Yamaha does an excellent job of finding amazing towns in various parts of America to host its annual Star Days event, and 2006 was no exception. This time, it was held just north of Denver in beautiful Longmont, Colorado. Rocky Mountain National Park and Roosevelt National Forest surround Longmont, and it’s just a few miles west of the rolling prairie lands that stretch for hundreds of miles. This all but guarantees great riding!

Star Days started out as a celebration of Yamaha’s Star line of motorcycles, but it has expanded so riders of all brands are welcome and encouraged to participate. Think of it as a Woodstock for motorcycling. Mix in generous helpings of fun planned activities, organized rides, and a custom bike show, and you get a four-day event worth the trip from anywhere.

The Plan

Oh, what a plan I had. Fly into Colorado for Star Days, enjoy the event as a guest of Yamaha, judge the custom bike show, and then ride away on a Yamaha Stratoliner for a whirlwind tour through some of the most scenic regions this land has to offer. I had a whole week to find my way up to Sturgis, South Dakota, where I would drop off the bike and then shoot magazine features during the rally. Tough work, but someone has to…

Well, sometimes the best-laid plans just don’t work out. A mere 400 miles separate Longmont, Colorado, from Sturgis, South Dakota. I planned to stretch this into an epic 1,500-mile trip that would drop me down into northern New Mexico and Arizona, then swing me up north through Utah and east across Wyoming into South Dakota. One look at the weather forecast, though, and I thought, “Survey says… bzzzzzzzzzzzzzz! No sunshine to the west on the big board!”

A stifling heat wave was moving across the country from the West, with widespread thunderstorms directly behind it. I detest rain suits, and the thought of slogging through several days of rain, even on a well-prepared and comfortable motorcycle, just didn’t appeal to me. Not to mention the photos I needed to get along the way would look pretty bleak. So, I decided to ride northeast with the heat.

The Trip

The Stratoliner is essentially a Roadliner, a big Yamaha cruiser, outfitted for the open road. You might recall Steve Lita’s in-depth review of the Stratoliner in the April 2006 issue of RoadBike. I’m going to elaborate a little on Steve’s review from the perspective of someone who clocked 1,500 touring miles on the bike in a very few days.

First, I’d like to suggest changing the name to Stratolounger. This bike is big and comfy, and it’s the best stock cruiser I have ridden to date. The smallish luggage capacity easily held six days’ worth of travel goods, as well as my rain suit and a light fleece jacket, in case it got cool. The ergonomics were perfect for my 6' frame, and I wouldn’t change a thing on this bike.

The Weather Channel gave me two choices, bad or worse: ride west through the rain for four of my six days on the road, or head northeast into the 116-degree heat. I opted to stay dry. I would much rather ride through bright, sunny landscapes and scenic views than dark, gray, wet, and depressing places that would otherwise be spectacular. And no trip to Longmont is complete without taking a spin through Estes Park and conquering the Continental Divide!

The scenery was awesome, and the temperature was a good 25 degrees cooler at 12,000 feet than the 100-plus degrees down in Longmont that day. Estes Park claims to have the highest paved road in America. For those of you who have never ridden at 12,000 feet, it’s quite an experience. The sky is a vivid blue like I’ve never seen, and the air is crystal clear, perhaps because it’s so thin. Not much oxygen up there, though. I definitely felt it. Walking up hills or even running across the street had me digging deep for each breath.

Throughout the park drive, the Stratoliner’s fuel injection system handled the thin atmosphere much better than I did as it dialed in the perfect fuel/air mixture at all elevations. I rode a long loop through the park and then headed for I-25 to begin the trek northward.

By 11:00 a.m., the thermometer had already climbed to 104 F at my first fuel stop in Chugwater, Wyoming. It was getting pretty warm as I noted the bike was averaging 40 mpg in the heat at a consistent 75 mph. I topped off the tank and got back on the road. Huge thunderstorms were now visible moving in from the west. Skirting the rain for hours, I was glad I’d decided to head north and avoid it. Even though the temperature eventually reached 116 degrees, I was still happy to be dry. Nothing is worse than sweating inside your rain suit while riding cautiously and knowing that incredible scenery exists just beyond the rain. You know it’s there. You’ve seen the magazines. But the downpour, spray, and fog hide it from view.

To the northeast, an immense cloud rose several thousand feet in the still air and white ash rained down around me. A large prairie fire had been burning out of control for days and traffic was being detoured around it. With thunderstorms to the west and fires directly in my path, I had to change course and ride between the two on secondary roads. This reminded me of what makes motorcycling so dynamic. You’re out in the elements and experiencing the countryside, all the while dodging the threats Mother Nature throws at you. Different conditions call for different actions, and overcoming them can be a pleasant challenge. It’s something you just don’t experience caged up in a car.

Dressing Up To Cool Down

At the next fuel stop in Lusk, Wyoming, the mercury reached 114 F. In an effort to get some relief from the heat, I took off my leather jacket, stowed my gloves, and removed the face shield from my helmet. When I got back on the road, I was shocked to discover that I felt even hotter than when I was wearing all my gear! Over the course of this trip, I learned something about hot-weather riding. Much like the wind chill factor on a cold day, there comes a point – I’d say around 100 F — where riding through the heat actually makes you hotter as your speed increases. So all the riding gear went back on.

By the time I pulled into Sturgis, the temperature had cooled to a balmy 107. The bike sat outside the motel room, crackling and pinging as the engine cooled and I showered away 440 miles of blast-furnace riding. The big Yamaha performed flawlessly in the heat, maintaining smooth engine performance and good fuel economy the whole way.

Side Trips

Having a few days to further review the bike before the Sturgis rally began, I took advantage of the good weather to visit some of the sights in the region. The diversity of the landscape in western South Dakota and neighboring Wyoming is just beautiful beyond belief. From the harsh and austere beauty of the Badlands to the rolling prairies and Black Hills, this region offers some of the best riding anywhere. The wide-open roads and sparse population make for miles of seamless two-lane touring and sightseeing.

Riding an additional 1,100 miles that week, I became well acquainted with the Stratoliner. This bike has the best stock OEM seat that I have ever ridden. All-day comfort in a well-shaped seat made daily touring a real pleasure.

The multifunction LCD display is activated by slick finger switches on the handlebars, making it very easy to safely scroll through the display while riding. This is a major improvement over typical tank-mounted control buttons on other motorcycles that have your eyes darting around not only to see the display, but also to find the dang buttons. Thanks, Yamaha!

The two-lane roads through the region are full of twists, turns, and elevation changes, and the Stratoliner showcased its eagerness to carve corners. This bike loves to corner, and the spacious, forward-mounted floorboards are mounted high enough to allow greater lean angles than other cruisers I’ve ridden. I also found the suspension rates to be perfectly suited to the task. This is the first big cruiser I’ve ridden where the stock suspension was fine right out of the box. And even the stock exhaust system sounds great. Personally, I wouldn’t change it.

What a great week. I rode 1,500 miles on one of the world’s premier motorcycles through beautiful scenery and on smooth, two-lane highways. This is what touring is all about!

On Sunday, I reluctantly handed the bike over to the Yamaha crew in Sturgis and was forced to suffer the indignity of driving a rental car for the next eight days because my camera gear is just too big to carry around on a bike. Yet, somehow, the week of touring made it all worthwhile. I wonder where Yamaha is holding Star Days next year. I need to plan! RB