The Yamaha XV1900A is a

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

manufactured by the

Yamaha Motor Company is a Japanese multinational manufacturer of motorcycles, marine products such as boats and outboard motors, and other motorized products. The company was established in 1955 upon separation from Yamaha Corporation (however, Yamaha Corporation ...

and sold in the United States through Yamaha's

Star Motorcycles Star Motorcycles was a U.S.-specific brand of Yamaha Motor Company used on Yamaha's cruiser motorcycles. History In 1994 Yamaha announced the creation of Star Motorcycles, a new standalone brand name for its cruiser series of motorcycles in th ...

division. It was the largest Yamaha motorcycle while in production.

Development

The Yamaha XV1900A cruiser was developed to exploit the large displacement end of the market for large cruisers. Yamaha had a well established range of big "Star" cruisers which went up to the Wild Star 1600 cc but there was a need to redesign the engine to meet anticipated exhaust emissions regulations and the opportunity to update the styling, which had remained largely unchanged for a decade.

Engine

The four-stroke, air-cooled, 48 degree

V-twin engine A V-twin engine, also called a V2 engine, is a two-cylinder piston engine where the cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. Although widely associated with motorcycles (installed either transversely or longi ...

was purpose-built to deliver maximum

torque In physics and mechanics, torque is the rotational equivalent of linear force. It is also referred to as the moment of force (also abbreviated to moment). It represents the capability of a force to produce change in the rotational motion of th ...

at 2,500 rpm in the range used for motorcycle cruising. Each cylinder has four pushrod-activated valves and twin spark plugs. To reduce friction, the forged pistons have an Alumite coating and travel in ceramic-composite-coated cylinder bores. With an undersquare bore and stroke of 100mm (3.937 in) x 118mm (4.646 in), the engine has a compression ratio of 9.5:1 and is the first Yamaha cruiser motorcycle to be equipped with the compact Exhaust Ultimate Power Valve (EXUP)

four-stroke power valve system A four-stroke power valve is a device fitted to four-stroke engines that constantly adjusts the internal diameter of the exhaust system to better suit the speed of the engine. Yamaha was the first to develop such a system, called the Exhaust Ultim ...

previously only found on their line of high performance sports motorcycles. An unusual feature of the new engine is a special '

Pent-roof combustion chamber In engine design, the penta engine (or penta ''head'') is an arrangement of the upper portion of the cylinder and valves that is common in engines using four valves per cylinder. Among the advantages is a faster burn time of the air-fuel mix. It ...

', designed to increase the efficiency of gas flow. The engine also has counter-rotating balancers on both ends of the crankshaft to reduce the vibration typical of large V-Twins.

Transmission

The engine’s output is transmitted via a wide-ratio five-speed gearbox and compact new transfer case, with power delivery controlled by a hydraulic clutch, the XV1900A Midnight Star is equipped with a belt drive system.

Frame

A lightweight long wheelbase () frame was designed using aluminum

die casting Die casting is a metal casting process that is characterized by forcing molten metal under high pressure into a mold cavity. The mold cavity is created using two hardened tool steel dies which have been machined into shape and work similarly t ...

to minimize weight, with a double cradle design to provide the strength. Suspension consists of a die cast aluminum swinging arm and a hidden single horizontal rear shock absorber and large diameter front forks.

Raider version

Starting in 2008, a custom version was produced in limited numbers featuring a lowered seat, lengthened front forks, a wider 210 mm rear tyre, the widest on any Yamaha motorcycle, and special black finish to the engine and a range of custom fittings. The Raider was discontinued for 2018.

References

External links

Official Yamaha XV1900A web site
* {{Yamaha motorcycles timeline Cruiser motorcycles XV1900A Motorcycles introduced in 2006