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I've always wanted a bike, and I'm about to take the plunge. I've done tons of online research and have narrowed my choice of machine to a 650 cruiser. The Honda VLX and Yamaha V-Star 650s both seem to get good recs for beginners, but I can't decide between the two.

About me--I'm 28 years old, 5'7'', 155 pounds, 30 inch inseam. The bike would be used primarily as a countryside cruiser with occasional short jaunts on city streets. Once I have some experience, I'd like to take my wife along on short trips.

I like the looks of the V-Star and I've read more positive things about it than the Honda. The Honda would be slightly cheaper and, owning an Acura car, I've got a thing for Honda reliability. I plan to buy used.

Can you guys help me out? And yes, I plan to take the MSF course before I even buy the bike!

MSO4gtt wrote:I've always wanted a bike, and I'm about to take the plunge. I've done tons of online research and have narrowed my choice of machine to a 650 cruiser. The Honda VLX and Yamaha V-Star 650s both seem to get good recs for beginners, but I can't decide between the two.

About me--I'm 28 years old, 5'7'', 155 pounds, 30 inch inseam. The bike would be used primarily as a countryside cruiser with occasional short jaunts on city streets. Once I have some experience, I'd like to take my wife along on short trips.

I like the looks of the V-Star and I've read more positive things about it than the Honda. The Honda would be slightly cheaper and, owning an Acura car, I've got a thing for Honda reliability. I plan to buy used.

Can you guys help me out? And yes, I plan to take the MSF course before I even buy the bike!

you just have to go sit on them really and decide which is better for you. and i mean sit on them for a while go to a dealer explain you just want to get the feel of the bike to make sure youll be comfortable. grab a magazine and sit on it for an hour or more.

youll get a few people saying the 650's wont handle riding with a passenger and wont be able to ride on the freeway so youll need a 1500cc bike. in my opinion its BS's, the 650 will be fine for what you need and if its not by then you might be ready to trade in on some thing newer and better.

as far as brand goes i cant say ive only had suzukis but hondas seem to run forever if taken care of.

Well, I was in the market for a bike myself and after careful consideration of all of the cruisers in the 600-800ish class, I finally settled with the 2003 Honda 600VLX... What's funny is that it came down to that, and a 2002 yamaha vstar... The honda was in a little better shape, so I'm sure that influenced my decision some.
I haven't gotten a chance to really give it a good long ride, since I just got it, but I'll write up a review after a few weeks...

I have to say that in addition to the online research, I probably spent 2 hours total sitting on different bikes at the shops, and although I ended up passing on the Suziki Savage 600, I've got to say that it was by far the most comfortable bike (at least in the shop) mostly beacause of the handlebar positioning.. (bent down and out, kind of like the old beach cruiser bikes)

Honestly, I belive that all the bikes that Suzuki, Yamaha, Honda, and Kawasaki make in the small cruiser class are decent bikes... I havent heard enything outright negative about any of them.

I'm not the most experienced person on here to ask.. (hell, I just got my first bike) but, both the bikes you are considering are good... just remember, it's hard to go wrong with a honda

I think it will come down to what you're more comfortable sitting on. Have the sales guy hold it so you can put both feet on the pegs. I have the V-Star 650 and think it's a great bike. It's been reliable, has enough power for me (and that's an individual preference too), and rides very well. I've had it on the freeway with no problems.

That being said, I've put mine up for sale. The gas tank is just wide enough to make riding for any long distance uncomfortable as it's hard to keep my feet on the pegs. Floorboards, or perhaps a new seat would most likely fix the problem, but I've decided to go with a standard bike.

My friend has a VLX and loves it. I've had the opportunity to ride it and think it fits me much better. She seems to have some problem keeping up at times, but that may be her riding style and not the bike. When I was researching bikes, that seemed to be a knock on the VLX.

Either way, I think you'll get a great bike.

As has been pointed out, you must sit on them and see which one fits you best. In my experience (and my wife's), the VLX felt more like sitting in the bike due to it's slighlty chopper-esque design. The 650 Yammie fel more like sitting on the bike, a little more forward and higher. It's personal preference. Either brand will last you forever provided you do the maintenance.


In the end, for us, we went with the VLX because we got a decent price. I can say with 100% confidence that the 600 cc motor, even with "only" a 4spd tranny, keeps up just fine at 80 mph and will get up to speed quicker than 90% of the cars on the road. Two-up is not a problem, either.

That being said, our 2002, dark red, excellent condition VLX Deluxe is for sale now. Wife doesn't ride it enough and we could use a few extra bucks. Where are you located?

V4underme wrote:As has been pointed out, you must sit on them and see which one fits you best. In my experience (and my wife's), the VLX felt more like sitting in the bike due to it's slighlty chopper-esque design. The 650 Yammie fel more like sitting on the bike, a little more forward and higher. It's personal preference. Either brand will last you forever provided you do the maintenance.


In the end, for us, we went with the VLX because we got a decent price. I can say with 100% confidence that the 600 cc motor, even with "only" a 4spd tranny, keeps up just fine at 80 mph and will get up to speed quicker than 90% of the cars on the road. Two-up is not a problem, either.

That being said, our 2002, dark red, excellent condition VLX Deluxe is for sale now. Wife doesn't ride it enough and we could use a few extra bucks. Where are you located?

just how much is a few extra bucks anyways ; )

MS04gtt wrote:The Honda VLX and Yamaha V-Star 650s both seem to get good recs for beginners, but I can't decide between the two.

They're both good bikes. Buy the one that moves you.

iwannadie wrote:

V4underme wrote:As has been pointed out, you must sit on them and see which one fits you best. In my experience (and my wife's), the VLX felt more like sitting in the bike due to it's slighlty chopper-esque design. The 650 Yammie fel more like sitting on the bike, a little more forward and higher. It's personal preference. Either brand will last you forever provided you do the maintenance.


In the end, for us, we went with the VLX because we got a decent price. I can say with 100% confidence that the 600 cc motor, even with "only" a 4spd tranny, keeps up just fine at 80 mph and will get up to speed quicker than 90% of the cars on the road. Two-up is not a problem, either.

That being said, our 2002, dark red, excellent condition VLX Deluxe is for sale now. Wife doesn't ride it enough and we could use a few extra bucks. Where are you located?

just how much is a few extra bucks anyways ; )

In this case, for a gorgeous '02 w/ ~13k miles and leather bags, a few extra bucks is around $3,400.

Thanks for asking!

I really appreciate the comments and suggestions thus far. I'm still early in the looking process, but I'm leaning towards the Yamaha.

I like the fact that the V-Star is shaft drive and a 5-speed. I also like the looks. I feel that I will not have the urge to upgrade quite as soon if I go with it over the Honda. However, the VLX would be cheaper, and man I do love Honda products.

Will I see much performance difference between the two bikes? They seem pretty similar in power-to-weight specs. I want some decent thrust or else I'll be looking at some Suzuki 800s (Marauder anyone?) Thanks again for all of the help.

--jkw

There are other shadows out there. The 750 aero and spirit? These are closer in design to a v-star and very popular on the streets, you'll see tons of them out there.

My friend has one, and loves it to death.