Commentary

A Voice in the Wilderness

By Terry Malpass, ISRA #231

Tuesday, May 04, 1999

Dear Yamaha,

I am the proud owner of a 1997 Royal Star Standard. It is a great bike, being well built and reliable. There is no question of the Royal Star being one of the most beautiful motorcycles to grace our highways. Flowing fenders, sculpted gas tank, and a wonderful engine. An engine with a heritage of smooth power. An engine that in the interest of the "Cruiser Feel" was not just detuned, but the dadburn thing was castrated!

In 1996 when the media began testing the Royal, they all gave high praise for the quality and substance. This bike had the ability to offer a real choice in the heavy cruiser section of the market. Finally, we didn't have to walk the beat of the Milwaukee drum. Finally, there came a motorcycle of class and presence. We got on these bikes with our wonderful grins, fired the starter, and heard that wonderful V-4 straight from the legendary V-Max. Things were going to be great.

Then, the media rode one. "What a dog!", "Is it running on all four cylinders?", "Where's the beef?". There was, and is, no beef. The once mighty V-Max/Venture Motor had been defanged. All in the name of that "Cruiser Feel". It is a flawed philosophy, a misreading of the market. Lots of slow, underpowered Harleys were being sold, so the theory was that Cruisers didn't really want a lot of power. Missing from this equation were the sales of Harley Davidson hop up parts. Very rarely do you find an unmodified Harley. Cruisers most definitely want POWER!

Where was Yamaha? Never did I hear any defense of their wonderful Royal Star. Then came the Honda Valkyrie. Now, this bike had power. Of course, in a beauty contest the Royal walked away with the prize. No contest. The Valkyrie just ran away from everything except the V-Max. Still, Yamaha did nothing. So, we had a bike that was beautiful and reliable with the best warranty in the business. It was also very expensive. Now our beloved Royal Star had a reputation for being slow and under powered. And it stuck, even though the power is quite respectable to many. Perception is reality in the market place.

There is now a good aftermarket dedicated to making the Royal Star what it should have been all along. Companys like Pro One and Baron Customs. You give them enough cash and you can have the meanest, baddest heavyweight cruiser on the block. Yet, after all the money and sweat, you will be just getting by the Honda Valkyrie.

Let's zoom forward to 1998. I decide to trade my Virago 750 in on a new 1997 Royal Star Standard. Yamaha's got a $1,000 accessory rebate and I come out with a nicely equipped Royal Star needing only a set of hard bags to finish it off. Great deal. Royals were holding their value and with that 5-year warranty plus the Priority Service from my dealer, I was set. Then came the biggest competition the Royal had ever faced. Then came the 1999 Road Star.

Why would anyone buy a $14,000 Royal Star, when they can buy that $11,000 Road Star sitting next to it. These are Yamahas, after all. Do you really need the 5 year warranty if it is going to cost another $3,000? Unless you want a V4 specifically, the Roadie makes much more sense. There are a lot of unsold Royal Stars out there, I betcha. Guess what that does for the value of that behemoth sitting out there in the barn? Dive! Dive! Dive!

My Royal, even with everything that has been done to it -- even with all the accessories, has a trade in value of only $8,000. Retail is $11,500, but I know I could never get it. I would be lucky to get $9,000 in a straight sale. So, here I am with a bike that I can't trade and can't sell. There is nothing wrong with the bike, there is just no market for it. I'm sure in some parts of the world, the Royal may still be doing very well. [Australia - Ed.] But, not in my part. I have seriously thought about the new Venture. That's all I can do, is THINK about it. Very frustrating.

What now, Yamaha? Will the Royal Star be discontinued? Will you upgrade it? Or will you abandon the bike and those of us who still regard it as the best you have to offer? Ever ask any of the owners what we want?

Well, I will tell you what I would like to see. Perhaps a refocus of the Royal Star. Uncork the beast. Put the counter balancer back in the engine. Bump it up to 1400cc's or so. How about a 10,000-rpm redline? Bigger carbs would be nice along with some bigger cams. Re-design the gas tank so you can get a bigger airbox under it. I wouldn't mind a couple of Hypercharger type air filters hanging on each side. Lower the rear gearing. Refine the suspension and brakes to handle the power. Build a bike that says POWER! Build a bike that will scare the crap out of the Honda Valkyrie. Build a bike that I know you can build. And when you do build this "Speed Star" / "Max Star", make the parts so that they can be retrofitted all the way back to 1996 models. (Thanks Oz.) Make the bike fun. I would buy such a bike. And I would trade that five-year warranty to keep the price down. What are you gonna do, Yamaha?

You need to do something. It is my belief, that unless you do, you will have no choice but to discontinue the Royal Star. If I didn't know better, one could look at your previous decisions and come to the conclusion that Yamaha itself is trying to kill the Royal Star. You do build the main competition to the Royal with the Road Star. Think about it.

I have talked to a dealer or two. They are very frustrated with the Royal Star situation. How many dealers have ordered 1999 Royal Stars? My dealer hasn't. They do have a beautiful 1997 Royal Star Tour Deluxe. Discounted by $1,500. Makes a beautiful showpiece. It also helps to sell Road Stars and V Stars. Let's the customer know how good a value those two are. Mainly, it takes up space.

It is my hope that the Yamaha Company makes an effort to salvage the Royal Star line so that we, the faithful, do not feel like we are being left out in the cold. Now, let's go kill some more bugs.

Just a voice in the Wilderness,
Terry A. Malpass

The following are comments from my Yamaha dealer,
Keith Ellis of Carolina Motorsports, Kinston, North Carolina.

"The motorcycle is a wonderful motorcycle, it's an excellent motorcycle. What really killed that motorcycle was.... I spoke to the editor of (major motorcycle magazine), I saw him walking out of a dealer meeting. 'By the way, I want to thank you for destroying that Royal Star motorcycle in your magazine. What you just really did was ruin any part of dealer profit that could possibly ever be made.'

"...it would probably be one of the best selling cruisers on the market today if it wasn't for all the magazines trying to belittle it... because, honestly, the stock motorcycle, to be what it is, is plenty powerful... it's not going to be a Hot Rod,...and everybody expects a Japanese bike to be a Hot Rod... they want to associate it with a V-Max or something..."

"... the clientele that would have been interested in it was totally destroyed because of the magazines... it was really an unfair judgement... I wish somebody could do something about it"