Men's Journal

When the original VMax motorcycle debuted in 1984 (made by Yamaha, Star’s parent company), it was the most powerful bike on the planet, a fetish of eyeball-squishing acceleration that single-handedly created the “power cruiser” genre. “Planet crusher” might better suit the newest iteration, though. The barrel-chested 1,679cc four-cylinder engine in the new Star VMax pumps out 197hp, making other sport-bike engines look like sparrows’ hearts. Snorting through trademark quad intakes on each side of its gas tank and expelling exhaust through matching titanium megaphone pipes, the Star VMax can spin the world like a marble beneath its wide back tire. [$17,990; starmotorcycles.com]