Name: Yamaha Venture
Brand: Yamaha

Yamaha

Yamaha Venture

 
You half expect the panelwork across the fairing-mounted instruments and stereo to be made from bakelite &shy; just like your great-grandparents' old radio &shy; rather than the inevitable ABS plastic. That the deco-style speedo needle and numbering is LCD is a weird twist on a 'traditional' plot.
Welcome to Yamaha's latest version of the touring theme, with a very strong cruiser flavour. Let's call the market segment Touring-Cruiser. Its competitors are Harley Electraglide and Honda Valkyrie Interstate, rather than the Goldwings and K1200LTs of this world.
Venturing forthOf course there are other views. Like those of a marketing bloke from Holden Special Vehicles who, on first meeting with the Yam, said, "You're riding that thing? What's it like? It looks like it should have a bull-bar."
The Venture name is anything but new in the Yam stable. It first appeared in 1983 (initially USA-only) on an 1198cc, V-four-powered, competitor to Honda's all-conquering Goldwing.
Suzuki and Kawasaki had similar big supertourers during the 1980s, respectively named Cavalcade (V-four) and Voyager (inline six).
It's something of an irony that the Yamaha powerplant went on to be developed as a steroid-driven performance donk in the V-Max (1986-on) and has now come back to doing touring duty in a cruising variation on the theme. Along the way, the powerplant has swept up to 130-140ps (depending on the market) in V-Max guise, and is now claiming 98ps in the Venture MkII.
Yamaha says the bike runs a new twin-cradle frame with a more rigid mounting system over previous Royal Star series. The front end is held up by shrouded conventional forks, and the rear by a version of the marque's Monocross single shock. Both ends run air-assisted preload &shy; a relatively easy-to-adjust feature for a bike likely to end up carrying a wide variety of loads.
Braking is handled by large twin discs with two-pot calipers up front, and a four-pot caliper on the single rear.
Rubber is by Dunlop (D404), with hefty 150 section at both ends and front/rear rim sizes of 16/15-inches. It's fitted to cast alloy wheels.
The four-valve powerplant is now 1294cc, with modest 10:1 compression, 32mm CV carbs, mated to a five-speed gearbox and shaft final drive.
Fuel capacity is 22.5 litres, claimed dry weight 375kg, and rider seat height 749mm.
There's no centrestand, which is a pain in the tit when it comes to doing basic servicing and washing. However that's common cruiser practice and anything but insurmoutable. There's probably an opportunity out there for a bright workshop stand maker.
Luxo bitsThe stock level of equipment is high. First there's the 56-litre topbox, which will swallow two full-face helmets, including Shoei's largest shell size. Fixed top-loading panniers claim 35 litre capacity each &shy; they won't take a helmet, but will accept a weekend-away-worth's of clothes for rider and pillion.
Rider and passenger score footboards, with the latter having a very good set of grab handles acting as security blanket.
On the electronic side of things, there's a four-speaker stereo with FM/AM radio, intercom, cassette player, and the wiring in-situ to accept a CD player. Plus a cruise control, and a digi dash readout that covers a couple of trip meters and fuel readouts.
Something I should note is that the colour scheme you see on the test bike is not a local one. A silver/black scheme is what you'll see in the dealerships.
On the roadIt's a year-or-so since I jumped on a 'Glide, and the weight of the fairing/stereo shebang on the Yamaha's steering came as a bit of a shock. Compared to bikes with frame-mounted fairings, the feel is heavy and nervous. With a few days in the saddle, however, you get over it.
Steering is predictable enough &shy; it takes some effort to turn. When it does, it's willing and feels secure when heeled over.
There's one exception. Hit a big mid-corner bump and the Venture wants to stand up. You can compensate for it by leaving room for a wider-than-planned cornering line.
Cornering clearance is about what you'd expect for this style of bike &shy; which is not much. The rider footboards touch first, which is good. The way to get one of these things around a corner quickly is to brake early, line up with a margin for error, then nail it early on the exit and rely on the plugging power to get out of the turn quickly. Your R1 mates won't be spooked, but your point to point times will be very respectable.
Suspension damping is spot-on, solo or two-up, and a lesson to other makers of this type of bike.
Performance is a mixed packet of reptiles. If you compare the Venture's urge to that of a V-Max, you'll be disappointed.
It's just lively enough for a big-mile cruiser, with an indicated top speed of over 180kmh within easy reach. Where you'll miss the serious horsepower is overtaking &shy; it's a down-at-least-one-gear exercise. I'd rate it as acceptable, but not quick. There are times when you wonder what a radical change to the new air-intake system and zorsts would do to its performance as a highway toy.
The gearbox is very accurate &shy; up with the best I've experienced for this type of bike &shy; and there's a nice combo of predictable clutch with minimal driveline slop.
Braking power is ample, even with two large folk on board, with a nice feel on the front. Cruisers like this depend a lot more on the back brake than 'conventional' bikes and this one could do with better feel on the rear in the wet &shy; it's a little too willing in slippery circumstances. I suspect the choice of tyres plays a part, and it would be interesting to try it with alternative rubber.
Creature comfortFrom the front saddle, you're faced with a very tall screen (I'm 6'3" or 190cm) which you cannot see over. The up-side is that the weather/wind protection is good, and the down-side is that it's a trial to see what's happening when the rain is coming down &shy; particularly at night.
Maybe, if I bought this machine, I'd do the only sensible thing when the rain hit. Which is to retreat to the nearest pub and sample the local reds. If it rains, you'll get wet. But not very wet.
The saddle and ride position work well, with most accessory controls within easy digit reach. The handlebars have a nice bend, though big people will find the handlebars fighting with their knees in U-turns.
My expert pillion was also very happy, reporting a seat/footboard relationship that worked well to keep the passenger secure and rendering the co-pilot panic handles unnecessary. The victim backrest is tipped a little too forward, apparently, but Ms M junior rates the overall seating position very, very, highly.
The only gap in the creature comfort scene is that between the upper fairing and leg guards, which lets in a blast of air (and rocks when the Camry in front decides to blunder off stage left at speed) on to the rider's knees.
Sound quality is okay with the bike's speakers, but you're pushing the proverbial uphill when trying to get clear sound at highway speeds, unless you employ the intercom system. Which we didn't get to try. Compared to similar models, there was very little sound distortion from the loudspeakers at the upper end of the volume range.
Venturing offThis is a very comfortable motorcycle with a healthy travelling range. The 16km/lt fuel consumption works out to a 360km reach, though I wouldn't trust the fossil-juice gauge as, like most of its bike ilk, it is unreliable.
At its claimed 375 kilos dry, the Venture is on the verge of needing a reverse gear &shy; so are its competitors. I dropped the test bike in the back yard when pushing it out of the garage and am delighted to report the stock crash bars work. It fell to about 45 degrees on the right side, and didn't take too much to shove back on to its sidestand. No damage. But it highlighted the fact that something this size is a monster to man/womanhandle.
The styling is stunning, and the bike does most things right. There's not enough in the $27,400 package to give it a buy-it-above-all-others recommendation, but it has to be put on the serious shopping list.
Story: Guy Allen



Yamaha Venture

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