New Member I'm ok with the 12 bucks a year :-)

[sho_greg]

click on the history link above. I would get it messed up haven't been here that long either. [ATTACH=CONFIG]107231[/ATTACH]

 

Where did you get the front wheel covers- kinda like them...

[slowrollwv]

Where did you get the front wheel covers- kinda like them...

 

Those covers were made by Yamaha as an accessory. They are very hard to find now and if you do expect to pay dearly for them.

[sho_greg]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/98-Yamaha-XVZ1300-LT-XVZ-1300-Royal-Star-front-wheel-rim-hub-rotor-covers-caps-/311596302133?hash=item488c963f35:g:C6AAAOSwBLlVNPJi&vxp=mtr

 

Plenty of these... that's a good price though.

[DarrinGT]

I'm very new here and I was looking for a thread called introduce your self or new users or something so I hope its ok that I started this thread here I wanted to introduce my self and ask a question. if this is the wrong place to do this please don't rip on me to hard, i'm about as sharp as a bowling ball sometimes. Anyway, I'm new to the cruisers in the last 2 yrs. I always had sport bikes but at 50 and Arthritis in my neck and shoulder problems from my bodybuilding days and a heavy influence from my brothers who are Harley riders, I decided last year that I would get a cruiser to see how I liked it and I bought a 1999 Kawasaki 800 drifter, I was out on it for an hr and knew I love this change and have put quite a few km/miles on that little 800 since, also, what has become clear is that with the wife and I on the hwy its under powered and that little motor is struggling, after a couple of months of re search from V Stars, Road stars , Vulcan 1500 , VTXs, Harley's and Suzi's, I have concluded that the Royal star Tour deluxe is the bike I want. of course I want to keep as much money in my pocket as I can but also this bike is one that I plan on keeping for a good few years, as fare as I'm concerned I feel Yamaha make the best Motorcycle engines so having a Yamaha for a long time bike I have no issues with. here is the problem, I can get a mint 98 Royal star deluxe with low KMs/Miles for a lot less then say a 2005 with the same KM's so the first questions is , what is the difference between the 2 bikes.

 

I found the Horse power differs 60ish HP compared to 98 HP that is a huge difference and frankly seems hard to believe with out huge engine changes and the only difference I can find is better air box in the later Royal stars, what are your guys experience?.

 

The way the wife and I like to ride and we did this on the sport bikes as well, we may ride 100 to 300 miles just on winding country roads taking in the scenery and maybe stop for lunch at a nice country restaurant or cafe but when its time to go home and we are a couple of hrs for home this is when its nice to have the power, some times the flow of traffic here in Ontario, Canada can be 80 or 85 miles per hr, not often but some times, however 70 or 75 is not uncommon and this is where the little 800 Kawi would fall short with 2 of us on it would the older royal star handle that kind of Hwy cruising for a hr or 2 at a time ?.

 

You guys are the know all about the royal stars so any info you would like to share I'd really appreciate, things to look for or avoid anything at all.

 

cheers

Karl

 

Hey Karl, Welcome to the forum! Thanks to Cowpuc for throwing out my name!

 

My first Royal was a 97 Royal Star Tour Classic, I did a LOT to it over the 70K miles it has on it when I sold it. If you want to check it out, here are the 2 threads with lots of pics and info.

 

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?56020-Time-to-start-Tearing-into-the-Bike&highlight=makeover

 

 

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?83141-Tearing-into-the-bike-part-Deux&highlight=makeover

 

After all that, My advice, Don't mess with the performance upgrades. Keep the bike stock and ride it, Excpt for the Exhaust of your choice, That is a Must. I just love to tinker and see what I can get out of them with lots of down time in the winter so these projects worked well for me, but if I were to do it all over again, I would not mess with the 32MM Carb Swap, Dyna Ignition and Intake. If you have to have some more performance the V-Max Gear Swap is the best bang for the buck.

 

I am thinking you are looking at the 97 ish RSTD. By the time you do all the performance upgrades you can get into an 05 to 09 Royal Star Tour Delux for the same price, have better performance, fuel mileage, air suspension and a half gallon bigger tank.

 

But you can also get into an 02 ish Venture and have ALL the stuff and another Half Gallon of fuel to ride on.

 

Miles dont matter much on these as long as they have been well maintained.

 

With my 97 I would barley hit 40 mpg, and most of the time it was closer to 35, and only 5 gallons, not a real long cruising range. On my 07 Royal I get 45, (got 48 yesterday) and 5.4 gallon tank. Plus a real fuel gauge.

 

Now lets talk about Star Fan, He did ALL the upgrades to his (98 RSTD) including V MAx Cams, had it done professionally, tuned and tweaked, I rode his bike, Pretty sure my arms got stretched about half of an inch, that thing was just FAST!! It pulled hard at the top end where mine dropped off. Yes it can be done, and it a lot of fun when completed, what a beauty of a bike. Just depends on what you want to mess with and what you are capable of.

 

I bought my 07 a few months ago, RSTD, 11K miles on it, all stock Shipped to my door with 2 mason jars of West Virginia cinnamon apple pie Moonshine in the saddle Bags for $4,300.00. Sold my 70K mile 97 for $3,500.00 Not a bad deal at all.

 

Deals can be had and it may be worth it for you to pick up an early (00 and up) Venture or a 05 tp 09 Royal Star.

 

Sorry if this rambled on a bit but good luck and keep us posted.

[tntviper1]

OK I Googled Whiby and found you are East of Toronto a bit on Lake Ontario. Several members in the Toronto/Mississauga area, lots more in Kitchener/Waterloo area, Hamilton, etc. One of the ringleaders is a guy called Marcarl who lives in Brant and puts on several events/rides in the southern Ontario region. Great guy to know!! Also have a very good friend up in Bowmanville but he is not very active any more...

wifey has a cabin in grand bend, LMK next summer whats up with the canuck groups

 

 

P.S. i can type canuck because my bike is canadian