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Dyna Street Bob and XV 1900 Midnight Star

Chopper / cruiser comparison

They exude the charm of nostalgia and original mechanical engineering. They have a lot of cubic capacity in common, and their V-engines are full of steam. But with that, the similarities between the American chopper and the Japanese cruiser have already been exhausted.

The nice gentleman in the depot at the Futzen train station near the Swiss border looks inquisitively with shining eyes at the chrome-sparkling, black motorcycles. There isn’t much going on here in this wasteland at the moment. It was not until May that the heavy steam engines snort and pound the 25-kilometer-long, historic railway line again. It is known to railway enthusiasts as the Sauschwanzlebahn, which rolls from Weizen through the Wutach Gorge in many bends and circles up to Zollhaus. Harley-Davidson Dyna Street Bob and Yamaha XV 1900 Midnight Star bring variety to railroad life.

“Great how they sound. You can really hear how every single cylinder is working on the steam locomotives. “A compliment to the engineers. You have probably done everything right to convey the sound and the originality of these modern, yet nostalgic and very different driving machines.

The two large-volume V2 hearts beat in different worlds. Harley’s Twin Cam 96 dispenses with balancer shafts despite 1584 cm3 and shakes violently when idling. But the big block with its 76 HP in the double loop steel pipe frame cannot cause any damage. The Street Bob is the cheapest Harley with a large engine and therefore probably the best-selling in this country. Plus a classic chopper: a 17.8 liter drop tank, slaggy, scrawny fork and a lamp housing barely larger than a dessert bowl.

A mini fender covers the narrow one at the front
19-inch spoked wheel, behind a large sheet metal part of the fat-looking 17-inch model. A cuddly solo seat adorns the ensemble, because relationships, so a Harley advertisement claims, make life complicated.

Of course, the apehanger should not be missing on a real chopper. A high handlebar, on which the driver hangs like laundry on a leash. There is hardly more to it than that on Street Bob. A motorcycle for purists.
Yamaha’s XV 1900 Midnight Star doesn’t believe in minimalism. She shows off everything she has. And that’s a lot: 1854 cc, 91 hp and lots of torque. AT maximum of 153 Newton meters. That should be enough to get almost seven hundred pounds of live weight going at moderate speeds. A colossus on wheels. Fat tires and fenders, a big tank, plush seating. Everything in XXL format. The designers were allowed to let off steam here. From the monstrous headlights to the sheet metal strips on the tank, the streamlined handlebar clamps and fittings as well as the tapering indicator glasses to the swing ends, everything flows backwards, as if shaped by the airstream. A cruiser work of art perfected down to the last detail, but it doesn’t stop at kitsch either. The baroque speedometer with a wristwatch-sized rev counter on the tank console has the charm of a slot machine. Anyway: The Midnight Star perfectly reflects the expression of American locomotion of the 1930s.

Heating up a steam locomotive is hard work for the machinist. It takes hours for the boiler to reach operating pressure. With Street Bob and Midnight Star, a quick push of a button is all it takes for the pistons in the cylinders to start working without hissing or hissing. Elicit for it
their long, sometimes arm-thick sidepipes sound sonorous bubbles. The Harley in particular sounds full and low-frequency. When the throttle valves of the injection system switch to full flow, then there’s something on your ears. Quite legally. Depending on the load change, the intake volume is changed via a magnetic switch and a silencer is switched on or off via a flap in the exhaust. If necessary, the Street Bob can whisper through spas itself.

In general, the Harley isn’t as rough as it first appears. It starts gently, shifts softly, and once it starts moving, it is pleasantly exhilarated. No trace of harsh vibrations. As the speed increases, the Big Twin works more and more quietly. There is little switching work. The two-cylinder engine takes on gas cleanly, and like a rubber band it distributes its power over the entire speed range. Fourth and fifth gears cover a large part of the speed range between local traffic and country roads. The sixth, long-geared overdrive is mostly reserved for expressways.

Tea Yamaha is more powerful, but also less spectacular. Two balance shafts nip vibrations in the bud and only allow cautious pounding. The clutch kicks in with a jerk, and the mighty twin easily shakes a lot of torque out of its sleeve when rolling. Only a few hundred more crankshaft revolutions are enough for the heavyweight cruiser to accelerate powerfully. The isolated trucks that are torturing their way up the slope on the B 314 in the direction of Blumberg are overtaken in no time at all. Just like that, just pull up the gas, and you’re good to go. Of the five gears of the Yamaha, it only takes two here in the Wutach Valley: the fourth and the fifth.

The driver takes a deep, casual seat on the trough-shaped seating furniture. With a meter and a half of artfully curved handlebar tube, he directs the thick ship, arms spread wide, as if he wanted to embrace the landscape for joy. Your feet rest comfortably on rubber-
padded running boards. This is bearable. The Midnight Star draws its radius with almost stoic calm, cushions gently and comfortably. It can hardly be prevented that the running boards occasionally scramble across the asphalt in an inclined position. The stable chassis with its torsion-resistant cast aluminum frame tempts you to walk a bit at times. The powerful double disc brakes in the front wheel and the easily adjustable rear disc brake do the rest to make the XV driver feel safe.

Street bob driving is different. The seating position alone is an ergonomic challenge. The high, strongly cranked handlebars with soft rubber bearings leave you with little feeling for the front wheel
come up, but in the long run it is exhausting to keep arms and hands at head height. The footrest position seems a bit out of place close to the body. The pegs should be further forward, which is what most street bobsleigh riders usually solve with a footrest system from Harley’s extensive range of accessories. Then the seat cushion also fits better. Nevertheless: comfort is different. Here you sit ?? deliberately ?? fourth class, wooden platform, compared to the Midnight Star in a Pullman compartment.

