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/128330
00-Pounder with Cheese . That 's what they call the Royal Star Tour Delu xe in Fran ce . N ot rea lly. The new Royal Star Tour Deluxe is based o n wha t we have co me to know as the Royal Star. That is to say, the chassis and engine and big pieces and such are t he same items tha t define the tw inkle of all exis ting Royal Star models. The DOHC, V-4, I298cc engine is unchanged from its 10: I compression ratio and 79 x 66mm bore , driving a five-speed transmission that spins a shaft drive. And it still sports carbs rather than EFI, providing it with awesome kill-switch-induced backfires. Same is the Royal Star chassis with its retro-style bodywork and steel frame that utilizes refinements of technologies that are just as good today as when first developed in 900 AD. The Tour De luxe 's claimed wet weight of 844 retro pounds is still defined by that classic Royal Star iron. The Tour Deluxe also has the same pecu liar, trademark Royal Star handling: at speed the bike is planted and provides mean ingful feed back, but on slow U-turns, when balance is defined solely by the rider's inner ear, the steering is waxy and uncertain. O r maybe some of us testers just don 't know how to ride big-ass cru isers pro perly. O r maybe I have an ear infect io n. The Tour Deluxe's suspension at both e nds is air-adjustable, providing ride rs of varying ton nage a smoo t h, plush and co mfortable cru ise. Rubbe r-m ou nted floor boards support the feet of rider and passenger alike. For sto pping power, the Tour Deluxe has dual front disc brakes and a single, yet very big, disc out back. The giant and shiny chr ome headlight nace lle is complemented by a ch rome hood covering the flat and retro-yet-dlgital dashboard . Funny about the dash though it's retro car, not retro bike. A bit of retro license, I guess . The speedo has an ana log sweep that's digitallyrendered, sort of like the special effects in movies, like Vin Diesel's acting, for instance. Anyway, the 8 www.cyclenews.com dash also includes niceties such as odometer, dual t ripme ters, fuel tripmet e r, clock, fuel gauge, and indicato r lights fo r cr uise co ntrol, ove rd rive and the usual stuff, O ldschool rider s, to w hom this bike likely appeals, will be pleased to know that even with all those gas· me tering gizmos, the Tour Deluxe still has a manual petcock. A couple of other changes include the bars ' getting a new shape, as well as the fatty clutch and brake levers. The blinker lenses are now clear, giving the bike a custom look right out of the showroom. The biggest news about the new Royal Star Tour Deluxe is its convenient convert- ibility. The Tour Deluxe can go from tourer to cruiser in seconds . The windscreen slides off with a simple squeeze of the two quickrelease fork clamps, and the passenger backres t pops off just as easily, changing the bike from a two-up, long-distance, windprotecting, comfort-mobile into a wind-inyour-hair; bugs-In-your-teeth, boulevardgrinding, posing-machine. How do I look? The Tour Deluxe is a bike designed for circumnavigating continents, crossing coun- tries , and cruising cities. Additional features include real-live electro nic cr uise co ntro l, making it possiblyto wave to spo rtbike riders with your right hand. Or, if you so prefer, it also allows t he ride r the misuse of the dou ble flip-off, not that the makers of the bike en courage that gesture nor riding with no hands on the bars. Be nice . The To ur Deluxe also has lockable hard bags. They'r e bolte d on and do n't pop off, which is pro bably o kay for most people who 'd buy this bike. If it ain't, they can be unbolte d in a few minute s. For those who desire that kind of extended degree of convertibility, the passenger pad can be removed w ith one bolt , and by rem oving two more bo lts, its front mou nting clip comes off as well. The holes can then be fil led with custom chrome buttons availab le through the Star catalog . Under t he bags are dua l exhausts that have removable tips. Yamaha has a variety of different tips available thro ugh its acces- CYCLE NEWS • JUN E 30, 2004 33