V STAR CLASSIC

[3putter]

I'm buying a 2000 STAR with the 650 engine. 2400 miles, garage kept, excellent shape. Any suggestions as far as the maintenance program goes?

First bike since my college days. Took the Motorcycle Safety Foundation Course, which was excellent. Highly recommend it for any "return bikers".

 

[penzdude]

i have a bud who has one. shaft drive, he uses the mobil 1 gear oil in it, changed once a season. air cooled, no coolant to change. has a element type filter, not a spin on, that is a bit difficult to access, some report having to remove the pipes to get to it, and non self adjusting valves, that require checking at 4-6 thousand miles. the bike has plenty of get up and go it seems, just kinda peters out a little on the interstate loaded down, or doubled up riders. the 1100 might be a better choice, or maybe a vulcan w/ the liquid cooling, shaft drive, self adjusting valves, hyd clutch and brakes, easy to replace filter etc...not slamming the bike at all, but if you're just getting back into riding, there may be better choices. more riding, less maintence wise. the fit and finish and the reliability of the stars is excellent though. i think the manual is gonna try to get you to do the yamalube oil, 20w40. my bud uses the amsoil mc 10w40 w/ no complaints or clutch slippage issues. hope this helps a little, and great luck and safety with whichever bike you choose.

 

[Steve128]

Nice, informative post Penzdude!

 

[penzdude]

 

[cousincletus]

I'm going to take the class too since I've been off a m/c for over 10 years (although I kept my "M" class on my license all these years). I looked at some Yamahas at the Delmarva bike show a few weeks ago. A lot of people are using 15W-40 truck oil in their cycles with good results.

 

[seldont]

I have a 05 V Star 1100. The oil filter is a pain to get to and the 650 is much the same. I am gonna spend $200 for and oil filter relocation kit and solve that problem. As for the valve adjustments, the manual says every 4000 miles. Everyone I have talked to say usually once every 8000 miles is more than enough and most wait til there is a change in the sound of the engine. I have the manual and will do my own valve adjustments. Both the 650 and 1100 could benefit from another gear as they tend to rev a bit high at interstate speeds. The 650 moreso than the 1100. I have gotten very used to my 1100 at that speed and it is no problem. The 650 actually does have pelnty of power and if aftermaket air filter kits and exhaust are added along with rejetting the carbs they wake up quite nicely. That may be overkill moneywise as you may could have gone ahead and bought a larger bike for the money. The best thing is they are nearly bulletproof engine wise. Derived from the old Virago 535 engine they have been around seemingly forever. If you did buy it have the rear wheel pulled and lube the driveshaft splines and u-joints. There seems to be a fairly common problem in this area if not properly maintained. The MSF course is great. I took it after not riding for nearly 20 years. Took it in July this year. Have logged 3200 miles on my V Star 1100 since. Use Rotella for the oil changes. Me and the bike are both doing well. If you get it be safe and enjoy the ride.............

 

[arkainzeye]

http://www.chuckhawks.com/cruiser_motorcycle_chart2.htm

i dont know if this is useful or not.

chris http://www.cruisercustomizing.com/arkainzeye

 

[noplanb]

You definitely want to be on this forum:

http://forums.delphiforums.com/sgmfa/start

Make sure your drive splines are adequately lubed.

 

[Gary in Sandy Eggo]

quote:

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Originally posted by seldont:
As for the valve adjustments, the manual says every 4000 miles. Everyone I have talked to say usually once every 8000 miles is more than enough and most wait til there is a change in the sound of the engine.

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Valve adjustment requirements are WAY over stated. I have a 20+ year old Virago 920 (same basic engine). Bought the bike with 11K miles, checked the valves my first time at 17K miles. Right on. Checked again at 30K miles. Still right on. Checked again at 45K miles. Still no change. Won't check them again until 75K miles next time. Watch your valve clearance history - it'll tell you how frequently to check things.

Regards, Gary in Sandy Eggo