I am glad that I found this forum.I own a 2000 Roadstar, and I couldn't be happier with the bike. I am wondering if I am kidding myself or could it be That my Roadstar sounds every bit as nice as a Harley, let me explain. I am one of those riders that likes the big and loud and deep sound. I was always of the opinion that a metric could never sound as nice as a Harley ,until I found my bike. I have the Vance and Hines longshots with no baffles.Through articles I have read , I know that the 2000 Roadstar has more horsepower and torque than the 2000 Harley softtail. I know that a few years ago Harley was concerned about the Japanese bikes sounding like theirs that , they tried to patten the Harley sound. If I am not mistaken I think that it was the 2000 Roadstar that put this fear in them. A lot of times I have gotten compliments from people about the way my bike sounds, to the point where they cant believe that its a Yamaha, of course this respect never comes form a Harley owner. My bike has a huge amount of custom chrome etc. and hopefully soon I will post some pictures. I would appreciate some comments on this issue because I pretty sure that the Roadie being air cooled Etc. with the right pipes can sound every bit as nice as a harley. Believe me I know that not all Japanese/Metrics are the same , I'll put my roadstar up against any Harley anyday and that s coming from someone that never thought that was possible. Thanks hope to hear from some of you.

Welcome to the Clinic Barovj , glad you love your bike. Yes , they sound great don't they? Power is right there as well. As for a short history lesson, it was actually the (mid 90's) Honda Shadow 1100 ACE (American Classic Edition) that got Harley into the court rooms trying to patent a "sound". Can't patent a sound . Anyway , we all won, as nothing sounds as sweet as a single pen crank with two rods ,huh. Enjoy your bike, and enjoy the Clinic. BB

barovj



barovj wrote:
.......A lot of times I have gotten compliments from people about the way my bike sounds, to the point where they cant believe that its a Yamaha, of course this respect never comes form a Harley owner.....

I have received compliments on the looks, power and sound (even when I was stage 3 with my stock pipes) from all types of owners of other bikes. I find that the Road* received its props from owners of Harley's, Triumphs, Victorys, Hondas, Suzukis, BMW's etc. In all fairness, the Road* is a respected brand to all but maybe 1% of the hardcore motorcycle enthusiast. I am looking forward to the response My '03 receives with the new addition of my HK's.

Mr. Breeze

I have to agree with you barovj on 2 points...
One I love my Roadstar and two I'm also glad I found
this Site
This site pushed me over the edge on the purchase of my roadie.
About the sound of a roadstar....I have Bubs Jug Huggers and love
the sound and performance they gave me.
Hell this weekend I heard many Harley's trying to
sound like my RoadStar

Get on those pic's like to see your ride.

Not sure what you are after barovj. It sounds like you should have an HD if sounding like an HD is what you are after. I find it curious that people more or less put down a brand of bike and then ask how to immitate that brand.

seem right but not same

Glad your happy with your roadStar. As someone who rode Harleys for many years and took a twenty year break to raise a family, I too am happy that there are now alternatives to expensive HDs. I liked my harleys so much that for the twenty year hiatus, I swore that no other bike could satisfy my soul if I were to get back into riding again. Well, in big, air cooled, pushrod, v-twin land Harley is no longer alone. Been riding the RoadStar for four years now and my HD riding friends say that they like the roadie better than the Victory and the Victory riders say they like the roadie better than the HDs. I like it better than either. Don't get me wrong, I like both the HDs and the Victories and you won't catch me bashing them. Even after four years I still catch myself standing and staring at my RoadStar. As far as sound goes, not all bikes of the same make sound the same anyhow. I've even heard some Harleys that sound like crap. It depends on the exhaust system. Ride safe.

Hey Musky thanks for chiming in on my post. I feel that your reading into my post , that I don't like or respect the Harley name. This is absolutely not true ,I would go as far as to say that if I found a Harley that I like, I would even consider owning one.The only thing I said on my post is that I get no respect from Harley owners, and thats the truth, I know friends of mine that own Harleys, and they are always joking about how Yamaha is basicly a harley wannabe. The truth is , its all in good nature, but underneath they really believe it. Anyway thanks for your post,but if your trying to stir something up, Chill out life is to short. Vic.

I have been very impressed with my RS. I purchased it off the show room floor in 2001 and have been to the states surrounding New Mexico. Reliable and outperfoms most bikes. The slip ons I installed on the exhaust make sound as good if not better than a Harley.

Vic
Your opinion is right about some H.D. guys but not all of them are that way. I get the respect from all my friends who ride H.D.! They will tease me and I just shrug it off.I will also tell you that I own both R* & H.D. and yes the sound of the R* sounds great I love my R* and it's sound, but it will never have the same tone or sound of a harley. I have been around harleys all my life and I can hear a bike go by and I can tell the sounds apart. In fact I can tell a Pan-Shovel motor sound from an Evo motor sound. But to the average guy out there they all sound the same.




I had one of my best friends who rides a harley ask me the other day this question " hey is there any part left on that bike that's still yamaha? You have put so many harley parts on that bike why didn't you just buy a harley? My answer " Well your right I have added a lot of parts from harley and the reason I was able to do that was cause I spent half of what harley charges for the same thing. That ended that little question.

The important thing is if your happy with your motorcycle no matter what brand it is and you like the sound then that's great
And the most important thing of all is "Your in the Wind an on two wheels!" Ride safe and have fun!!