I have now owned this 2018 Yamaha Star Venture Transcontinental for 17 months now and have put on 23,174 miles on it. I have done multiple Blackstone oil samples and the engine shows great wear numbers.
According to the Blackstone report:
Aluminum for my engine is 3 parts per million / Universal average 7 parts per million
Iron for my engine is 6 parts per million / Universal average 12 parts per million
Copper for my engine is 2 parts per million / Universal average 6 parts per million
Lead for my engine is 0 parts per million / Universal average 1 part per million
Tin for my engine is 0 parts per million / Universal average 1 part per million
I have run Redline 10w-40 synthetic oil in this engine/primary/transmission as it is a shared sump design.
There have been no problems at all. I did check the valves at 16,000 miles and they were in spec, unless the valves get noisy I will not open up the valve covers again, people with this series engine family are told by dealers that if the valves are not making noise then you are just wasting your money paying to have them checked. I did the valve clearance check myself as it is about a four hour job for the do it yourself person the first time you do it, after that you could likely get that down to about three hours.
Tire wear is exceptional I changed the tires at 18,851 miles on the odometer the front tire was original and could have went over 20,000 miles with no problem, the Rear tire had 15,560 miles on it as it was changed due to a screw in the tire at 3,291 miles. The rear tire could have gone farther as it still had 4/32 tread on it. So overall tire wear on this 963 pound motorcycle is very good. I wanted to put new tires on so they were both fresh and matched mileage again.
The Yamaha Star Venture Transcontinental is easy to handle because Yamaha designed the center of gravity to be very low so parking lot speeds are easy to handle as are slow speeds on the road, the reverse system is a marvel as it is easy to use, all you have to do is engage the lever by pulling it out from the bottom of the fuel tank and pushing it down while the motorcycle is in neutral then you use a toggle switch on the left control stalk on the handle bar to go either reverse or forward. You can do this with engine off or running as long as the key is in the run position, but I recommend having the engine running because the system will use a lot of battery power if the engine is not running. It will flash a warning on the display screen once you have been using the system for 45 seconds. The reverse system uses its own separate starter type motor instead of using the starter like Honda does.
Handling at speed is exceptional and you can make mid turn corrections without any drama or issues, some reviewers on the web have felt this motorcycle was to responsive but I find I like the responsiveness in the handling at speed on this motorcycle. The only hard part I have touched the ground with is the kickstand when making a sharp left u-turn outside of that I have never touched a hard part in a curve.
The ride is very comfortable with heated seat for rider and passenger and heated backrest for both rider and passenger. I did purchase the tall Yamaha rider backrest and it supports the lower back very well and I have not had any back pain due to the seat. The rider seat/backrest has three levels of heat adjustment that are controlled by the left control stalk and the passenger has their own switch on the right side under the hand grip that has two levels of heat adjustment. The stock seat is very comfortable and I have no reason to change it for an aftermarket seat. Seats are a personal preference item but this is the first motorcycle I have been satisfied with the oem seat. I should note that the rider black rest also has three positions of adjustment forward/back that you can use.
The grips are also heated and you have a menu that you can go to adjust the heat with low, medium and high plus there is a sub menu that allows you to also adjust how much heat low, medium and high put out. Very nice feature.
The windshield is electric and you can adjust it by either using the two buttons on the left side of the fuel tank or you can adjust it through the menu system using the left control stalk.
The fuel mileage is very good as I am averaging overall 42.8 MPG which includes start up, warm up, idling, ect.
Our best tank of fuel was a lunch trip of 145.9 miles through five towns with traffic and red lights averaging 49.65 MPG hand calculated. Coming back from Label to Cape Coral one ride I reset the mileage in Label and we averaged 50.8 MPG on the read out. This engine gets very good fuel mileage.
The engine also pulls like a freight train in its stock configuration, it out preforms our old 1989 Honda GL1500 Goldwing, our old 2013 Victory Cross Country Tour with full stage one Air Filter, D&D mufflers, and Dobeck AFR+ tuner, and it out performs our old Harley Davidson Ultra Limited that had a full stage one system on it, air intake, V&H power dual headers, Reinhart 4 inch mufflers and V&H FP3 tuner.
