Our Yamaha Star Eluder project bike, created by Jeff Palhegyi, features bolt-on accessories and custom graphics. (Photo by Joe Agustin)
We teamed up with Jeff Palhegyi, owner of Palhegyi Design, on a Yamaha Star Eluder project bike. Known for his customized cruisers, vintage race bikes, flat trackers and more, Palhegyi has been involved with Yamaha’s product planning division for nearly three decades. The goal of this project was to enhance the Eluder’s functionality and style in a way that any owner could do in his or her own garage.
Test riding the 2018 Yamaha Star Eluder before the project begins. (Videography and photography by Ray Gauger and Joe Agustin)
New for 2018, the Yamaha Star Eluder is a bagger built on the same platform as the Star Venture. Both have bold, modern bodywork wrapped around a massive, 113-cubic-inch, air-cooled V-twin, and they’re equipped with contemporary technology such as throttle-by-wire, riding modes, linked ABS brakes and a full infotainment system.
The Venture is designed for two-up touring. With no trunk and fewer bells and whistles, the lighter, less expensive Eluder is for riders who do more solo riding and prefer a leaner, more aggressive look.
We like the Star Eluder’s generous low-end torque, its handling and its touring amenities. But what’s a bagger without some customization? For years Yamaha’s Star Motorcycles division’s tagline was, “We build it. You make it your own.”
The 2018 Yamaha Star Eluder in Raven. We selected the black color scheme for our project bike.
We teamed up with Jeff Palhegyi, owner of Palhegyi Design, on a Star Eluder project bike. Known for his customized cruisers, vintage race bikes, flat trackers and more, Palhegyi has been involved with Yamaha’s product planning division for nearly three decades. The goal of this project was to enhance the Eluder’s functionality and style in a way that any owner could do in his or her own garage.
Check out Part 1 of our three-part video series about the project:
2019 Honda Monkey in Banana Yellow (Photo by Kevin Wing)
They say you meet the nicest people on a Honda…and there are few bikes as nice (or as gosh-darn cute) as the Honda Monkey, with styling inspired by the legendary Z50 and a 125cc air-cooled single borrowed from the best-selling Grom. This thing is so fun, the monkey metaphors write themselves! Check out our video featuring Managing Editor Jenny Smith.
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