Star Motorcycles Reabsorbed Into The Yamaha Motorcycle Family
In 1996, the cruiser market in America was introduced to the initial Star motorcycle, the Royal Star. Over the next few years, more Stars appeared on Yamaha’s manifest, in the form of V-Stars, Drag Stars, and Royal Star variations. In 2006, the company decided to commit to the flourishing line of motorcycles by creating Star Motorcycles as a brand separate from the mothership, much as Toyota did with Lexus and Nissan with Infiniti. Eventually journalists and riders, alike, became accustomed to what, at first, seemed arbitrary and unnatural – since Yamaha logos were still featured in discreet locations on Star Motorcycles.
1996 Yamaha Royal Star Tour Classic
2006 Star Stratoliner Press Introduction
Well, now that’s going to change. A few weeks ago, we noticed that starmotorcycles.com was forwarding to Yamaha’s website. So, we inquired with our media contacts and have now heard back with the official word from the tuning fork company:
“As the cruiser motorcycle market in the U.S. continues to evolve and mature, we feel that the best opportunity for future sales success and growth from each Star cruiser model is to integrate our model line with other Yamaha models that hold the strong brand identity, the heritage and the DNA that define the Yamaha Brand. This means that we will begin to promote our Star models in parallel with other Yamaha models, understanding that the cruiser customer is still looking for a unique retail environment and purchase experience from your dealership where personalization is key.
“In order to better integrate synergies with the other key Yamaha models, the establishment of a new Street segment called “Sport Heritage” will be part of this new positioning and marketing integration.
“This transition has already begun on our website, with consumer literature, and with our national event programs.”
Like most of the best happenings in his life, Evans stumbled into his motojournalism career. While on his way to a planned life in academia, he applied for a job at a motorcycle magazine, thinking he’d get the opportunity to write some freelance articles. Instead, he was offered a full-time job in which he discovered he could actually get paid to ride other people’s motorcycles – and he’s never looked back. Over the 25 years he’s been in the motorcycle industry, Evans has written two books, 101 Sportbike Performance Projects and How to Modify Your Metric Cruiser, and has ridden just about every production motorcycle manufactured. Evans has a deep love of motorcycles and believes they are a force for good in the world.
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I suggested this years ago when Burns actually worked for the Yamaha ad agency. An ill fated idea at best. Of course everyone argued with me.
The Yamaha brand has history, heritage and respect. Why they would try to market away from that is beyond me, a complete mistake. Mistake number 2 was the name "Star". That's something your kid would name her teddy bear after putting it in a tutu and a tiara. Talk about misreading the American motorcyclist.