The Stellar Midnight Star
Written: Feb 24 '02 (Updated Feb 27 '02)
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Pros: Stunning appearance, superb engineering, excellent quality, stable handling characteristics.
Cons: Consoling Harley riders who discovered this bike after it was too late.
The Bottom Line: The ultimate classic, retro cruiser. The Midnight Star is a fantastic combination of looks, sound, engineering, handling, and price.
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| randparr's Full Review: 2002 Yamaha Road Star Midnight |
When I began my search for a classic cruiser, I immediately came into contact with the brilliant marketing campaign of Harley Davidson. The look, the sound, the legend of American iron - all quite powerful imagery, cleverly designed to sweep prospective hog owners into the Milwaukee vortex. In spite of HD’s reputation for mechanical challenges, (which owners tell me we’re just supposed to suck up and deal with because it’s part of the tradition), they almost had me; that is, until my brother-in-law (an experienced motorcycle aficionado) straightened me out. He asked how I’d like to own a new bike that looked and sounded like a Harley, but rode like a dream, had a low car-like maintenance schedule, didn’t spend half it’s life broken down on the side of the road, and could be had for half the price? I did the math, said “sure”, and discovered the Yama-Hog (i.e. Yamaha Road Star). On his advice, and mere days before I had intended to shell out an exorbitant amount of money on a HD Road King, I visited my local Yamaha dealer.
To make a long story short (and avoid parroting the many other glowing technical reviews on the Road Star one can find here on E-pinions.com), I will restrict this brief review to the virtues of the Road Star Midnight Star model I purchased, with only one general Road Star endorsement: The bottom line for me was that the Road Star is not only a long, low-riding, retro classic work of art. It is an engineering marvel, and extremely well designed with the sophisticated, discriminating cruiser market in mind. The fact that I could own this bike (new) with all the bells and whistles for $7,000 less than I was going to pay for the Road King didn’t hurt, either.
OK, that being said, why did I go for the Midnight Star configuration of the Road Star? After getting my facts, blowing away the marketing smoke and deciding that the Road Star was truly the rightful King of the cruisers, it then became a matter of choosing a model. The Silverado version of Road Star provided the best setup for me, with its windshield, saddlebags, studded seats and passenger backrest. The only problem was that I wanted a black bike, and the Silverado configuration doesn’t come in black (only tan two-tone and charcoal blue). The Road Star does, however, come in a black version called The Midnight Star, which I ultimately decided to buy and transform into a Silverado-like package.
The Midnight Star is not just a Road Star with black tank and fenders. It is much more. Aesthetically, it is simply the most stunningly intimidating motorcycle I’ve ever seen. A head-turning “black knight” vision in onyx and chrome, Yamaha took it a step further by blacking out the entire 1602cc/98 cubic-inch V-twin, polishing the fins and adding chrome covers. The Midnight Star also features chromed forks rather than the standard satin-finished variety. To this, I added an adjustable Silverado windshield, passing lamps/visors, chrome wind deflectors, chrome engine guards, chrome fender tips, a chrome tail light cover, a custom solo studded/concho solo seat, black studded leather saddlebags, and a padded passenger backrest. I also recently replaced the stock driver seat and rear pillion with the Mustang front/back seat combo with removable backrest (studded, conchos, and fringe), which is the ultimate in long-range riding comfort. By now I was on a total roll, so to complete the color scheme, I invested in a black HJC Symax system helmet and snapped on a mirrored visor.
I now had the visual appearance I was going for, but only lacked the “sound”. While Yamaha arguably has the finest production V-twin engine you can get on a bike anywhere, it is audibly polite, with a deep, quiet rumble. Well, I didn’t want my “black knight” to be polite, so I had the dealer upgrade my carburetor jets and exchange the factory exhaust system for a set of Vance and Hines Long Shots. The ground now shakes beneath the thunderous hooves of my iron steed.
Again, you can read all about technical aspects and handling characteristics of the Road Star/Road Star Silverado in other reviews on this website, but I will risk redundancy by just saying that this bike is the finest I’ve ever ridden, and I’ve ridden all in this class that I’m aware of. Are you shopping for the all-around ultimate cruiser? Get the Yamaha Road Star. Do you, in addition, enjoy causing that little extra public disruption, watching heads snap your way in unison as you ride by? Get the Midnight Star version. It is one of the finest machines you will ever own.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 11,499.00
Condition: New
Model Year: 2002
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Epinions.com ID:
randparr
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Reviews written: 1
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