Yamaha XV1700 Warrior

Well, pencil yet another niche-within-a-niche in. Yep, the "sports cruiser" is born.

It's fair to say the designation has been hinted at before with things such as Honda's VTX 1800 released Down Under in 2001. Here was a low-slung, Harley-esque monster with around a hundred claimed neddies lurking under all that chrome.

But it didn't quite stamp its position as the horsepower-hound for cruiser buyers. It was still a big, heavy thing with a big engine. Not quite the pared down performer that Yamaha reckons the market wants.

No, but that's clearly the market-soil in which Yamaha is aiming to proudly plant its marketing flagpole with the release of its Warrior. The publicity campaign for the bike hinges on stunt-personality/nutcase Robbie Bolger, pulling both wheelies and birds (yep, that's right), doing burnouts and generally misbehaving with the Warrior as his steed of choice. In fact, the ads are very well executed and I did get a bit of a stirring after viewing Big Robbie strutting his stuff on a smokin' Warrior.

It's natural that Yammie go after this market segment. Heaven knows the straight cruiser sector is saturated to the point of no return and given brand Y's strong standing in the sports bike market, well, the timing was probably spot-on. In short, get this thing right and the dough should follow. And the States is where that folding stuff mounts up quickest, so the push is going to be felt hardest there.

SO WHAT'S THIS THING CALLED LOVE?

The donk is based upon the lump that carts Yamaha's Road Star about. But there are changes my friends... Changes that add up to a 40 percent increase in go over the Road Star. Got your attention now haven't we...

Cop these apples. To create the largest air-cooled production motorcycle engine there is, Yamaha has drilled the Road Star's 1602cc out to 1670cc via a two mil larger bore (95-97mm). Stroke is still a long 113mm in the 48 degree V-Twin layout.

There are twin high-lift camshafts to aid in the production of those ponies, a ceramic composite bore plating and twin spark plugs in the four-valve head. Pistons are forged lightweight jobbies.

There's dry sump lubrication and an electric starting system with solenoid activated automatic decompression for easy starting. Belt drive is the go here and a dirty great 200-section rear hoop hooks up the bang with the bitumen.

The frame is an all-aluminium, double cradle job which is as rigid as they come. Tied to this is an R1-derived aluminium swingarm that is also suitably stiff.

Brakes and forks can again trace their roots to the R1. Inverted Kayabas get the nod here with rear suspension featuring a link type, preload adjustable single rear shock. Stoppers are re-ratioed R1 monobloc four-piston calipers grabbing twin 298mm discs.

Overall weight is down 40kg over the Road Star. More power, significantly less weight... Mmm, it all adds up doesn't it?

The cockpit is handsome and avant garde in appearance. The LCD tacho is mounted in front of the top triple clamp while the analogue speedo is behind. It looks fabulous, but it's hard to read the tacho in sunglasses. It looks damned fine though and if you're relying on the tacho to get about you are on the wrong bike. I say let the rev-limiter do its thing and be done with it.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN OR BACK ON TRACK?

Our launch timetable saw us riding cross country up the Cumberland Highway to the F3 freeway to the Hawkesbury River. Then it was on to the Old Road to Mt White. From there the route took us back down the Old Road to Berowra, through to the Berowra Waters ferry. Next it was up through Arcadia to Dural and back along Old Northern Road to the Cumberland Highway again.

Day two had us at full noise at Eastern Creek. It struck me that Yamaha must really believe in this thing. Journos on cruisers on a racetrack? Smelt like potential carnage to me...

First thing that hit home after leaving Yammy HQ for the road component of the trip was how much torque is on offer with this thing. It pulls like a flippin' train from down low and it is nigh-on impossible to take off from lights without winding it out to the relatively low redline of 5000rpm. Toss in the temptation to do burnouts at every opportunity and you start to get a sense of how much fun can be had onboard a Warrior.

The seating position is typical cruiser, with the footpegs the first to touch down. While clearance is good, it's not as good as Yamaha would have you think. In short, you'll run out of footpeg before you'll run out of rubber. And that's probably a good thing. The test bikes were fitted with a choice of Dunlop Sportmax and Bridgestone BT020's. Both did the job admirably.

Somehow Yamaha has found a way to get around the noise-police. The bike has a very nice, fruity note rather than the usual flaccid puff-puff wheezed out by other cruisers at standard.

The gearbox is very nice indeed. It's quite happy to be sports-bike-snicked through the well-spaced ratios and it's the market leader for precision on this front. Top marks.

On the track, the bike was really in the wrong environment, but it did serve to show how sure-footed the bike's handling is. While I reckon the front is a little under-damped, the whole handling package is about as good as a stock cruiser gets. 200km/h was possible on the main straight and corner speed is only inhibited by the aforementioned lack of clearance. Perhaps a set of rearsets might be the go..?

Oh and get ready to update your wardrobe. The matt black lid and Brando jacket for the street and the full fluoro jobbies and favourite racer-replica skid lid is gonna be the order of the day here. While you're at the bank, there is a whole range of add-on go -goodies available including hot cams and pistons. It's called the Speedstar kit and I reckon it will turn this thing into the weapon Yamaha wants it to be. There's also luggage, screens, a dual seat, belly pans and billet bits. Tasty...

WHO'LL BUY IT?

Well at $21,999 it's priced pretty well in the greater scheme of things. It's a dirty great wad cheaper the Harley-Davidson V-Rod ($31,250) and a bit less heavy on the wallet than the Honda VTX 1800 ($23,390) and these seem to be its natural competitors.

It seems Yamaha is looking to pinch a few sports riders here and that is probably a wise idea. As we mentioned, there are more than enough trad-cruisers to dilute the marketplace, so why no try and create a new buyer?

It remains to be seen where the main buyer stream will come from, but if you are looking for cruiser style with rubber-burning attitude, well, the Warrior is well worth you're perusal. Right Robbie?

What we liked...Great gearbox, Looks horn, Nice noise.

Not so much...Clearance that matches the rubber please; Jack of all trades or identity crisis?

SPEX:

Engine Type:
Air-cooled, 48 degree V-twin, four-stroke, Bore x Stroke: 97 x 113mm,
Displacement: 1670cc,
Compression Ratio: 8.3:1.

TRANSMISSION:
Type:
Five-speed, constant mesh,
Primary drive: Gear,
Final Drive: Belt.

CHASSIS AND RUNNING GEAR:
Frame type: Aluminium double cradle,
Front suspension: 41mm Kyaaba inverted forks,
Rear suspension: Monoshock with adjustable preload and rebound damping,
Front brake: Dual four-piston calipers with 298mm floating discs,
Rear brake: Single-piston calliper, 240mm disc.

DIMENSIONS AND CAPACITIES:
Dry weight: 275kg,
Seat height: 714mm,
Fuel capacity: 15lt.

PERFORMANCE:
Max power: Yamaha will not quote,
Max torque: Yamaha will not quote.

OTHER STUFF:
Warranty: 24mths/unlimited km,
Colours: Titanium/Silver,
Price: $21,999.