Ask MO Anything: Will Kawasaki Ever Bring Back the Mean Streak?

Dear MOby?

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Keeping Your Domepiece Safe: Best Motorcycle Racing Helmets

Congratulations. You’ve made the decision to go to a trackday (or even a race). We think that’s one of the best decisions you can make with your motorcycle. Not only is track riding fun and addictive, but it’s also a great environment to improve your skills. But there’s a lot to do to get ready, like getting all your gear in order. Most important, of course, is your helmet.

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MO Tested: Bell Star Helmet Review

Bell has got four new Star helmets: Pro Star, custom-fit Star Carbon, Race Star, and the one under review here, the plain old Star. They range in price all the way from $1299.95 for the most expensive Pro Star to $499.95 for the Pace Orange/Black Star pictured. Compared to the others, the Star’s eye port is more oriented to upright riding than to peering out the top while tucked-in behind the bubble at Daytona. Though it’s of course a tad heavier than the more expensive Stars, it seems no heavier than a comparable premium helmet.

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Bell Star MIPS Helmet Review

The new Star MIPS is Bell’s latest attempt to improve protection for our brains, introducing the Swedish-engineered Multi-directional Impact Protection System to its popular street helmet.

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Yamaha to Reveal New Touring Model at Americade Rally

Yamaha announced it will introduce a new touring motorcycle during the opening ceremonies of the 2017 Americade Rally, June 5 in Lake George, NY. The presentation will also be streamed online at YamahaMotorsports.com.

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Look Out Arai And Shoei, The New Bell Pro Star Is Coming

Two and a half years ago, Bell Helmets set out to design and create its most advanced helmet yet, and with the new Pro Star, designed with input from Bell’s athletes around the world, Bell has expanded the Star line to include three models: the Star, the Race Star, and the Pro Star. Each getting progressively more expensive.

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2016 Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Classic LT Vs. Star V Star 950 Tourer Comparo

File this one in the “They still make that?” file. We’ve been bombarded with so many cutting-edge sportbikes and go-anywhere, do-anything adventure-tourers lately that it’s easy to forget about the cruiser segment of the market. And even among the cruising set, the sub-liter middleweight category hasn’t been getting much love. The attention usually goes to the big-displacement crowd because, let’s face it, cruiser riders have an image to uphold.

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Quarter-Liter Cruise-Off

Things don’t change very often in 250cc cruiser land, but that doesn’t make the players any less important for a newer rider looking for something other than a 250cc sporty-type bike. And so, we decided to conduct a MO shootout. While we attempted to gather all three of the models currently in production, the Honda Rebel wasn’t available. When a bike has been unchanged for as many years as the Rebel, there’s no incentive for a manufacturer to incur the expense of putting one in the media pool. So, despite their best efforts to scare one up from other departments within American Honda, it wasn’t possible. Without the 250cc parallel-Twin, this shootout became a battle of the quarter-liter V-Twins. That’s okay. The Hyosung GV250 Aquila ($3,999) and the Star V Star 250 ($4,340) both have enough to offer to make this an interesting experience.

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New Yamaha and Star Motorcycles for 2016

Yamaha unveiled a few new models yesterday afternoon in Irvine, California, and told us to stand by, there may be another new street model yet to come later this year. We were kind of expecting the XSR700 that Yamaha teased back in July, so maybe that will be the missing model?

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Church Of MO - 1995 Yamaha Virago 750

In 1995 the Virago was entering its fifteenth year of continuous production. Twenty years on and the Virago is nothing but a memory. The Star brand didn’t exist back then either, but as the modern cruiser subsidiary of Yamaha, it could choose to resurrect the name. Regardless, the Virago was a sweet cruiser by it’s own standards back then as well as used ones are today.

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Strange Bedfellows - Star Bolt C-Spec Vs. Suzuki Boulevard M50 + Video

It’s kinda funny when I look back on it. Swanky downtown Los Angeles location, circa June 2013. Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres are served. Then someone finally pulls the wraps off the guest of honor: the early-release 2014 Star Bolt. Star employees beam with shameless pride about the new model bike that seems little more than a ripoff of the long-existing Harley-Davidson 883 Sportster.

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Star Unveils Early Release 2016 Models

Having a popular motorcycle model – or two – is a good thing for a manufacturer, but it can be a double-edged sword. Faced with a dwindling supply of 2015 Bolt and Bolt R-Spec models in showrooms, Star Motorcycles decided that, to keep their dealers from running short of a desirable model and possibly losing out on some sales, the 2016s needed to be released early. How well are the Bolts selling? Star says the Bolt is its third best-selling street bike. So, as a result, the 2016 Bolt and Bolt R-Spec will hit the showroom floors beginning in August.

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Church Of MO – First Ride: 2002 Yamaha Road Star Warrior

Sometime during the start of the new millennium, the cruiser manufacturers made a push toward producing models that could best be described as “muscle cruisers.” These bikes packed big engines into minimal frames with big shoulders and mean street cred. The Honda VTX1800 featured in last week’s Church feature is one such motorcycle. These bikes were an attempt to appeal to current cruiser customers while also grabbing the attention of, say, a sportbike rider looking to hang up his or her leathers for something less committed. This week we bring you another in the muscle cruiser category: the 2002 Yamaha Road Star Warrior. Boasting over 100 lb.-ft. of torque and a front end inspired by the YZF-R1 sportbike, the Road Star Warrior was an aggressive attempt by the Yamaha/Star brand to bridge the gap between cruiser and sport buyers. What did we think of it? Read our first impressions below from the Warrior’s new model introduction.

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Church Of MO – 1999 Yamaha Customs

For this week’s Church feature, we’re going to party like it’s 1999 with the help of the 1999 Yamaha Customs. You might recognize them now as Star Motorcycles, but even today we go back and forth with calling the Tuning Fork cruisers Yamaha or Stars. YamaStars, maybe? Anyway, here we look back at some new for ’99 YamaStars and take a ride aboard the Royal Star Venture, a bike still available – and largely unchanged – today. Check it out below, and if you’re a Royal Star Venture owner, tell us what you think of it in the comments section.

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2015 Star Bolt C-Spec – First Ride Video Review

Star Motorcycles has added to its pair of performance bobbers, the Bolt and Bolt R-Spec, with the 2015 Bolt C-Spec. However, when you have a model line that’s selling well, you don’t want to change it too much. So, Star massaged a little cafe racer into the Bolt’s attitude. While the power train remained the same, the pulled back bar was tossed and replaced with clip-ons. The pegs were moved 6 in. rearward, and the passenger accommodations are swapped for a sporty seat cowl. The front and rear suspensions were bumped in length a tad to gain some cornering clearance, resulting in a Bolt that likes to go around corners a little more than its older siblings.

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