Considering an 05 v-star 1100 classic. Just want to know what your thoughts on it are. Especially reliability

I am in the same boat as you. I have been looking at the 1100V Star Classic, and like the looks and the feel. I have only test ridden one for 20-minutes, but liked it. In a few weeks here in NE PA the snow should melt, and I will be able to talk to some that own them when I see them at bike night at a local steak house. Have you been on one yet? Good luck.

ps are you a pilot?

Bought a 2004 Vstar 1100 Classic last April; almost 7000km on it now. Am very happy with the bike. Good city and hiway handling, ample power for my needs, no problems so far. Only complaint is numbass after an hour in the saddle. We'll see how she starts & runs next month when I pull it out of 5 months of winter storage.

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I've test driven one and had no complaints. Have only heard good things about it's reliability. You'll have to excuse me if I'm a bit old school though I don't care for shaft drive or liquid cool but that's just a personal thing.
Yamaha makes good bikes that's what matters.

Lonewolf

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Everyone has the right to have a faith but no one faith is right for everyone.

I bought the VStar 1100 Silverado last march, and put about 4500 miles on it last year. In fact I had it inspected last monday, took it out for a sping training ride today for a few hours, and she is still running fine.Something about that first ride, when there is still snow lining the hyways and the temp gets all the way up to about 48f that puts that smile back on your melon. I had no mechanical problems with it last year. Only long trip was up to Lake George , then thru Vermont and New Hampshire and back home to Buffalo. Solid all the way. I have put some aftermarket parts on it, a Max Air kit and Bub pipes were the significant ones performance wise, and did give it a little extra power and a much better sound. Stainless brake lines in front, and a oil filter relocation kit-tho a friend has told me that Yamaha solved the 2 hour oil change problem by relocating the filter. All in all I think it is an excellent bike for the money. I suppose the main competition in metrics are the Suzuki Boulevards, or the Kawa's, also nice, but the Yamaha fit me nicely and has alot of nice features. I prefer the shaft drive, and though it's carb's instead of EFI, it responds well. I would prefer a seat with a little firmer feel, but it's ok except for the longest days ride. May get a Mustang seat with backrest, but I hate spending that amount of money when this one is still good. Incidentally, it gets about 40 around town, 45 on the road. Good luck, I'm sure you'll like it if you go for it.

I can't too many positive things about this bike. Bought the Vstar Classic new in 2003. Spent all last summer in the shop. Had some gear casing noise that sounded horrible. The took the whole engine apart and re-timed it. Nothing wrong. Apparently, some bikes are louder than others, and mine was one of them was me. On the brighter side of things, it does look great, and has great power. But after test driving a Harley FXDL last wee, there's no going back to Jap bikes. The handling, the shifting, the comfort riding is so much different. Good luck.

Friday I bought a '05 V-Star 1100 Midnight Custom.
I've only put about 200 miles on it so far, and half of those are 2 up with my wife. So far I'm really happy with it. GOBS of low end torque (compared to my '85 ZN700 Kaw).
I'm really happy with it so far, lets see how it goes once it really warms up and I start riding all the time...

I have an 04 classic. These bikes are reliable. I like the air coolness vs.
radiator and shaft drive.

I don't like the maintenance i.e. valves recommended at 600 then every 4k after that. No big if you can do it yourself.

They do depreciate significantly from new. At least 1k out the door.
Look around and buy used if this is the bike you really want.

there are a lot out there. I recently saw an 04 silverado with less than 2k miles go for 6800 on ebay.

go to delphi forums.com vstar 1100 riders. Ask and yee shall find.

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DOG IS MY CO-PILOT