Yamaha is back into the heavyweight cruiser segment with its all-new 2018 Star Venture. The big bike segment has dominant competitors like Honda Goldwing, BMW K1600GTL, Harley Davidson Road Glide Special and Indian Roadmaster.
Yamaha Star Venture has been placed under a Transcontinental Touring category and currently, it is specific to the US market only. They have made the same by using Yamaha XV1900 Midnight Star as a base while further additions were made to claim a title that can conquer everything on its way.
The front of Yamaha Star Venture comes with a large headlight that houses huge projector headlights and a wide windscreen. The front panel holds the integrated LED blinkers within the rear view mirrors. Moving slightly down will expose the large air dams of the motorcycle.
The overall design is quite modern and sharp enough for this segment, further adding technological additions through mid fairing deflectors for rider’s ventilation. Most of the parts are adjustable as the huge 436 kg bike needs least amount of effort to perform a specific function.
2018 Yamaha Star Venture Launched in the USA for $24,999
Yamaha’s 1854 cc, V-twin engine on the Star Venture is good for 170 Nm of torque. It is a belt drive motorcycle with bi-directional crawl function for ease of parking and riding in highest possible traffic.
The instrument console here is a 7-inch touchscreen while other goodies like USB charging, tyre pressure monitoring system, heated grips, keyless ignition and heated seats make is a bless for long rides. The rider can choose from various ride modes, enjoy the traction control and ride effortlessly with the provision of cruise control.
TransContinental package on the Star Venture is optional as it will bring additional fog lights, GPS and dual zone speakers (helping rider and passenger enjoy different music) to the motorcycle.
The stock bike costs $24,999 (approx. INR 16 lakh) while the optional package takes the price up to $26,999 (approx INR 17.4 lakh). It is currently not compliant to BS4 norms as US follows different set of emission rules than India. It could prove as an excellent option for those who are looking for intercontinental rides on a motorcycle.