Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

1996 Yamaha Royal Star By Mark Hoyer Photos by David Dewhurst and Hoyer PF ......-. ...... ... Q) "2 u o 26 ilmmakers often use a dramatjc piece of music as a backdrop for their work in an effort to enhance the overa It experience they are trying to create in a particular scene or film. Just think of what those few notes did for Jaws. Press intraductjons are much like that. No, not being chased by a shark, but the strategies as far as creating a m90d are the same: The public relations people, directors if you will, try to orchestrate every part of every scene, directing all the action to make the time a journalist (or 12 in this case) spends in the company of the new model as positive as possible. Our occasion was the long-awaited World Media Debut of Yamaha's Royal Star and its sister ship, the Tour Oassic. The backdtop for us was not music, but scenery. And it was finally time. No more rumors, no more "spy" photoiO. We'd get three days at a luxury resort tucked away among the picturesque red cliffs of Sedona, Arizona, with a 125mile ride to the south rim of the Grand Canyon for lunch at EI Tovar, then a leisurely tour back to Sedona, and plenty of time to ogle at the machines in between. Total over-the-top feel-good ambience was the singular goal. The thing is, Yamaha may not have had to work so hard. But first, a little history is in order, and the history of the Royal Star is longer than that of most new motorcycles. The project was first proposed in 1988, then finally approved in 1991 as research indicated that cruisers were the way the market was going to go. In a time when a completely new motorcycle can be designed and introduced in as little as a year and a half, the four years that it took to finalize the Royal Star is a very long time, and as such, represents a huge investment and gamble - on Yamaha's part. But they did their homework. Market research. Demographic research. Research on research. Yamaha contacted past owners of Yamahas to find out who they were and who they had become, where they were and what they wanted. What they found was that the cruiser customer was the longtime enthusiast, average age 35 years old, but had gotten out of the motorcycle market. And, finally, that he was an "upwardly mobile, family man." Then Yamaha turn.ed to HarleyDavidson owners, asked what they wanted, and what a motorcycle meant to them. Interestingly, "Made in America" didn't carry quite the weight one might expect among Harley owners. In fact, according to research by Yamaha's Director of Research and Development Ed Burke, somewhere in the neighborhood of 84 percent said it didn't matter. Image and attitude were the common threads, and having the potential to personalize their ride was very important. And perhaps most interesting of all, the dE;IDographics of current Harley owners were found to be the same as past owners of Yamahas. Wh.at Yamaha discovered about the market was that with new-motorcycle sales on the rise, 64 percent of that growth was comprised of machines in the cruiser segment. And, more important, that the accessory business had grown beyond the sales of the machines themselves. The logical response (and heartfelt, it seems) was the Royal Star. Yamaha is quick to point out that the machine's design, styling and function were purely American in origin; that they looked to motorcycles and cars of the 1930s as the basis for styling; that, at the core, the finished product. should be authentic, elemental and above all, changeable. Part of the elemental design '(Vas to have each part of the Royal Star be "styled to project its own image and beauty while maintaining the overall classic theme," says the press material. .What it also means is that things-are easy to change and customize, and ultimately, Yamaha plans to have more than 200 accessories as well as a clothing line to support the Royal Star and its offshoots. Above all, Yamaha stressed that while the inevitable comparisons with Harley-Davidson will be made, to do so would be missing the point - this is a revolution, "the ultimate cruiser," an epoch-making motorcycle like the CB750 Four Honda, and the "first cruiser," Yamaha's own Special: that this Royal Star will change the motorcycle market. Will it? It just might. With the long 66.7-inch wheelbase the Royal Star is stable, but at 672 pounds (725 for the Tour Classic), it's probably cutting a channel in the asphalt. Even so, you don't feel the mass when you're riding. The Royal Star imparts a pleasantly substantial feeling without being cumbersome. Feet-up Uturns, no problem. You won't be flicking this thing anywhere, but handling is nonetheless good. A light push in the big, one-inch-diameter "Winchester" bars is all it takes to initiate a turn, and once there it holds the line. And unlike some models in this segment, it shows little tendency to want to fall over while turning at low speed. In light of the fact that the front tire on this machine has a giant cross section (a 150/80-16 specifically design.ed for the application), this is an impressive accomplishment. The only gripe is the ease with which the floorboards touch down, but according to Mark Porter, division manager of engineering and testing at Yamaha, to have put the floorboards anywhere else would have been to compromise the ergonomics. "We could have moved

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