There are days when you’re just not in the mood. You don’t have a headache, but you say you do. You hunch forward on the controls, but don’t whack it wide open. And you smile broadly as usual, but it won’t reach your eyes today. On these days, a high tail sportsbike is too much work. You don’t want the ache in the wrists, the constant feeling that the orifice with the highest altitude on your body (temporarily) isn’t your mouth and you don’t want the disgusted hum of a seriously under-utilised engine.
If I were rich enough to afford a sportsbike, I’d start saving money to buy one of these three as well. From left to right (you’ve met them all before actually) say hello to the Honda F6C Valkyrie, the Kawasaki VN2000 Vulcan and the Yamaha Road Star.
Each of them is or was the largest cruiser in their brand line-up and together, we’re talking almost 250 bhp, nearly 6000cc and 10 cylinders. And about sixty-two acres of painted plastic and metal, if you were to lay them out end to end.
Of the three, the bike we met first was the Yamaha Road Star. It was a hell of a lot newer then, but it hasn’t aged that much. The slightly ivory colour does make it look a bit older, but in the evocative manner of yellowed paper, especially one with a love letter on it. Since then, the Road Star has grown in size and stature, and remains one of Yamaha’s most popular cruiser models. In current form, it makes more torque and power than our 2001 example, has a 70cc larger engine (which also powers the jaw-dropping Warrior) and various minor tweaks. One thing has not changed, though. Like the last time we rode it, the air-cooled pushrod V-twin feels alive. It was never completely isolated from the rider, and you can feel every large explosion in each of the two 800cc combustion chambers.
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