Ownership Verified: V-Star 650, Two-Wheeled Battlecruiser

Rossco

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2009
Messages
963
Location
Massachusetts
Car(s)
05 Saab 9-5, '99 Yamaha XVS650A, '07 Suzuki DL650
So, let me start by saying that this is NOT the replacement for my Bandit. This was a cheap beater bike that I found last summer. It belonged to a buddy of mine who bar-tended at a local comedy club I used to frequent. The guy rode it for a while, then parked it at his parents house in South Boston when he got sick of it. It sat there for a couple of years before I found it.

He told me that something was wrong with it, that it wasn't getting any power despite having a full charge on the battery and that I could have it for $700 if I could get it out of his folks place in Southie. Armed with some basic tools I took a quick look at the bike, popped off the fusebox cover and very quickly noticed a blown 30 amp fuse. The main fuse. Threw a fresh fuse in it, jumped the battery, thumbed the starter and it fired right up!

Here's what it looked like the day I brought it home.

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Put it on an el-cheapo motorcycle lift. $120 and it still manages to lift this pig

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.

First order of business, as it is with any newly purchased used bike is to change all the fluids. Everything was going smooth until I got to the brake fluid. Which I'm pretty sure had to be the original from 1999.

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So I went to bleed it out and within the second pull on the lever, the master cylinder seized. Luckily, Yamaha built these bikes virtually unchanged for like 10+ years (hey, if it ain't broke don't fix it) so a newer model master cylinder was easily aquired on the cheap, with an HEL SS line because why not.

With everything mechanically sorted, I threw a milk-crate on the back and daily drove the thing.

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Then I decided to clean up the back end. When I got the bike, the back fender was all bent up and the back turn signals were held on with muffler tape. A color matched fender was acquired on ebay along with some unbroked turn signals. I threw on a chrome rack where the back seat was.

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And that's where I'm at now. With this now being my only motorcycle I do have some plans to make it a bit more versatile. Stay tuned and thanks for reading!

Oh yeah, and just to make sure I do own this fine machine.

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So riding an upright cruiser for extended periods on the highway with no protection kinda sucks. So I went on eBay and picked up one of the biggest windshields I could get without paying an arm and a leg.

Thing's a friggen Police riot shield.

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Also picked up this chrome cupholder, because why not?

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Gave it a try with a Five Guys shake.

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Rode hard enough to scrape the pegs, and other then the whipped cream getting a bit messed up, it stayed intact. 10/10 would buy again.
 
:lol:

Excellent transformation from lowered KLR to nice looking bike there. What are you thinking about for the replacement?

Thanks! I actually just put a deposit down on a nice used DL650. Seller just needs to obtain a replacement title and it's mine.
 
So I decided to give my bike the "bagger" treatment, but on a shoestring.

I found some cheap Chinese universal plastic hardbags on ebay. White in color, they kinda match the bikes cream paint job.

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Then, using some EZ-Brackets, I was able to get'em on the bike. Really neat product allows me to take'em off the bike with just a key, not leaving some ugly metalwork behind.

EZ-Brackets mocked up.

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Then voila!

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A little too far forward, I might relocate them later on, but for now I'm pretty happy with them.

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All in, I'd say it was around $150. Not exactly shoestring, but a helluva lot cheaper then going down to my local hog dealership and dropping 20 grand on an AstroGlide.
 
Hey everyone I'm back! Been a busy winter at work. Took the old girl out yesterday for her first run of the year. Got 10 miles down the road and the clutch cable snapped. Coulda limped the thing back but decided to be safe and call my roadside assistance company. BIG MISTAKE! Took them 3 and a half hours to send a truck as I sat out there, shivering in my thin motorcycle jacket as it got dark and cold with my phone dying.

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2 things I learned from this. Always lube your cables, and choose your roadside assistance companies wisely!

Still have to fetch my V-Strom from the storage locker so I'm temporarily bikeless.:glare:
 
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