#VStar1300

When Indian unveiled the Scout at Sturgis last month, it sent ripples through the motorcycle world. How would it compare with other cruisers in its class? What exactly were the other cruisers in its class? Obviously, Indian is hoping to improve its bona fides by taking on that other American brand’s most ubiquitous V-Twin in its displacement class, but what others? So, the lists began.

Introduced in 2007 to fill the space in the Star Motorcycles lineup left by the departure of the V Star 1100, the V Star 1300 has stuck around, relatively unchanged, for the past seven model years. In that time, it’s grown to include a pair of spruced up siblings: the V Star 1300 Tourer and the V Star 1300 Deluxe. Despite the passing of the years, we haven’t revisited the unadorned V Star since our first ride report from the Asheville, NC introduction. Has time been kind to this workhorse of the Star line, or is it time to put it out to pasture?

Indian Motorcycles made a big splash in Sturgis this year with the introduction of its new Scout. The revival of a historic model is newsworthy on its own, but the larger take-away from the emergence of the Scout is that it doesn’t directly compare to any other cruiser.

The BMW K1600GTL has owned the Best Touring category since its introduction, and as of yet no OEM has been able to dethrone the amazingly capable Beemer. To make room for newly introduced models in other categories and because the GT and GTL are largely the same bike, we combined the two into the same category. The GT took last year’s Best Sport-Touring honors.

Being “vertically challenged” is rough: you’re hard to spot in a crowd, you can’t see squat at concerts, and it’s a struggle to hop on many of the rides at the amusement park. The worst part of all is trying to find a motorcycle that’ll allow you to touch the ground. Some of the saddles on today’s motorcycles are so high only basketball players dare throw a leg over.

Ever since man bolted a motor to a bicycle, touring has been one of the true joys of motorcycling. Sure, bouncing around town from errand to errand is easy, and commuting to work is practical – but travel by motorcycle expands the mind, relaxes the spirit and enriches the soul. There’s nothing quite like it.