMike919]

I recently rode a buddy's 1800 yamy, and it felt just like the 1100 I use to have except it was harder to stop. And yeah, instead of the van liker handling of the 1100's, it felt like that thing that drives the space shuttles to the launch platforms!!!

[RezChick]

Nice to hear someone else's opinion of the bike I ride.

I'm still getting used to the cruiser. I miss my Kawi ZZR hella bad and it was interesting to read your observations. I'm still trying to figure out my own.

[The Shadow]

Luke, How do you see where you're going with your eyes closed?!









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[jay313]

Cracks me up you got your toes barely on the floorboards, like you're desperately wishing for rear sets or something. I loved my old cruiser, but it was not nearly so comfortable for me as others thought it should be. Had the same feeling as you. I think your comfort review is actually more "real world" than the number you gave it.

[drewvir]

hey bass,

you know your "big girl" will look great on the back of that bike with you