I bought my Yamaha Royal Star Venture a year ago and would not part wtih it.  My soon to be wife and I took a short 500 one way trip in Colorado last year and she road on the back.  She described the ride like this:  "It is like putting a set of wheels on a Lazy Boy!!"  It is extremely comfortable.  We also test drove a Harley Classic, all decked out, although not as well as my Venture.  We were not comfortable on it.  It was short in the front, a rough ride.  We decieded that we would have taken 3 days to arrive on our trip with the Harley as we would have had to stop to rest longer.  It was that uncomfortable compared to the Venture.  We road the Venture about 12 hours and just felt a little tired as if driving a luxury car that long.  It was not big deal and we were ready to ride after gas stops without effort or an attitude of "Are we there yet!!"  If you want reputation, and want to "in the in crowd," by all means by a Harley. You will have "status," but no comfort.  The Venture is at least 3 times the comfort, power and ride that the Harley has only dreamed about.  We love our Venture and can't wait til our next trip.  Oh, yes, by the way, the venture "eats" Harley's for breakfast, lunch and dinner!!". 

If there was a suggestion for the Venture it would be for Yamaha to give up the tape deck and install a CD.  I mean when will they catch on???  Thanks, Roy