Anyone have a Yamaha Warrior streetbike?

[Ted Stryker]

I was wondering about some of the pro's and con's of the machine , horsepower , performance , ride quality , and just overall your take on the bike...

[VectorPat]

I was looking at getting one myself..

[xstreamed]

i would get one to if i had your discount:D

[VectorPat]

;) :D

[VectorPat]

This sight has alot of them on it.click here (http://www.rswarrior.com/) I just gotta sell the old ford first..

[Ted Stryker]

I just called to get a quote... OMG! By the way, I'm 27 years old-go figure... Man, I wish I could figure out a way to get it down... On another subject, does anyone know the horsepower of a stock Warrior?

[GP-1]

They're about 65-70 to the back wheel.. It's enough.. and not too difficult to get more.. It would take a bit of money and work to make it as fast as a V-ROD, but it's reasonably close to the other metric cruisers... The best thing is that they're a no-brainer to launch -- a lot easier than any contemporary sportbike, that's for sure..

I'm probably the wrong guy to offer advice -- the extent of my experience was one 15 minute ride (I'm a sportbike guy), but it seemed to handle reasonably well for what it was.. Stuff scraped too soon when you lean it over, but it's a cruiser.. that's just the way they are.. The only real downside -- to me anyway -- was the way they sound.. If you're looking for the "Harley sound", this ain't gonna do it.. Don't know how far apart the cylinders fire, but it sounded different from other stuff... I guess he had no choice but to replace the exhaust though.. That stock one looked like it came off a Freightliner...

[Ted Stryker]

I consider myself a sportbike fan also... Three things keep me away , Insurance , my job beats me up so comfort is a concern , and lastly the ol' dreaded jail sentencing... As far as the Harley sound, I don't want that... I haven't heard the Warrior yet , but if it sounds big then I'll be satisfied... I went back to the dealership today and saw one with aftermarket duals on it and they looked tough , said they haven't sold one with the factory "bazooka " yet... I also looked at the 1600 Sukuki Marauder... It was more affordable, more comfotable, almost as good looking and not as fast along with shaft drive and I prefer the Warrior belt drive... I really like to ride a Warrior though... The dealership said it's making about 90 hp /100 lbs feet tq. at the crank, does that sound about right to you?

[GP-1]

That's probably a bit optimistic, but they all lie -- so I guess it's no big deal... If you're a sportbike person.. and you have much time on anything 600cc or bigger, it will seem pretty slow.. As long as you go into it with reasonable expectations, I think you'll probably like it.. If it were me, I'd look at the Honda VTX too.. The Japanese are certainly getting better at building cruisers.. Those old Viragos/Intruders etc. were just UGLY (sorry to anybody out there that has one...)

[bulldogdaddy]

damn it gp-1,i had a virago and loved it! going to the corner now

[tripledude]

Start a thread for Bill Gohr's attention. He has a Warrior. He put a big rear tire kit on it and it looks very cool. He also tried an after market exhaust. Unsure of brand but he said it lost power. Went back to stock. He can also give you an overall opinion. I think he loves the bike.

[Ted Stryker]

Yeah , I finally found some hard HP#'s... About 75 is the real output and about 85-88 lbs ft. of torque... I was really hoping for more , but then again it is a V-twin... After market exhaust would be a must and little wider tire ( although comparatively wide now ) could only help the overall appearance... I've heard quite a bit about the performance , so when I found out about the Horsepower I wondered where all the jibberjabber was coming from , 75 hp/800#'s bike and rider Hmmmmmm ? Still a cool bike anyway.... I couldn't find anything on the power and performance of the 1800 VTX , anyone familiar?

[tripledude]

At Bikeweek, I saw a few Warriors with a strange looking aftermarket exhaust. Picture this---a two into one but at the FRONT of the muffler was a hole about four inches across. Maybe some wierd scavenging theory?? Never heard one run. You'd think it would sound like a leaky muffler??

[Ted Stryker]

Or maybe just a leaky wallet?

[GP-1]

Originally posted by Ted Stryker
Yeah , I finally found some hard HP#'s... About 75 is the real output and about 85-88 lbs ft. of torque... I was really hoping for more , but then again it is a V-twin... After market exhaust would be a must and little wider tire ( although comparatively wide now ) could only help the overall appearance... I've heard quite a bit about the performance , so when I found out about the Horsepower I wondered where all the jibberjabber was coming from , 75 hp/800#'s bike and rider Hmmmmmm ? Still a cool bike anyway.... I couldn't find anything on the power and performance of the 1800 VTX , anyone familiar?



The 1800 VTX's are a bit stronger.. I think they're over 90 hp.. and a legit 100 lb.ft. at the tire.. Cubic inches matter, I guess. I think a well ridden one will run low/mid 12's.. That's pretty fast for a tank. I don't know if it's still the case, but I know H-D wasn't having the best of luck selling V-Rods, maybe there's a reasonable deal to be had there.....? In any case, those things are the best performing V-Twin cruiser out there.. by a significant margin.

