# Anybody have a Yamaha VMAX motorcycle?



## Dargo

I sold my last motorcycle in 1988 when my wife was pregnant with our first child and promised not to get another until after our kids were pretty well raised.  We're getting pretty close now and my youngest son has no desire to ride one, so I'm really there for all intents and purposes.

My last bike was a V65 Magna Honda.  A reasonably quick bike but it had terrible balance.  You could literally flip it over backwards if you just twisted on the throttle in 4th gear running 60 mph.  Worse yet, they had a terrible track record for speed related head shake; otherwise known as a 'death wobble'.  The front end was so light that it would begin what was literally tank slapping with each handlebar and there was nothing you could do as a rider except try to get it shut down ASAP.  I left squiggly black marks on a highway for a full 1/8th mile after mine started a speed wobble at 130 mph and, by the grace of God, I rode it out until it quit at 45-50 mph.  So, no V65 Magna.

However, I just looked at a Yamaha VMAX and it had that look that I really like; not at all like a crotch rocket, but will run with them if pushed.  A friend let me ride his which has had the fuel electronics re-mapped, a larger air intake and exhaust that flows more freely (but NOT loud).  It runs the 1/4 mile in the low 9's.  It looked WAY cool to me and rode great.  Nice manners until you twisted the throttle.  It's not supercharged or turbo charged, but it sure seemed to really come on strong around 6000 RPM and pull hard.  It's probably the only thing I've ever driven that pulls harder than the 300hp Jet Ski I have.  I drove a new 600+ hp Mustang and really liked it, but I already have a 600+ hp car.  It's really loud, even with 3 chamber Flowmasters on each side and drinks gas like crazy.  This VMAX has all that performance but costs waaaay less and still gets around 40 mpg.  Thoughts?


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## Melensdad

I have a 49cc scooter, but one of my cigar smoking/shooting buddies has a VMax and while the Harley guys give him shit about it, its a heck of a bike.  He recently moved to Indy so I've been out of touch with him for a few months . . . probably won't see him again until his wedding this coming summer.  

Last summer he took the bike on a road trip of roughly 1000 miles and had zero problems.


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## Dargo

Melensdad said:


> I have a 49cc scooter, but one of my cigar smoking/shooting buddies has a VMax and while the Harley guys give him shit about it, its a heck of a bike.  He recently moved to Indy so I've been out of touch with him for a few months . . . probably won't see him again until his wedding this coming summer.
> 
> Last summer he took the bike on a road trip of roughly 1000 miles and had zero problems.



Not to offend any Harley guys, but I've had 4 of them and they really leave me unimpressed.  I have absolutely no desire to ride something that sounds like a 1970's era Briggs lawn mower sans muffler that needs a tune up.  People seem to 'love' the sound of a muffler-less Harley.  I think they sound like shit and are as slow as a freaking slug.  Yes, I actually do have a Harley, but not really.  It's a 2004 Heritage with maybe 800 miles on it and I gave it to my dad.  I just flat out am not a Harley guy.  Sorry in advance for hurt feelings of Harley owners.  Besides, Harley seems to make more by selling their 'licensed' Harley apparel shit that every Harley owner seems to have to have.  WTF?!!  You buy the bike and then you have to change your entire lifestyle and wear something that says Harley on it every time you leave the house?  No thanks.  And, FWIW, my DAD's Heritage has the stock mufflers on it!!


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## Melensdad

Dargo said:


> Not to offend any Harley guys. . .


Doesn't offend me.  Like I said, I have a 49cc scooter.  In fact mine is *ORANGE* and has _"flame"_ decals on it to make it look like it goes fast


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## XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq

I've always loved the VMAX bike's look.  Harley's have a big following but I'm not a huge fan.

I've been thinking of getting a bike lately but I'm thinking of something like a TW200 or some other dual purpose bike that I could throw in the back of my truck as a backup when I go in the deep woods and tool around town to save gas.  I've never had a motorcycle license - I need to get that done some time.


