Was on a thread the other day and someone said that the roadie was being made in Viet Nam and Cambodia. Well for personal reasons that didn,t set well. So I started digging. Finally I called the Yamaha corp. headquarters in Cypress California. They gave me a friendly walk through on what goes on with the Star bikes. They are all ( the Star bikes ) engineered an designed in Ca. They also do the test on the moc up bikes there. Every Star Motorcycle is built in Japan. No other plants in any other country build the Star bikes. the plants in Nam and Cambodia build mostly 130-150 cc bikes. That is what the people there choose to ride and Yamaha says it is cheaper exspecially in a 3rd world country to build their bikes there. They have either 35 or 65 don,t remember which. overseas mfg plants.So fellas rest assured our scooters are made in japan after careful scrutiny by American designers. Off topic I hear Iran is going to start buildoing Ultra Classics

That's great research! It is very hard to navigate through all the international sites you need to get to the bottom of the Yamaha corporate sites, they are a huge company. I mentioned the Vietnam and Cambodia because I got those locations off a point of origin on the shipping crates at my local Yamaha dealer. If Yamaha USA says Japan I have no reason to doubt it. As for the engineering the fact that the Roadstar is "mostly" a US market bike, I am not surprised. It honestly doesn't matter to me where the bikes are produced, they are great bikes. If I felt otherwise I wouldn't have purchased one. The question was initially brought up from a post from a member stating his dealer had told him they were produced in the US. Thank you for doing your research.

Very good to know. Thanks bikerbob2.

Thanks for taking the time to find out. I appreciate that.

I have known friends Fathers and Grandfathers from a different era who (also)for personal reasons would not be happy about the Japanese made bikes as well.....These men have all passed away, so I don't have to hear the comments. Time heals wounds not scars.
But thank you for the info.I have been curious myself but never looked it up.

That's great research bikerbob2

I work in the automotive industry. You can tell the origin of manufacture of any vehicle (including motorcycles)sold in the U.S. since the 1980's by the 1st digit of the V.I.N. "J"-Japan, "D"-Germany, "K"-South Korea, any numeral means it was assembled in North America (including U.S., Canada or Mexico). My Road Star's V.I.N. starts with a "J" for Japan. The Kawasaki Concours ZG1000 was made in, I think, 16 or so different countries. Mine happened to be made in Indiana & the 1st V.I.N. digit is "1". My Hyundai is made in Alabama & it is "5".

My Grandfather fought the Japanese in WWII. He killed several of them, but lost part of his face & most of his hearing when a grenade exploded near him. He always loved motorcycling. During his riding years, he owned an Indian Chief, a Moto Guzzi & several Triumphs (including a Bonneville & Trident). While he was alive, I rode an '83 Honda Shadow VT750C. I loved the bike but was always embarrassed to let him know what I rode. He hated anything Japanese.

http://www.vinnumbersearch.net/vin_number_search/vin_decoding.html

In case you are interested...gives the codes.

My Grandfather fought in WWII as well, when I told him I was going to be stationed in Japan he let it be known he would not be visiting, lol.