Honda Shadow 750 vs Yamaha V-Star 650: help to choose

[iblis]

Hey I know this thread's a couple years old but I'm trying to decide which bike to get:

Honda Shadow Spirit or Yamaha V STAR Custom.

it seemed like most of you leaned towards the Honda in 2007, but i'm wondering if anything changed for 2008/2009 models

I'm a small guy. 5'2" 140lbs

[jaskc78]

i only sat on a couple hondas and yamahas at the used bike shop down the street, but i did notice that hondas seemed to have more leg room than the yamahas. have you sat on either of them yet? it may have only been an inch or two on pedal placement, but that can make all the difference between barely reaching and comfortable cruising.

and really, for all the hp numbers and quarter-mile times, if you want to race buy a sport bike. they're not going to be speed demons, but if that's not what you're after then it doesn't much matter.

definitely go sit on them, though, and see which one feels more comfortable. ask one of the salesmen to hold it up so you can put both feet on the pegs, too, if they don't offer to. having both feet up can change how it feels quite a bit. you can even have them turn a fan on in front of you and make "vroom vroom" noises if you want, but it might make them give you weird looks.

[iblis]

lol yea i sat on both and both seem fine to me. as far as looks go i'm leaning towards the Yamaha. At this point i'm more interested in reliability and maintenance costs. any thoughts?

anyone own either of these bikes for a while and had anything go wrong with them?

[Ryethil]

Hey I know this thread's a couple years old but I'm trying to decide which bike to get:

Honda Shadow Spirit or Yamaha V STAR Custom.

it seemed like most of you leaned towards the Honda in 2007, but i'm wondering if anything changed for 2008/2009 models

I'm a small guy. 5'2" 140lbs

There is really no choice here. I would go with the Honda Shadow Spirit.

However, If you can fit on it comfortably, you might try the Vulcan 900. It's gentle enough to be a good learners bike but packs enough oomph to be a good bike for an experienced rider. It's a keeper.

[kellseabby]

I ride a 2003 Honda Shadow VT 750 ACE. I like the liquid cooled engine; the way it runs at 50 kmh in the city or at 120-140 kmh on the freeway. The sound is smooth and wont upset the neighbours. I ordered a Mustang saddle because the stock one is no good for long trips. My only other beef is the position of the air filter cover but the newer models have remedied that. Otherwise a nice and well built machine.
I like the looks of the Yamaha VS650 classic; especially the floor boards and the shaft drive and the heal-toe shifter. I've not driven one.

[danolson1973]

I've owned plenty of Vstars and Shadows. I like both, but my preference is the Vstar. Lighter weight, sits lower, better center for easier handling, and more HP (Vstar is 650 stock is 40HP and Shadow 750 stock is 38.3HP). Very comfortable and extremely easy and inexpensive to modify. The Vstar will keep you reaching for another gear at top end, but I added a hyper charger and opened the exhaust with 2.75 inch hardKrome strippers and the bottom end is boss. I Increased the main jet size to 132.5 Mikkuni. I'm pulling 35% more HP; That's right, 54 HP! And you'll hear me coming!

[Hanson]

Thanks for you post Dan, and welcome to the Total Motorcycle Forum

Safe Travels,
Richard