Vy and I are headed down to San Diego this weekend so that I can meet a Bike-urious reader and check out his collection and so she can take a tour of the San Diego Zoo. Our steed for this trip is Yamaha’s Star Eluder, a bagger version of the Star Venture (so Vy will have to make do without a backrest). To put it politely, the Star Eluder is not selling well. I’m going to figure out why. While I’m collecting my thoughts for a review, is there anything you want to know? Fire away in the comments.
I’ve been commuting on the Eluder for a week now and so far, it doesn’t make much sense to me. Hopefully some time on the open road will change that. My big issue is Yamaha’s choice of an air-cooled V-Twin. The big bagger market is mostly split up into two camps – traditionalists who want what Yamaha calls “emotional V-Twin power” or riders that want all the technological goodies. Yamaha has tried to combine both features but I suspect riders don’t want a combination, they want an extreme of their preference. V-Twin fans are shopping for Harleys or Indians while the other end is looking at Gold Wings and K1600Bs. It’s a shame, because the Eluder is a pleasant bike. I’m just not sure it’s more appealing than the competition for the buyers it’s trying to attract.
I like the color and I absolutely love the front fairing, which makes me think of a 1967 Pontiac Firebird. Look below…
…see what I mean? Photo from Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/535224736940737698/
Also, the thing starts at $22,499 and Yamaha removed some features to create a gap between the Eluder and the Venture, so you get weird default equipment like heated seats no heated grips. Come on. Then there’s the whole issue of the Venture breaking tradition and not coming with a V-4 motor. What are you interested in hearing about?
For some context, here’s Yamaha’s page on this new model.
Photos from Yamaha