Roadstar Warrior

[Hank]

Anybody have experience with the Warrior?  I've been thinking about getting one as a second bike and I hear they rock. 
Just want a bit of feedback from you guys.

[ROBsS4R]

Pfftt

Just get a Boss Hoss instead 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boss_Hoss

http://www.mountainbosshoss.com/specs.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsyEMwcoIE8

[Gramps]

 [moto]
I owned a 2003 custom warrior with a 240 rear tire, Vance@Hines ProPipe, and Speed Star race kit. Great bike for cruising around town. Lots of torque. Some vibration at highway speed. The bike needed a 6th gear and was heavy at 600+ pounds. Lots of information at rswarrior.com. Good luck on your decision. 
       
    Gramps                                                                                                                                           

[lauramonster]

The Warrior is a great bike!!!  Husband has one (and took it to the track this past Monday). 

Rides like a cruiser (seating postion, weight) but handles like a sportbike (responsive, low end torque).

Yeah, needs a 5th gear.  But he LOVES her and won't get rid of her (no matter what we look at!!).

Sounds great, looks great, handles great, only bad thing is hubby rides her too aggressively - and she's NOT a sportbike (he grinds the floorboards, exhaust, exhaust mounts, his boots). 

She's the perfect compliment to a Ducati.  One for twisties, the other for cruising. 

Don't know why Yamaha doesn't step up the advertising!!  We ride with a local Warrior group, and everyone who rides one LOVES it better that any cruiser they've owned. 

A boss hoss is a huge engine in a cruiser.  Not the same handling.  Don't confuse the two.

[Hank]

A Harley is a more practical choice over a Boss Hoss 
If I do get a cruiser I would keep my Monster for in town trips and rides through twisties (as rare as they may be)

[silentbob]

I had a Warrior.  They definitely nailed the power cruiser segment.  All the others (Triumph, Kawasaki, Honda, Suzuki) all missed the mark.  The Warrior is heavier than a Ducati but very light compared to the cruiser competition. 

I was in the market for a new bike and my last ones were a turbo charged Harley and a Yamaha R1.  I asked the salesman at the local dealer if he had something that was a cross between those two bikes and he showed me the Warrior.  I had never heard of it until that day.  It was as if those two bikes slammed into each other like the old Reeses peanut butter commercials.  You've got Harley on my R1, you've got R1 in my Harley.  Yamaha captured what most people like about a Harley, while improving the areas that needed the most help by adding some sport bike components. 

The Warrior has a single pin crank, push rod operated, narrow angle V-twin, just like a Harley.  But, they added 4 valve heads, fuel injection, nickasil cylinders, and dry sump oiling. The Warrior has what appears to be a tubular steel double cradle chassis, but it is actually a powder coated aluminum frame and uses the engine as a stressed member.  It has a hidden rear suspension like a soft tail, but it has an aluminum swingarm, rising rate linkage, a mono shock, and it actually works.  The Warrior keeps the classic cruiser layout and belt final drive.  It has a real transmission, inverted forks, spoked aluminum wheels, and radial tires. 

It provides sportbike like handling, only limited by ground clearance.  If you raise the rear of the bike you can really tear up the twisties. 

The rest of the manufacturers really missed the mark in my opinion.  Like Kawasaki who seemed ashamed by their own design.  They gave the bike a shaft drive and then tried to hide it with a giant, ugly ass, chromed plastic cover.  They made it water cooled and then covered the radiator in chicken wire, painted it flat black, and tried to hide it between the down tubes. 

The 5th gear in the transmission can be replaced with the one from the regular Road Star to drop your rpms on the highway.  You can find many of the older bikes with taller 5th gears and stage IV pistons because people threw them in when the transmission recall was going on.  You can also swap out the forks for ones from the R1 to get more adjustability and better internals.

The only thing that pissed me off was when I researched the bike, the marketing material from Yamaha said it came with two intakes ports per cylinder and one of them was computer controlled and only opened above a certain rpm.  This would improve low end power and fuel economy.  But they never actually implemented that in the production design.  I didn't find this out until after I bought the bike and pulled the intake.  I contacted Yamaha and told them this was false advertising and I wanted compensation.  They promptly pulled all theirs ads, told their dealers to shut up, then pretended they never made any such claim.  I finally found an old ad that hadn't been pulled and I faxed it to them and they still never responded.

[DesmoDiva]

My fiance has a Warrior and I LOVE it (so does he). 

As others have mentioned it is the best combination of a sport bike and cruiser out there.  It compliments our small flock of Duc well.

I have only riden a little bit, but enjoyed every second.  I hope to ride it more, but I still find it a little intimidating. 

He has done a lot of performance mods and just had the fuel remapped.  He loves it even more now. 

+1 for the rswarrior forum.   

[Hank]

It has a real transmission,

You'll need to explain that one to me 

Thanks for the replies, I need to find a place that will let me test ride one without having cash in hand or pre approved financing.
Is there anything I should look out for concerning reliability?

I figured I'd start working my up the power cruiser ladder and go Warrior ----> Rocket III----> new Vmax 

[silentbob]

You'll need to explain that one to me 

The transmission on the Warrior is a modern constant mesh transmission that is mounted solidly to the engine and has a gear driven primary drive.

The transmission on my Harley was a clunky, archaic, sliding gear transmission, with a gigantic chain driven primary, and was attached rather flimsily to the engine allowing it move around under power.  It eventually failed.

In 2007 Harley apparently adressed many of these issues on the big twins, but I have yet to ride one.

[Hank]

Primary drive is from the crank to the clutch, isn't it?  I'm not very familiar with motorcycle engines.

[SILENTCOREY]

My cousin currently has an 05 rs warrior. He is trying to sell it, because he's going to have a family soon. It's only go just over 4k miles on it and new exhaust. I think he's looking for about 10k, We live here in eastern Washington state. It's a beautiful bike and I'd love to have it for myself but then $ becomes an issue at that price, at least for me. pm me if your even remotely interested.

[Hank]

WA is a bit far from OK, although it is some beautiful country up there!
Most of the family on my Mom's side lives there.
Thanks for the offer though.