The Yamaha Road Star Warrior Forum

Figured I'd join to learn up.. Having owned a couple harleys.. 1990 Heritage, 2004 Fatboy.. I've got the itch again, but found a local deal possibly on a 2002 Warrior so naturally I did the search for where the info was.  Here I am.

 So in my hour or so search thanks to this site, I knew enough to ask about the recall work on the transmission (without knowing too much about the parts involved)... 

 The bike is a 2002 with 12k miles.. Priced mid $5k.. Looks to be in great condition.  Should I?   hehehe.. I imagine the answers would be different here than over at hdforums. :)  I've been considering a dyna of some flavor for a while.. Street Bob, etc.  Except I knew the reputation of this 1700 Yamaha motor and thanks to youtube, a guy can actually hear one.. yay.. Not to shabby at all I'd say.  Nothing like a single-pin crank push-rod V-twin.

 So I may or may not end up with a Warrior or Yamaha at all.. Please excuse me if I should call them "Star" instead.. hehe.. I still look for the three tuning forks. :)  From the looks of this particular bike though.. Looks like a lot of fun and made to handle far beyond the typical scoot you'd have a big twin in.  We shall see. 

I think that price is pretty decent.. Especially being conditioned to harley prices.. Your thoughts advise, suggestions.. All welcome.

Sounds like a good deal to me. I just bought a used 2002 with 24k miles on it for $4,600. You will want to check on the recalls: Trans, Fuel Tank, Coils, & TPS but they won't cost you anything to get them done. Get the VIN and call the dealer to find out if they have been done or not. Mine is at the dealer today getting the coils and TPS done the rest was already done.

Zak

 Yikes.. There are MORE recalls than the transmission?  Oh great!!  I'll have to search up on them.

Chances are all the recalls have been done.  The tranny recall was time consuming but the others were quick fix type things. Have you ridden a Warrior yet?    If not stand by to be really impressed with the low end torque.  The aluminum frame really helps in the weight department also.  BTW, Yamaha works just fine.  It is very rare I hear anyone call them a Star.  Although there are a good number of aftermarket parts available it is no where near what can be found for a Harley.  Doesn't matter though.  This is an easy bike to mod, check out the members bikes in the forum gallery.  You'll find everything from bone stock to OMG!   In it's class, muscle cruiser or power cruiser, it pretty much set the standard.  When it was introduced there were no other air cooled push rod V Twins that could touch it and it can still surprise most of the liquid cooled.  If this is the type of cruiser you are looking for you will not be disappointed!   Whatever you end up with, please come back and tell us what you got and why.

 The ergonomics of the warrior design are a departure from what I typically prefer.. Low with reasonably high bars, for example... My 04 fatboy was lowered in the rear 1" with Heritage bars which are basically like mini-apes.. More laid-back cruiser position.. Feet kicked up on kuryakyn cruise arms (highway pegs).

 I get the impression "by design" the warrior is more canted forward sportier ride... I'm finding reading in here such types of handlebars are almost a sin on the warrior so I'd have to rethink a good bar and seat for the bike... I guess you have to put some miles on it to determine which point in the triangle (butt, feet, hands) to adjust and which direction.. I suppose.  I imagine that kind of position can be done on a warrior with a seat and bar swap that's not too fugly on that particular bike?

 I haven't had the pleasure to ride one no... Did sit on one several years ago.. maybe '03 timeframe.  I remembered it was pretty cool.. Though I like a bit shorter seat-height and above harley-style position.

 I get the impression the engine is a serious piece of machine even if old-school pushrod air-cooled.. Like adding an extra set of valves to a big-bore kitted Harley motor.  I'd love to see if I can find the time to take this particular bike out for a spin.  The single-pin, air-cooled pushrod (dang near harley) style engine is what I like about the Yamaha's actually and am glad there are choices. The youtube vid's I've seen indicate it certainly sounds nice to ears trained by softail harleys. Even harleys don't "potato potato" anymore with their fuel-injected idle.. You can certainly tell a difference in the single-pin vs something like a VTX which I can't stand the sound of.

 So I thought I saw somewhere 09 is the final year for the Warrior... That's a shame.. I guess they're putting the Raider in it's place as stripped down cruiser.  Actually even being a Harley guy, I like the Warrior better.. Little design things on the Raider kind of annoy me.. The tank geometry, rear fender and strut, etc.  Something strange about that bike.  Looks like functionally a very cool cruiser though.

 Just curious... Are / were the Warriors a sure enough Japanese built bike or did they assemble elsewhere?  I don't care either way just wondering.

I think your Street Bob idea sounds pretty good to me.  There's even a rumor going around about one of them smoking a Warrior or two... 

By the way, what part of NC are you in?  There are several of us on this forum from NC.

"Ashe-vegas" (Asheville)   :)  

 Yeah the Bob I imagine is a quick bike with 96" in that little dyna package.

Hey guys so this is the bike I'm considering.. Though $20 says by the time I get off my caboose, it'll get sold...

So the seller has the original exhaust to include.. Just wondering..

What is this exhaust on this bike?  Not being that familiar with metric exhausts..

Almost looks like the stock headers with a slip-on maybe?

babs:

Almost looks like the stock headers with a slip-on maybe?

Yep. Looks bone stock other than that. I think you could find one with more done to it for that price IMO. Unless stock is what you are wanting.

babs:

Hey guys so this is the bike I'm considering.. Though $20 says by the time I get off my caboose, it'll get sold...

So the seller has the original exhaust to include.. Just wondering..

What is this exhaust on this bike?  Not being that familiar with metric exhausts..

Almost looks like the stock headers with a slip-on maybe?

 

It looks like a bub slip on.  I had one on my 06 when I bought it, since then I changed V & H Big Shots.

Its a Cobra Slip-On.  Mine's for sale but it would be a little more money.

babs:

Hey guys so this is the bike I'm considering.. Though $20 says by the time I get off my caboose, it'll get sold...

So the seller has the original exhaust to include.. Just wondering..

What is this exhaust on this bike?  Not being that familiar with metric exhausts..

Almost looks like the stock headers with a slip-on maybe?

 

Stock header with a boom can slip on. I think it's made by Bub.

Im pretty sure its a Cobra...

bassgizmo:

Im pretty sure its a Cobra...

It's not often you see a slip on AND the stock exhaust on the same bike, same time!

The nice thing about this one is you pretty much have a blank slate to start with rather than putting up with some mod(s) the PO loved but you might hate. 

Being from the Ashville area, you are real close to the Dragon. Warriors like the Dragon!