[Ted Stryker]

I've looked at a lot of spec's for a variety of Cruisers... The V-Rod is the obvious winner by looking a the figures... Approx. 595#'s, (110 less than the Honda) and the H-D has 11 more Horsepower, but not to forget the 5k additional cabbage... On what seemed to be a reliable source I found the Honda to make about 105 h.p./ 124 lbs ft of torque at 3000 rpm and 5000 rpm respectively... Did you have any gripes about the weight/handling of the Honda in comparison to other sport cruisers... Do you know of any pro's/con's to belt drive vs. shaft drive... The Honda website stated that the VTX produced too much torque for a belt drive... I don't know enough about Cruisers to have an opinion on that statement... It would be ignorant to ask a sell Rep. these questions... Thanks for all your input so far:) ...

[GP-1]

As I said, I doubt I'm the the most well-informed regarding cruisers, but you can infer some things by looking at the specs.. I don't know about the V-Rod pricing.. I live in Minnesota, and we have the price-gouging specialists here.. You can't (or at least couldn't recently) buy a Harley under MSRP.. A few years back when I was in Daytona for bike week, I was talking to one of the guys at Daytona H-D.. I mentioned that it was a 18-24 month wait for a bike that you had to pay 20% over retail to get.. He said "You must be from Minnesota, huh?".. That one really cracked me up..

Anyway, I think the numbers you're quoting are at the crank -- if so, that's possible.. As far as the shaft vs. belt thing, it depends on your priorities.. The belt drive bike is probably gonna handle better.. Usually, you get some up/down motion from a shaft drive bike.. The back will come up when you're on the throttle as the pinion tries to climb the ring gear -- the opposite happens when you cut the throttle.. I've only had one shaft drive bike ever, and I didn't care for the behavior... If "too much power" is Honda's arguement for not putting a belt on the VTX (or was this just a salesman's BS), I'm not sure I buy that.. There are tons of big motor Harleys (and clones) running around that have significantly more power than the VTX, and I don't hear about them popping belts..

The good news is that you probably can't go wrong in any of this -- all these bikes are really good now.. One's a little faster.. another handles a bit better.. maybe another has the best styling.. I know this isn't very helpful, but if it were me, I'd go look at all of them.. Sit on them... It's rare nowadays, but some dealers will give you a test ride if they have a demo.. Anyway, pick the one you like best.. I've alway found that it's easier to make a payment on a bike that's sitting idle in your garage all winter if you like the way it looks when you open the garage door..

[Ted Stryker]

I appreciate your attention on the subject...I've only looked at the Warrior and a couple of Suzuki's, but I'm going to check out the VTX tomorrow... I have never ridden any Cruisers only Sportbikes... By the way, the comment about the incompetent belt drive was on a Honda website and the power figures were claimed to be at the crank... Thanks again..

[VectorPat]

I agree with GP-1. If your not looking for all out numbers, pick the one that looks and fits you best....

[tripledude]

Just for grins, if nothing else, check out the new Triumph. Three cylinders with 2300cc's. There's a comparison in one of the current magazines of it against a new V-Max.

[GP-1]

I was expecting more from that Triumph... It's about as fast as a neutered V-Max.. but you bring up a good point anyway.. If the V-Twin sound isn't important, an early V-Max (up to about '88) would certainly provide you with all the performance you'd want.. I'm not sure what they did to slow them down so much... Cams, smaller carbs?? The older ones would run 120 in the quarter.. That's seriously fast on a wobbling, poorly suspended tank..

[Ted Stryker]

To me it's ugly , but I think it's still listed to have 146 hp--- 10.9 1/4 mile at 125+ no S**T !!! Can't remember ever hearing one in person , but I'd bet they sound very Alpha Male... In an old bike book(circa approx 1990) someone put about a + 4" swingarm, very loose exhaust , adjusted carbs , and a slick and the SOB went 9.98 at 134 and some change !! If someone don't like that then there not American and probably don't crave protein and cholesteral either... Like I said , the aesthetics are unappealing ( offset by h- power ) and also the Insurance Nazi's don't want me to have any fun..:mad: Definitely a legendary machine in any light...

[tripledude]

You might want to check out one of the v-max websites. I don't disagree that they have become a bit dated looking but there are some nice ones out there. A popular upgrade seems to be bigger rims with low profile tires. There's also different ways to go with the seat/tail section. Many also run nitrous which they can evidently handle. GP1---I'm with you on having expected more on the Triumph. I guess bragging rights on,"Who has the biggest..." was their goal. I don't think it will be enough.

[Ted Stryker]

I'll be sure to check on some of the custom V-Maxs'... Thanks