We all ride Yamaha Stars. We all love our Stars, so it should come as no surprise that our beloved Stars rank so well not only among our ranks but throughout the cruising world.

I just opened the latest issue of Motorcycle Cruiser Magazine and found, as usual, some interesting articles inside. The write-ups on the new 2000 year models from all the manufacturers caught my attention. But once again, after reading through the articles and checking out the pictures, I was pleased to discover that I'm still thoroughly happy with my choice of a 650 Classic in 1998.

The Victory 92SC looks kind of interesting. It definitely has style and I love the very un-cruiser-esque muffler. But the most outstanding thing I noticed about it, in a write-up from another magazine, was that Victory has incorporated what we ISRAlites refer to as the Florida slam. That's right, from the factory, this bike comes with alternate placement positions for the rear shock.

All the mags seem to be thrilled with what Harley has accomplished over the last year. Especially noteworthy is the introduction of the Twin Cam 88B motor. In fact Harley's accomplishments have been so significant that Motorcycle Cruiser bestowed their Cruiser of the Year on Victory. Stay with me here, because I had some difficulty with this logic too, but apparently Motorcycle Cruiser believes that Victory's introduction of the V92C was responsible for pushing Harley to raise the bar. The article went on at some length to discuss the V92C and it's relationship to the rest of the market segment. At the end of the article, I was left thinking, so what?

The runners up for Cruiser of the Year were (in order) the Road Star, the HD FXDX Dyna Super Glide Sport, the Kawasaki Drifter and the EH Super X. Well, the high ranking of the Roadie doesn't shock us Star gazers, does it? In their explanation of placement, Motorcycle Cruiser said, "If our Cruiser of the Year were picked on sheer excellence, the Road Star would have been the clear winner." So, if you're not basing the choice on sheer excellence, then what is it -- who paid the most in advertising fees? It's worth reading the article to find out MC's reasoning on their choices.

As for the HD, it's probably a great bike. Personally, one of my problems with Harley is that I can't keep straight which model is which. The array of letters and descriptors that Harley uses in its naming conventions is mind boggling to me. Several Harley savvy friends have tried to explain it to me, but I still don't get it.

The Drifter does nothing for me looks-wise, so I can't get excited about it mechanically either. Not that I think it's a bad bike, by any stretch of the imagination, just not one that I'm interested in. The E-H? What can I say, except with all their financial problems I wouldn't rush out to buy an expensive bike from a company that may not be around for long.

Even after reading the MC Cruiser of the Year article, it still wasn't clear to me how they chose the V92C . In a sidebar to the article, they included their editors' choices and the results of the readers' survey. Both editors, Evans Brasfield and Art Friedman, agreed with the readers that the Road Star was the Best New for '99 Cruiser, the V-Star 650 Classic was the Most Desirable under 675 cc, and that the Yamaha Stars are the Best Cruiser Model Line. Brasfield and the readers also agreed that the V-Star 1100 represents the Most Desirable 900-1225 cc where Friedman picked a different Yamaha, the V-Max, for that honor.

Overall, the Stars shone admirably. Next year, let's make sure we watch for the survey in the August issue of MC and share our opinion of the Stars with the rest of the universe.