I own a 1999 Yamaha Road Star. It’s a 1602cc (1.6l or 98ci) air cooled, single carb, pushrod, belt driven monster of a V-twin. I bought the bike back in 1999 and we’ve been inseparable since. Incidentally 1999 was the first year this model was manufactured AND it was the largest production Japanese cruiser on the market at the time. These days it is overshadowed by its 1800cc Honda VTX, 2000cc Kawasaki VN and even the 2300cc Triumph Rocket III, but I still love my beast of a bike.
My '99 Yamaha Road Star
As of writing my Road Star has 85,000kms on the clock so it will crack its 100,000km birthday during this trip. I’ve done a few multi thousand km runs on this bike before, but nothing approaching the length of this odyssey. 15,000kms is quite a ways and because of this are a few things I need to look at to get the bike ship shape before I head off:
- The steering head bearings need to be replaced
- Full engine and transmission oil change
- Need to swap out the exhausts to something that idle below 100db
- Need to fix my Mustang seat (or get a new one) as the latch clip has broken free of the seat pan
- New fork oil in the front shocks
- Clutch plates replaced
- New tyres: front and rear plus a spare rear or a replacement organised for Perth
Thankfully I can do most of the work required for my bike, and for any Road Star aficionados out there wondering; yes, it has had the transmission recall work undertaken as well as the oil pump drive replacement.
Spares I will want either in the support truck or on the bike:
- Drive belt – let’s face it, if the belt breaks that’s a show stopper
- Spare set of inner tubes – any garage can change a tube, but not all garages have motorcycle tubes
- Full set of tools
- Spare set of spark plugs
- Clutch and throttle cables
- Fuel line filter
I’ll also be offering my motorcycle jack to the support crew if someone can get it from Canberra