The chassis is also not nearly as stable as that of the Yamaha. Although you could also burn full throttle 190 on the autobahn with the Harley without hesitation. But who is willing to face hurricane-like storms with open arms? On the country road, the fork prances weightlessly over undulating asphalt, while the two spring struts at the back pass many a hard impact unfiltered. In addition, the Street Bob rolls slightly spongy and gummy through curves when things have to go a little faster. Which, unfortunately, goes well with the rather listless single-disc brakes, which should be used in conjunction if the Harley has to come to a standstill quickly.
But rush and restlessness are not in demand with such driving machines and they are out of place. The humming and pounding of the two large-volume two-cylinders can be heard for a long time on the gently curved roads in the Wutach Valley along the old railway line. How soon the hissing and whistling of the old steam locomotives again when they transport railway tourists enraptured into old times over the summer.

Dyna Street Bob and XV 1900 Midnight Star

Chopper / cruiser comparison

Yamaha XV 1900 Midnight Star – Easy going

Fat wheels with a lot of massive sheet metal around them, sturdy fork, massive tank, plush seating? everything that makes a cruiser is XXL, is in abundance and heavy. On the protruding handlebars, it is carefully directed like a tank truck full of nitroglycerine. It goes without saying that a large-capacity engine has to throb in the middle for cruising to become an experience.

Harley-Davidson Dyna Street Bob – The wild side

Two wheels with a big motor in between, which is, to sum up, a chopper. Leaving out as much as possible and concentrating on the essentials, that’s the trick. Well, for some people the fork can’t be long and the handlebars can’t be high enough, but being a little crazy and different from the others is part of chopping like a liter of beer at Oktoberfest.

Technical data Harley-Davidson Dyna Street Bob

Engine: air-cooled two-cylinder four-stroke 45-degree V-engine, two chain-driven camshafts below, two valves per cylinder, hydraulic valve lifters, bumpers, rocker arms, injection, Ø 46 mm, uncontrolled catalytic converter, six -speed gearbox, toothed belt.
Bore x stroke 95.3 x 111.1 mm
Cubic capacity 1585 cm3
Rated output 56.0 kW (76 PS) at 5350 rpm
Max. Torque 123 Nm at 3125 rpm

Chassis: double loop frame made of steel, telescopic fork, Ø 49 mm, two-arm swing arm made of steel, two spring struts, adjustable spring base, front disc brake, Ø 292 mm, four-piston fixed caliper, rear disc brake, Ø 292 mm, four-piston fixed caliper.
Spoke wheels 2.15 x 21; 4.50 x 17
Tires 100/90 21; 160/70 17

Dimensions and weights: wheelbase 1630 mm, steering head angle 61.0 degrees, caster 119 mm, spring travel f / h 127/79 mm, seat height * 700 mm, weight with a full tank * 301 kg, payload * 191 kg, tank capacity / reserve 17.8 / 3.4 liters.

Harley-Davidson Dyna Street Bob Measurements

Top speed1 190 km / h

acceleration
0 100 km / h 5.1 sec
0 ?? 140 km / h 9.8 sec

Draft
60 ?? 100 km / h 6.0 sec
100 ?? 140 km / h 7.3 sec

Speedometer deviation
Effective (display 50/100) 50/99

Consumption in the test
Country road 5.3 l / 100 km, great

Technical data Yamaha XV 1900 Midnight Star

Engine: air-cooled two-cylinder four-stroke 48-degree V engine, two balance shafts, two gear-driven camshafts below, four valves, hydraulic valve lifters, bumpers, rocker arms, injection, Ø 43 mm, regulated catalytic converter, five-speed gearbox, toothed belt.
Bore x stroke 100.0 x 118.0 mm
Cubic capacity 1854 cm³
Rated output 66.4 kW (90 PS) at 4750 rpm
Max. Torque 155 Nm at 2500 rpm

Chassis: Double loop frame made of aluminum, telescopic fork, Ø 46 mm, two-arm swing arm made of aluminum, central spring strut with lever system, double disc brake at the front, Ø 298 mm, four-piston fixed calipers, disc brake at the rear, Ø 320 mm, double-piston floating caliper.
Cast aluminum wheels 4.00 x 18; 5.50 x 17
130/70 R 18 tires; 190/60 R 17

Dimensions and weights: wheelbase 1715 mm, steering head angle 58.8 degrees, caster 152 mm, suspension travel f / h 130/110 mm, seat height * 725 mm, weight with a full tank * 346 kg, payload * 204 kg, tank capacity / Reserve 16.0 / 3.0 liters.

Two year guarantee
Service intervals every 10000 km

Measurements Yamaha XV 1900 Midnight Star

Top speed1 190 km / h

acceleration
0 100 km / h 4.6 sec
0 ?? 140 km / h 8.7 sec

Draft
60 ?? 100 km / h 4.8 sec
100 ?? 140 km / h 6.2 sec

Speedometer deviation
Effective (display 50/100) 48/97

Consumption in the test
Country road 5.1 l / 100 km, great

Conclusion

Midnight Star and Street Bob ?? it’s like the nostalgic train. You get to your goal in very different ways. You can retreat to the compartment, take a seat and enjoy the landscape. Or be satisfied with less comfort, instead listening to the rattle of the wheels, absorbing the smell of smoke, soot and iron, being very close. To each his own. Driving fun is guaranteed with both.

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