2018 Yamaha Star Eluder Dyno Run

Testing the new bagger’s high-torque claims

Upon riding the 2018 Yamaha Star Venture and its stripped-down sibling the Star Eluder–both equipped with Yamaha’s 113ci (1,854cc) air-cooled V-twin powerplant—we were eager to test the claimed 126 pound-feet torque output on our in-house DynoJet 250i dynamometer. Our resident dyno tech, Will Steenrod pushed the stripped-down Yamaha bagger through its paces and, as it turned out, its claims weren’t that far off the mark.

The Yamaha Star Eluder’s best dyno result was 76.36 hp @ 4,170 rpm and 112.35 pound-feet of torque @ 2,560 rpm.Cycle World

After warming the bike to operating temperature and a few fourth-gear roll-on runs, our best run result netted 112 pound-feet of torque at 2,650 rpm and 76.36 hp @ 4,170 rpm. The beauty of Yamaha’s low-end torque machine is that it doesn’t violently shake when rolling on the throttle in the low rpm range because it’s equipped with twin counterbalancers. The Eluder also comes equipped with traction control and Yamaha’s D-mode, which allows on-the-fly throttle-response adjustments from Sport to Tour with the push of a button (located on the right switch cluster).