Vstar 650 vs 1100

[Dad_Eh]

I wish you luck with the choice and process. Enjoy it.
I started last season and after a month or so looking around, I went with the vstar 950 tourer (used).
I am tall and anything smaller just didn't feel right and I didn't want to out-grow the bike within months. I shared your feeling on an 1100 for safety and insurance. My opinion is 950 is about right, it's a nice mid-range for power and the insurance won't kill you.
Oh and I strongly suggest a safety course for knowledge and savings on ins.
Go get it and enjoy.

[Buddhacide]

No offense to anyone who might think otherwise, but I had a V-Star 650 and found it gutless. I upgraded to a 900 vulcan and the difference was night and day. I would strongly suggest getting the 1100. Once you get the hang of riding you'll be glad you did.

[alphaChaser]

Thanks for all the great input. Based on the above, I'm kind of leaning towards the 1100 now. Will it very difficult to start with for a beginner like me? This is going to be my first bike so I'm pretty nervous regarding the engine size.

@mrefaat: thanks for the offer. Hopefully I'll have a bike by then and we can go riding together.

[Lunatic]

Engine size is really not the issue. It's the weight of the bike. The 1100 doesn't really make scary power, it's quite smooth and easy to control in that respect. The biggest issue you will have is muscling it around at low speeds. That is a skill that takes time to develop, and is more difficult to learn on a heavy bike.

I've seen larger guys start on big cruisers without too much trouble, but those of a smaller stature tend to have more difficulty. Practice your slow speed clutch and throttle control!

[GreyGhost]

I took a Vstar 650 for a spin a few years ago (probably 30 km). Personally I hated it. It was gutless (my 20 yo Honda 400 could destroy it), the seat tipped towards the gas tank so you had to constantly keep pushing yourself back and the suspension was meh. I also hated having my feet so far forward (this is obviously a problem with me not the bike), too many years on bicycles makes me want to stand up when things get ugly (or when you are going over train tracks with mediocre suspension).

The owner of the Vstar had many of the same complaints and traded it for a Royal Star. AFAIK he still has the royal star years later and loves every minute of it. If it were me and I felt comfortable with the weight of the 1100, slow speed manoeuvring (rider training courses are a great place to practice slow speed manoeuvres with someone else's bike) and insurance I wouldn't even think about the 650. If you feel that a 650 is better to start with, go with it for a year or two. As long as you start with a used and bruised bike, you can get most of your money back when you sell it.

[kmalek]

...The biggest issue you will have is muscling it around at low speeds....

I have started on 1100 and this is my 3rd season.
I do have to be honest and 100% agree with what I quoted from Lunatic... it is heavy bike and you can feel it at low speeds.
I was thinking about 650 when I was buying my bike, but now I'm glad I did not.
After I got used to the weight, it's a very nice bike to ride.
Insurance wise... I don't know honestly what's the difference between 650 and 1100, but I was paying $1500 for the first year with Jevco.
After that it dropped about 40%.

Anyway, whatever you decide to buy, enjoy it and ride safe.

[tiborgh]

I have started on 1100 and this is my 3rd season.
I do have to be honest and 100% agree with what I quoted from Lunatic... it is heavy bike and you can feel it at low speeds.
...
After I got used to the weight, it's a very nice bike to ride.

+1

The 1100 is a heavy bike to learn to ride, but so is the 650, the difference between the two is only about 30kgs. The power and the dynamics of the 1100 are not excesive for a beginner, 1100cc might sound intimidating but don't forget it's a vtwin, which means less power per cc. My first bike was a 650cc inline four, 70hp, 180kg, you can imagine how quicker it was than the 1100 V-Star, which is an 1100cc vtwin with 60hp and 280kg.

As other have posted, the 1100 is a better choice in the long run. Ride safe.

[MacDoc]

OP - a few questions....and a tip
when asking for advice state your weight and height, age and intended use as it makes a difference.

••••

What's your intended use for the machine and why specifically the Vstar.?


Insurance will be higher on the 1100 as it goes by cc and if you are young you will get hammered.

I assume since you are asking in this thread you are looking at touring??
If it's in town commuting and just bopping around the 650 will be better.

All my riding life I've been more comfortable with the mid range bikes and most can do just fine against larger displacement if you are willing to run the RPMs into the power range and keep them there rather than rely on the torque of the bigger motor.

Low speed handling will be easier on the 650 and it's where most newbies have trouble and taking your M on a big bike ( either of them ) will be a bear - you may want to use theirs.

But if you answer the age, weight, height and use question you can get better advice.

[dario_pks]

Engine size is really not the issue. It's the weight of the bike. The 1100 doesn't really make scary power, it's quite smooth and easy to control in that respect. The biggest issue you will have is muscling it around at low speeds. That is a skill that takes time to develop, and is more difficult to learn on a heavy bike.

I've seen larger guys start on big cruisers without too much trouble, but those of a smaller stature tend to have more difficulty. Practice your slow speed clutch and throttle control!

And also how that weight is distributed. I had a vmax (heavy bike) and never had a problem because the center of gravity was pretty low, making it easier to recover if the bike inclines more than you want. On the other hand I also had a n old honda cb750 that was not as heavy as the vmax but had a high center of gravity. If it inclined more than 15, maybe 20 degrees while stopped it was really difficult to recover... Sit on the 1100, incline it a bit a see if it feels heavy.

[Buddhacide]

Thanks for all the great input. Based on the above, I'm kind of leaning towards the 1100 now. Will it very difficult to start with for a beginner like me? This is going to be my first bike so I'm pretty nervous regarding the engine size.

@mrefaat: thanks for the offer. Hopefully I'll have a bike by then and we can go riding together.

The 1100 would be more awkward to learn on, but if you go slow and dont push yourself you will be able to master it in about the same amount of time as the smaller bike. Trust me, I'm not one of these guys that needs to go 300km/h on a bike, but I didnt even feel comfortable on the highway on my 650. Anything past 120, and it was not a natural feeling to me. On my vulcan I've been 2 up with full luggage for 6000km stretches at a time and never felt I needed alot more. The 900 vulcan is the market equivalent to the 1100 vstar. I personally prefer the vulcan because its fuel injected and water cooled, but the v-star probably performs about as well.

When I was shopping I was reading all the threads and articles by people cautioning new riders to only start out with small displacement bikes. I was hell bent on getting a honda rebel, and when I called the shop the guy talked me out of it. He was honest and correct, for booting around town you can ride anything. And dont get me wrong, the v-star 650 is really nice looking and fun to ride, but if you want to really hit the road you need something that's going to allow you to outpace traffic on the 400 if you need to. Fast bikes can be deadly in the right hands, but slow bikes can kill you too, lol.