This engine does not lack for power, engine heat is a non issue, only on the hottest days if you get stuck stopped for a long time can you start to feel engine heat from the exhaust, outside of that I don't feel any engine heat in day to day riding with normal traffic and stop lights. The engine has two modes you can select on the right control stalk one being Tour the other being Sport, in sport mode the throttle response is faster, the program delivers more engine timing and more fuel in sport mode as well. The engine does not use any oil between changes.
I suspect the sport mode is where the factory 34 MPG rating comes from for this motorcycle. I use touring mode 99% of the time and do not find any lack of power but you can feel the power comes on much smoother in touring mode than the sport mode so the modes do make a difference in the power output. Like I said I get very good fuel mileage from this engine using the touring mode.
The display screen has real time tire pressure monitoring of both the front and rear tire as well.
There is lots of room for the rider with nice floorboards to move your feet around and the seating position is very comfortable, the passenger area is very roomy with more room than our 1989 Goldwing GL1500, 2013 Victory Cross Country Tour and the Harley Davidson Ultra Limited. This motorcycle is very roomy.
The saddle bags and Trunk are pretty much the same size as the Victory Cross Country Tour with the Yamaha's trunk being just a little bigger due to the shape of each trunk. The Victory's saddle bags are just a touch bigger due to the shape of the saddle bags, but the luggage from the Victory Cross Country Tour fits in the Yamaha saddle bags and the trunk bag fits with room to spare in the trunk. There are a total of three storage pockets on the fixed fairing two on the top left and right sides with the right side being lockable via the key fob with the saddle bags and trunk. There is a lower storage pocket on the left bottom side of the fairing. The two left side fixed fairing pockets are not lockable. You can also use the key to lock and unlock the saddle bags and trunk as well.
Brake wear is outstanding as the pads front and rear still have lots of usable pad left and are the original pads. Brake performance is also outstanding with the ABS being none intrusive. This motorcycle also comes with traction control that is as well non intrusive and can be turned off via a button on the dash next to the left top of the engine tach. The photo below is dark and the button for the traction control does not show up.
One more thing the fuel gauge is pretty accurate on this motorcycle as well.
So at 1 year 5 months of ownership we are very pleased with our 2018 Yamaha Star Venture Transcontinental and have zero regrets purchasing this motorcycle.
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According to the Blackstone report:
Aluminum for my engine is 3 parts per million / Universal average 7 parts per million
Iron for my engine is 6 parts per million / Universal average 12 parts per million
Copper for my engine is 2 parts per million / Universal average 6 parts per million
Lead for my engine is 0 parts per million / Universal average 1 part per million
Tin for my engine is 0 parts per million / Universal average 1 part per million
I have run Redline 10w-40 synthetic oil in this engine/primary/transmission as it is a shared sump design.
There have been no problems at all. I did check the valves at 16,000 miles and they were in spec, unless the valves get noisy I will not open up the valve covers again, people with this series engine family are told by dealers that if the valves are not making noise then you are just wasting your money paying to have them checked. I did the valve clearance check myself as it is about a four hour job for the do it yourself person the first time you do it, after that you could likely get that down to about three hours.
Tire wear is exceptional I changed the tires at 18,851 miles on the odometer the front tire was original and could have went over 20,000 miles with no problem, the Rear tire had 15,560 miles on it as it was changed due to a screw in the tire at 3,291 miles. The rear tire could have gone farther as it still had 4/32 tread on it. So overall tire wear on this 963 pound motorcycle is very good. I wanted to put new tires on so they were both fresh and matched mileage again.
The Yamaha Star Venture Transcontinental is easy to handle because Yamaha designed the center of gravity to be very low so parking lot speeds are easy to handle as are slow speeds on the road, the reverse system is a marvel as it is easy to use, all you have to do is engage the lever by pulling it out from the bottom of the fuel tank and pushing it down while the motorcycle is in neutral then you use a toggle switch on the left control stalk on the handle bar to go either reverse or forward. You can do this with engine off or running as long as the key is in the run position, but I recommend having the engine running because the system will use a lot of battery power if the engine is not running. It will flash a warning on the display screen once you have been using the system for 45 seconds. The reverse system uses its own separate starter type motor instead of using the starter like Honda does.
