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The response to our web survey on Yamaha Designcafe web page was a clear verdict: 92 % of the several thousand respondents found XV 1700 PC Warrior an interesting concept. Riders from many countries in Europe asked to introduce this unusual machine. We have listened to you and are launching the bike in limited quantity of around 1000 units.
Jeff Palhegyi's design study worked as a base for development of production accessory parts
Special Warrior to win design award
The Warrior has established itself as a real new generation performance cruiser (see interview with project leader Watanabe). The bike is inspiring riders and designers to personalise it. Jeff Palhegyi from San Diego in Southern California customised a Warrior and won first prize at a US custom bike design contest.
Mario Inumaru, in 2002 Vice President of Yamaha Motor Europe, supported this project, when he was responsible for Yamaha's American marketing and product planning.
"I believe personalisation of motorcycles will become increasingly popular both in US and Europe," says Mario Inumaru. "We have worked with Jeff Palhegyi to create a dream bike. It was the base for further developments of custom parts, which we now manufacture and distribute."
Robbert Kreber explains his philosophy on Warrior's accessory parts
Sleek looks and R1 windscreen: Warrior with fairing
Range of accessory custom parts
Robbert Kreber, who is responsible for the Warrior accessories at Yamaha Europe could choose from a variety of parts already produced for the US market. He explains his philosophy:" We focused on about 30 real dedicated parts for Warrior. We choose the directions based on what is fitting best to the concept of this machine."
He determined 3 major areas:
A. Performance & function
B. Performance & style
C. Comfort
He explains further: "The performance parts we do offer have a real function. For example, the custom footrests are mounted higher and enable a higher lean angle in corners. The same philosophy counts for the styling parts. The fairing adds protection but at the same time is real stylish. The windscreen comes from the R1 supersport machine and gives this cruiser a great speedy looks and reduces wind resistance for the rider. The comfort items include parts like seat, and handlebars. We are also manufacturing many CNC-billet parts , like brackets and footrests and so forth. They are very high quality and based on Jeff's original design."
A standard Warrior
An accessorised Warrior
The survey: high response from experienced riders
Back to your voice on our web survey: 57% of you found performance the most interesting feature on Warrior and another 43% simply liked its looks. A fairly balanced vote.
39% of you think Warriors main competitor is Harley Davidson's new V-Rod rather than Hondas VTX 1800 (32%). Other cruisers did not score any significant votes.
In one respect, the survey bared a surprise to us: 13% of all replies came from Sweden! This is the highest reply rate per capita. Strong interest also in Germany (18%) UK (13%) and Italy and France (9%). And it seemed that the bike attracted many experienced riders. 23% of the respondents have more than 20 years of riding experience!
Photo Gallery 2002-XV1700PC
Click to enlarge.
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