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09 Yamaha V Star 950 discussion forum:ROMEO1 |
| ROMEO1 |
| Richard said 2012-11-09 13:42 |
| I´m the founder of the finest motorcycle group anywhere, the ROMEO´s which stands for Retired Old Motorcyclist Eating Out. I´ve owned a cycle since I was 14 years old and am awed by them. I´m now nearly 70. ROMEOs are not a brand specific group just a bunch of old guys who love to ride and eat. We´re ahead of our time. We´re the original flash mob turned cash mob in Kansas to help little ma and pa cafes in towns less than 1000. Places that struggle to survive in todays economy. These cafes are the heartbeat of small towns everywhere and it´s our goal to be a help. I´ve owned numerous bikes in my time growing up in the time of English bikes when 500´s and 650´s were considered ´big´ bikes. I´ve seen the Japanese invasion, dabbled in Italian bikes and scooters both small and large. I still own the Aprilia Scarabeo that I completed the 24 hour 1500 mile Iron Butt ride on. The first one on record to accomplish this feat on that machine. I have a ´73´ Suzuki two stroke triple in the Kansas Motorcycle Museum in Marquette, Kansas. These were affectionatly known as ´Water Buffalos´ here in the States. As I have aged, go fast bikes have less of an appeal to me. Sport touring/touring is more my liking although I do enjoy a cruise nearly every day or should I say night because one of my favorite thing to do is to take a ´midnight ride´. When I was actually working my ride took place after hours when I shut the office down at the motel and was literally a midnight ride but of late it could be anytime between 9 to 10 pm. and seldom for over an hour. Gotta get my beauty sleep, ´ya know. I´m getting kinda long winded here and could go on for months but my wife bought me a new 950 Star tourer for my 69th birthday last July 31st and I traded down from my old Star 1100. Some of my guys that still think too much is not enough were surprised at this trade but I´ve never looked back. I´ll still use my ´89´ Gold Wing for touring because the wife thinks that much time in the saddle deserves pure comfort but for my cruising, ROMEO Lunch Rides and evening rides the 950 is just the ticket. It handles better than the 1100 ever did, sounds better, is 100 percent easier on an oil change and I just like the looks better. The stock seat is better than the 1100 right out of the box and it runs down the interstate easier than the 1100. Go figure! I do have issue with the footboard brackets however and I think this is a major safety issue. The brackets hit and grind down before the wear plates scrape on the ivoting floorboards. A really dangerous situation. Fortunately, the brackets must be made of fairly soft steel because they scrape away fairly easily but should one hit a hole or major frost heave you may not be so lucky as I have been. This needs immediate attention from Yamaha. Gear spacing is also a thing of beauty on the 950 compared to the 1100. It´s just a more enjoyable ride. The extra 10mm on the clutch is also readily noticed in smoother gear changes. The belt is a plus. I really didn´t have any issues with the shaft rear end but I know of folks that did and anyone noticing a split in the seal of the driveshaft entry point should deal with it post haste before moisture damage turns into dollars and cents. Tire life, especially the rear doesn´t seem to be as robust as on the 1100. I regularly got 12ooo to 14000 miles out of a tire. Not so it seems on the 950. I´m nearing 8000 and it looks like it will go no more than 1 or 2 thousand more at best. Suspension is a bit more harsh on the 950 than the 1100 but it could be due to smaller dia. tires. Setting suspension is a black art for some reason. Hardly anyone ever changes from factory settings around here. It´s strange that nobody ever experiments. Maybe it´s just that it´s so hard to get at it. For the best ride, most every new bike i´ve ever had took several thousand miles for fork seals to wear in. Guzzi´s take twice as long if not more. I´m noticing a tad more compliance in front with every thousand miles. More weight on back equals a better ride. Load your bags. Bottom line though is I really like this bike. |
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