Handling at speed is exceptional and you can make mid turn corrections without any drama or issues, some reviewers on the web have felt this motorcycle was to responsive but I find I like the responsiveness in the handling at speed on this motorcycle. The only hard part I have touched the ground with is the kickstand when making a sharp left u-turn outside of that I have never touched a hard part in a curve.
The ride is very comfortable with heated seat for rider and passenger and heated backrest for both rider and passenger. I did purchase the tall Yamaha rider backrest and it supports the lower back very well and I have not had any back pain due to the seat. The rider seat/backrest has three levels of heat adjustment that are controlled by the left control stalk and the passenger has their own switch on the right side under the hand grip that has two levels of heat adjustment. The stock seat is very comfortable and I have no reason to change it for an aftermarket seat. Seats are a personal preference item but this is the first motorcycle I have been satisfied with the oem seat. I should note that the rider black rest also has three positions of adjustment forward/back that you can use.
The grips are also heated and you have a menu that you can go to adjust the heat with low, medium and high plus there is a sub menu that allows you to also adjust how much heat low, medium and high put out. Very nice feature.
The windshield is electric and you can adjust it by either using the two buttons on the left side of the fuel tank or you can adjust it through the menu system using the left control stalk.
The fuel mileage is very good as I am averaging overall 42.8 MPG which includes start up, warm up, idling, ect.
Our best tank of fuel was a lunch trip of 145.9 miles through five towns with traffic and red lights averaging 49.65 MPG hand calculated. Coming back from Label to Cape Coral one ride I reset the mileage in Label and we averaged 50.8 MPG on the read out. This engine gets very good fuel mileage.
The engine also pulls like a freight train in its stock configuration, it out preforms our old 1989 Honda GL1500 Goldwing, our old 2013 Victory Cross Country Tour with full stage one Air Filter, D&D mufflers, and Dobeck AFR+ tuner, and it out performs our old Harley Davidson Ultra Limited that had a full stage one system on it, air intake, V&H power dual headers, Reinhart 4 inch mufflers and V&H FP3 tuner.
This engine does not lack for power, engine heat is a non issue, only on the hottest days if you get stuck stopped for a long time can you start to feel engine heat from the exhaust, outside of that I don't feel any engine heat in day to day riding with normal traffic and stop lights. The engine has two modes you can select on the right control stalk one being Tour the other being Sport, in sport mode the throttle response is faster, the program delivers more engine timing and more fuel in sport mode as well. The engine does not use any oil between changes.
I suspect the sport mode is where the factory 34 MPG rating comes from for this motorcycle. I use touring mode 99% of the time and do not find any lack of power but you can feel the power comes on much smoother in touring mode than the sport mode so the modes do make a difference in the power output. Like I said I get very good fuel mileage from this engine using the touring mode.
The display screen has real time tire pressure monitoring of both the front and rear tire as well.
There is lots of room for the rider with nice floorboards to move your feet around and the seating position is very comfortable, the passenger area is very roomy with more room than our 1989 Goldwing GL1500, 2013 Victory Cross Country Tour and the Harley Davidson Ultra Limited. This motorcycle is very roomy.
The saddle bags and Trunk are pretty much the same size as the Victory Cross Country Tour with the Yamaha's trunk being just a little bigger due to the shape of each trunk. The Victory's saddle bags are just a touch bigger due to the shape of the saddle bags, but the luggage from the Victory Cross Country Tour fits in the Yamaha saddle bags and the trunk bag fits with room to spare in the trunk. There are a total of three storage pockets on the fixed fairing two on the top left and right sides with the right side being lockable via the key fob with the saddle bags and trunk. There is a lower storage pocket on the left bottom side of the fairing. The two left side fixed fairing pockets are not lockable. You can also use the key to lock and unlock the saddle bags and trunk as well.
Brake wear is outstanding as the pads front and rear still have lots of usable pad left and are the original pads. Brake performance is also outstanding with the ABS being none intrusive. This motorcycle also comes with traction control that is as well non intrusive and can be turned off via a button on the dash next to the left top of the engine tach. The photo below is dark and the button for the traction control does not show up.
One more thing the fuel gauge is pretty accurate on this motorcycle as well.
So at 1 year 5 months of ownership we are very pleased with our 2018 Yamaha Star Venture Transcontinental and have zero regrets purchasing this motorcycle.
