Some have said the only thing that separates civilized man from the apes is his ability to accessorize

The new tank-top mounted speedo is easy to read in any driving situation and looks cool in retro styling.

The Road Star Silverado edition ($12,599) sports an adjustable windshield, leather saddlebags, passenger backrest, studded seats and white wall tires and is available in either Onyx/Red or Beach Sand Tan/Black.

To go with the easy-chair feel, the new rubber-mounted, floating floorboards eliminate most of the vibration of last year’s Star and give your feet and legs the sensation of being perched on a matching ottoman.

The new motor feels significantly more powerful than its claimed 15% increase, with strong, even delivery from right off the bottom all the way through the powerband.

The forged pistons that fill the better-sealing, increased-durability ceramic-composite cylinders are now 97mm - that's almost 4 inches across, more like the pistons for a P-51 Mustang.

You feel the fruits of their labor whenever out on the road or stopped, as the bike hovers close to the tarmac in its low, mean and nasty demeanor, and it never has you caught off-guard with any top-heaviness in those micro-mph creeps just before stopping.

The 2004 Yamaha Road Star is a shot across the bow of psychoanalysis, serving notice to the practitioners of pricey self-help that happiness is a lot closer than perhaps they'd like their patients to know.