Road Test: 2005 Yamaha Royal Star Tour Deluxe

For a while I was a little miffed by the Deluxe's conflicting identity. Is it a tourer? Well, it can't be a full-blown long-distance machine because it lacks some of the amenities offered on luxo-barges like the Honda Gold Wing and BMW K1200LT. But then again, it's not really a cruiser because, well, it's a V-4, and not a very quick one at that. At first, I wasn't truly convinced there was any market for this machine because it didn't have any concrete identity.