Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128219
2004 Yamaha Road Star MOTOR By BLAKE CONNER PHOTOS By FRANK HOPPEN elieve it or not, and for that matter like it or not, America is all about cruisers. And don't read into that and think that I'm just talking about" American" cruisers, because despite the fact that the company from Milwaukee still holds a commanding share of the market, the Japanese are making big gains. Especially Yamaha, with its line of cruisers making up 62 percent of the company's streetbike sales, only 10 percent off of the ratio set for cruisers industry wide at 72 percent of streetbike sales. One of the most important segments in Yamaha's cruiser sales is the 1201cc-plus category that bas grown almost 500 percent 'over the last six years, which is attributed to the popular Road Star line that was originally released in the fall of '98. The model's success 66 JUNE 18, 2003' a • a • _ is undeniable, but improvement is inevitable, and that time bas come. Yamaha has decided to treat the four versions of the Road Star to a whole new plethora of updates for the 2004 model year, including the Road Star "standard," Road Star Midnight, Road Star Silverado and the Road Star Midnight Silverado. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" goes a long way to describing the consumers' attitude when it comes to cruisers (gee, really?), and this is somewhat the case with the new Road Star in that the original design philosophy hasn't changed, even though improvements have been made. The key attributes that the designers created for the original Road Star live on in the new bike and include that long, low styling, personalization, solid handling, a class-leading motor, and the overall simplicity of the package. The formula has worked incredibly well for the bike thus far, so instead of making revolutionary changes, the designers decided'to fine-tune the formula. Other important design elements are that the Road Star had to have plenty of mounting points for accessories and also allow the owner to swap out various accessories to meet his mood that day. So here is a rundown on what is new for 2004 on the Road Star. n __ • The biggest change to the Road Star for 2004 is the tion of some extra ponies. Y claims that the air-cooled, 48-degree, pushrod motor has been tweaked to produce 15 more horsepower. Here is how it got there. There is no replacement for displacement, and in the case of the Road Star, the motor has been bored out 2mm to increase the displacement from 1602cc to 1670cc. The pistons are now 97mm in diameter and are a new short-skirt design including new rings, still riding in ceramic composite liners. AdditionalIy, the connecting rods have been beefed up to deal with the added stress the extra horsepower creates. In addition to the extra ccs, the valve train has some key changes to optimize the motor's efficiency. The rocker arms have been redesigned to reduce inertia, which will allow the motor to rev out more for additional top-end power. The camshaft timing is more radical, with overlap going from 55 to 66 degrees. The intake duration is up, going from 260 to 268 degrees, and exhaust duration increases from 260 to 284 degrees. The four-valve heads feature new head bolts that are fatter, up from 6 to amm, while new one-piece forged cylinder covers were added for rigidity. To help all of the changes to the ciently, the airbox is less restrictive, while at the opposite end the diameter of the exhaust has been increased by 7mm to improve flow there. To get all of the added power to the ground more efficiently, the Road Star's clutch has heavier springs. Power is then fed to a new 9mm-narrower belt-drive that also features a restyled rear pulley assembly, but the belt is said to be stronger than the unit it replaces. The final drive ratio has been changed and is now shorter to further improve acceleration by taking one tooth off of the countershaft sprocket, while first gear's ratio is now taller to improve the shift between first and second. CHASSIS AND STYLING It would be a shame to expend so much energy on the Road Star's engine and not give the chassis some love. One area that was a logical place to start is the brakes. The calipers are brand-new aluminum monoblock units with four aluminum pistons each and are essentially the same units used to slow down Yamaha's own rocket ship, the R1. For you "cruiser" folks, that would be from about 170-plus mph. In order to make it all work in unison, the discs