Yamaha V-Star XVS1100A Classic

A great cruiser – If you want a solid dependable cruiser and a great base for customising, look no further. In stock set up it's confident, stable and has copious amounts of torque. The great thing about this bike, however, is the way it lends itself to bobbing if you are looking for something a bit more radical. And that's good, because the studded seat and… Read more

backrest, plus the hideous panniers that came with mine just had to go !

Google v-star bobber and you'll see some of the simple to do but very effective modifications that are possible.

The V-Star has a large fuel tank giving plenty of distance between enforced stops. My one observation is that an aftermarket seat would be money well spent as the original becomes uncomfortable after a couple of hours.

All in all, it's a great bike which attracts attention from the deeply cool exhaust note which justifies the 1100 over the 650 alone. Fit a mustang seat and you can cruise on the speed limit all day long, whilst still having plenty of power to get yourself out of trouble in reserve.

Would I buy one again ? In a heartbeat.

Great cruiser – Bought a 2006 model with 35,000kms, with Vance and Hine pipes, 14.5 inch ape bars, and lots of accessories. I was really impressed with the power and handling. I have owned many bikes over the years, from all manufacturers, and must say this is the best cruiser I've ridden. Looks great in black, with smoky flames over fenders and tank, plenty of… Read more ·  1

chrome and sounds very cool. Has 5 gears, and sits really nicely at highway speeds. Got loads of road presence, although I'm surprised how light it feels riding, especially around roundabouts. Has 17Lt tank so should get some solid Ks out of it between refills. All in all, a great bike. Was a step up from Boulevard 800, and really glad I went for the extra CC's. Comes with Yamaha's rock solid reliability. Do yourself a favour and put one of these in your garage.

Xvs1100 – I've had my 2002 xvs1100 classic for 7 years now. I had a towbar fitted so with me 110kg,my wife 55kg, my trailer 90kg, plus 100kg of stuff in trailer, soft panniers full 25kg, bike itself 275kg. We are 655kg on the road. The twin front disk brakes and single disk brakes stops us without an effort. Handles great at 100km all day. From… Read more

Adelaide to Tasmania, up and down hills not a problem with power.

These are the good things.

Bad things.

Seats are awfully uncomfortable.

Starter clutch is a common fault.

Checking and changing the oil is a pain in the gluteus. Have to remove exhaust to change oil filter.

Apart from replacing starter clutch it's been extremely reliable and cheap to run.

Great mid size cruiser.

Think again – I was given a 2003 model for a 4-day evaluation prior to seriously shopping for a cruiser. I have always said that going for a 5-10 minute test ride does not give you enough time to evaluate and find any little annoyances there might be. First thing was an hour ride to another town, so a little bit of twisty stuff but mainly 100km/h highway. … Read more

Well after about 20 minutes my coccyx (tail bone) starts to ache. The more I moved around to reposition the more it became sore and started giving some numb feeling in my rump. Thinking about why this was happening I realised that when riding this type of bike with your legs well forward of your body, all of your weight is transferred to the coccyx only - not feet or hands unlike sports & tourer type bikes. To alleviate this I shifted all the way back and sat on the curve of the seat to get weight off, but once you stop and put a foot down it goes back. This alone would be the main reason I would never buy a cruiser bike for any distance riding.

Going to the shop or cafe for 15 minutes fine, but nothing longer. 4 days of riding was literally painful!

Top speed run attempted to feel what the bike was like - but had to be abandoned when the long stretch of highway ran out and the bike could only get up to 140k. Sounded good though and was stable at that speed, but felt like I was wringing it to bit just to get there. Cornering speed needs to be brought down as you will scrape if you attempt anything exciting. Even the family car can go around a corner quicker than this thing! Embarrassing.

All in all it has stopped me looking and even thinking about this style of bike, but I am sure there are many people who would be content with it's limited abilities. It was a fun bike - in short bursts. Sound. Good rumble with an after market pipe on it. Saddle bags carried lots but look ugly. Seating/riding position. Access to rear tyre valve. Acceleration and top-end speed pretty average. Scrapes on corners.

A great machine – A great machine, did 2600 kms in 4 days from Melbourne>Kangaroo Island>Adelaide and the Coast back to Melbourne. A great ride and very comfortable with the bends in or outside the city. Great Chromes and with a Vance and Hines Pipes and a Kuryakyn Hypercharger who needs a Harley Davidson :) excellent control, powerfull, sticks on the road too low, fuel gauge missing, gear indicators missing. Oil filter in a wrong place

Excellent – easy to ride great handling great looking fairly economical great power easy to find and use controls smooth gear change great sounding nice to ride we have had ours for just over a year(s/hand 05 mod) and done 16.000 kms on it allready. with another 1000k ride next week oil filter changing (time for a relocation kit) Show reply

Good – Love the bike, I have kept engine standard so far. and have not had any troubles. Travelled 14000 Km. Bike is good as a daily commuter and a long distance cruiser. I have fitted a air seat and can ride for 4 hours, only stopping for fuel. Great power, smooth gearbox and handles well. Seat gets hard after 2 hours. Larger fuel tank would be better.

good buy – have had since new and done 98 000km,very reliable,the only thing gone wrong is a rectifier making lights dim and bright and has had a oil leak front cylinder base gasket at 90 000km.Standard exhausts ditched at purchase for laser slash cuts,a bit worn at about 70 000km and not sounding as sweet.Could use a 6th gear for highway as fuel consumption… Read more ·  1

rises significantly at above 100km/h,have done a 900km 1 day trip,was tired and saw bum,but done.Cornering adequate,but a bit painful on roundabouts.have serviced myself,and believe it oil filter position absolute stupidity and caused lots of cursing and swearing as exaust removal also difficult as well as box alignment under fuel tank when doing tappets.Engine sounds and feels best with a light load on it,maybe worn exaust but sounds crap with no load and a bit rough with too much,better mid range than a harley,but bottom end not as good,have seen 180km/h on clock,but not what bike is about,and hard sports riding in corners not recommended,though ok at moderate levels. reliable,ease to ride,inexpensive,shaft drive,long tyre life painful to service(oil filter),short service intervals (6000km)