History has a habit of constantly repeating itself by bringing back what-once-was, but quite often in a slightly different and modern form, and always better than the previous era. Many things can be learned by paying attention to the past and building on previous knowledge. While the original chopper/bobber has been around for 60-plus years, they have made a resurgence in the last number of years with some major help from television. Just as those very TV shows that began the most recent custom motorcycle craze begin to fade, it seems that 2008 may be an important year for the chopper with a couple of the world's biggest motorcycle manufacturers, Yamaha and Harley-Davidson, releasing variations to their respective line-ups of what can be considered factory customs. Harley-Davidson has released the Rocker and the Rocker C while Yamaha has jumped ahead of its Japanese competition and released the XV1900, a long, low-slung, raked-out, big rear tire factory custom. Anyone who has a soft spot for the most recent variation of custom bikes can take one look at the new Yamaha and you just know that it 'looks right'.
Yamaha Canada calls the new factory custom the XV1900. While in the States, where it is released under Yamaha's cruiser division, 'Star Motorcycles', it's called the Raider. It's pretty obvious that the name XV1900 does not conjure up images of a long, sleek and sexy chopperesque-type bike, but the name Raider could not be used in Canada due to copyright issues. Even typing the name XV1900 is painful, but the most radical cruiser product to arrive from any of the import manufacturers is far from painful on the eyes.
It's hard to keep in mind that the XV1900 is a factory Yamaha and not a one-off creation from the pro builder around the corner. A lot of thought and research went into the design, ergonomics and styling of this bike, including polling the American public as to what they like about custom bikes and what they would like to see in a factory custom.
The first thing to hit you in the eyeballs is the big rake and long forks that kick the big 21-inch hoop out front and the rear end that carries a 210 mm tire, the largest in Yamaha's history. In between the front and rear hoops, your eyes are drawn to the huge air-cooled V-twin engine and then to the lines of the bike that carry-on throughout. The lines make it seem as though the bike is slammed in the rear, biting into the pavement while the front reaches for the sky, as if it's taking off from the start line at the drag strip.
Secondly, is the radical type of styling. Words like gothic, evil, black art and wicked come to mind. Popular styles that much of the chopper world plays on. Bringing this gothic design to the table is world-renowned motorcycle designer Jeff Palhegyi, who is the driving force behind the XV1900's design. Palhegyi is no stranger to Yamaha customization and has shown his custom creations around the world, both privately and through corporate Yamaha. He was an important part in the design and development of Yamaha's Road Star, Warrior, Roadliner and Stratoliner motorcycles.
The XV1900 comes in two styles, the XV1900 Custom and the XV1900 Custom 'S' models, the differences being the chrome and paint packaging. While the standard Custom model has many powder-coated black trim pieces, mostly on the front-end like the triple clamps, signal housings, risers, clutch and brake master cylinders, headlight pot, wheels, a few engine pieces and covers, the Custom 'S' model has those items chromed with polished wheels.
The demo model I had for two weeks was the XV1900 Custom and because they hadn't been released in Canada yet, my demo was an American model. After I realized I was going faster than everyone else on the road, it dawned on me that the speedo was in miles per hour. From then on I had to convert miles to kilometers, something I haven't had to do for many years even though I still quite often refer to speed in miles per hour. Old habits die hard. Other than the speedo being in MPH, the Canadian model is identical.
View from the seat is a low chopper inspired version with fists breaking the wind at chest height, boots out front in a classic chopper-riding stance, and the fuel tank rises up in front of you to relieve most of the windblast off your chest, making you feel as though you are sitting 'in' the bike, and not 'on' the bike. The fat 1.25-inch diameter handlebars conceal the internal wiring for a clean view just below eye level. The look is one of confidence and attitude, the riding position is astonishingly comfortable and the manoeuvrability is quite agile despite the long rake and wide rear tire.
My longest day riding the XV1900 began as a frosty fall day but the weatherman promised warmer temperatures in late morning. I decided to head north to take in some fall colours and see how this long chopper style bike would tackle the twisting roads of Muskoka's cottage country. I desperately try to stay away from this area in the summer, but in the fall the traffic is minimal and the bugs have packed it in for the winter. Actually, there was one left but I took him out with my right cheek. While riding the roads around rock cuts and lakes, I can attest to the relative nimble handling of the XV1900, even with the long rake and fat 210 mm tire out back.
The frame rake is 33-degrees and another 6-degrees has been added to the triple trees for a combined rake of 39-degrees. Until this year, that was a pretty crazy number for a factory-produced motorcycle. Factor in the long wheelbase of 1,799 mm (70.8 in) (3 inches longer than the Roadliner) and a fat 210 mm rear tire and the first things that come to mind is how is this bike going to react to corners, and just as importantly, slow speed manoeuvrability? Generally speaking, a high degree of rake makes a motorcycle track straight on the open road but inhibits slow speed manoeuvres and cornering, as does a long wheelbase and a wide rear tire. By adding the extra 6-degrees in the triple trees, the engineers at Yamaha were able to keep a proper amount of trail in the steering geometry to increase the slow speed handling factor and that contributes to very civilized low speed manoeuvrability. After a little practice, feet up slow-speed U-turns are possible and while the big tire out back does require a little extra push on the handlebar in a corner, it does not make the bike unwieldy at all, leaving left to right transitions easy to handle. Lock-to-lock steering radius is reduced by the high degree of rake though when trying to turn around in a garage for instance.
Although it might look like a stretch, the riding position is very comfortable. The big risers push the handlebar back to the rider at chest height, the handgrips are positioned at the proper angle so as to not strain the wrists and the footpegs are perfectly positioned for my 32-inch inseam. The stylish wide seat provides ample comfort for long hours in the saddle and the deep seat pocket and passenger portion of the seat offers some lower back support. The positioning of the footpegs, handlebar and seat should provide comfort for a wide range of rider heights and proportions. While riding this bike I had many requests from people wanting to sit on it and while all of them varied in size, they all felt the bike's ergonomics fit them...
... MMM
To read more of this shortened article, be sure to pick up this issue of Motorcycle Mojo Magazine. Current Issues are available at Chapters/Indigo and other fine newsstands across Canada and by subscription. Previous issues are available in the Mojo Store.