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## tiredretired

I like Harleys alot but no offense taken.  I'm not into brand loyalty on anything I own to that degree.  I too would suggest taking a look at the VROD.  Porsche engine and all.  Quite a bit different than Dad's Harley.  

But quite honestly, at the end of the day, it is really only your decision to make and to hell what others think.  

BTW, for me that VMAX looks way too crotch rocket for my tastes.  You asked.


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## Av8r3400

The VMax is a pure muscle machine.  No doubt about that.  Fast.  Very, very fast.  If that's your bag, it's near the top of that heap.

I gave up going fast on the ground years ago.  Too dangerous.  I have too much to live for.  I haven't broke the 100mph barrier on the ground in 20 years.  My heavy-ass, slow as molasses, comfortable as you living room recliner Harley-Davidson Road Glide is perfect for me.  Set the cruise control, turn up the stereo, adjust the backrest and roll on down the road...


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## JimVT

I have about 5000 miles on the TW 200 the wife bought  me.


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## tommu56

I'm cheap I ride a klr650 for me and TW200 for the wife 
I keep dreaming about a triumph 
*Tiger 800XC*







and a off road bile like a husky 

TE511







when I get rich!


tom


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## REDDOGTWO

I rode one once when I sold them and decided at that point that life was to precious.  I do know that the first model year produced 145hp and 128hp at the rear wheel.  I will stick to my HD knowing that there is a better chance of being see by the careless cagers out there.


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## Dargo

REDDOGTWO said:


> I rode one once when I sold them and decided at that point that life was to precious.  I do know that the first model year produced 145hp and 128hp at the rear wheel.  I will stick to my HD knowing that there is a better chance of being see by the careless cagers out there.



The first year had the least hp.  I believe that was in the mid 80's.  I just bought a 2004 model.  One of my best clients has a 2012 VROD and insisted on running them.  After 4 tries, I'll just say that Harley's custom shop liquid cooled bikes are a lot faster than the other Harley's, but they are not that quick, if you know what I mean.  Wasn't much of a race.

I really like the bike.  It sits upright, has a good ride, good manners when slowly cruising but will absolutely scream if you twist the throttle.  The VROD I ran, and blew away, runs in the mid 10's in the 1/4 mile according to the owner who has been a drag racer for 28 years.


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## Big Dog

Face it, it's a crotch rocket, no matter how you dress it. Engines are not necessarily a great thing to look at and frankly that's all you see. 

My first road bike was a Yamaha 750 Special, had it less than a year. Damn near killed myself three times. You say you can stay out of the throttle but you never do. I bought a Harley to make myself go slower. No need to go 0 to dead in 9 seconds .................


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## Big Dog

How much is it anyway??


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## REDDOGTWO

It was comfortable to ride.  The first year was 1985 if I remember correctly.


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## NorthernRedneck

I never did care much for the vrod(wannabe crotch rocket meets cruiser) look.  I much prefer the full out cruiser look.  Harley??? Meh!  Wouldn't pay that much for a name and not be able to feel my but or hear myself think.  

My choice would be a valkyrie/interstate type cruiser if I had to choose a bike today.  Reliable.  LOTs of power.  Good band for the buck.  Not paying for a name.


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## Dargo

groomerguyNWO said:


> I never did care much for the vrod(wannabe crotch rocket meets cruiser) look.



Actually, it is officially classified by the AMA as a "cruiser" bike.  They went on to say it's a 'cruiser bike' that will embarrass 99% of the lay down crotch rockets out there.  I absolutely despise loud pipes; always have.  This bike is surprisingly quiet and far, far too heavy to make you think you can fly around corners like you can on a 400 pound, 14,000 rpm, crotch rocket.  It is what I like.  Sort of like my old '62 Biscayne.  Everything inside the car is all NOS and the outside is completely correct and stock.  It's just the 640 hp power plant under the hood that can give you a thrill if you so desire.

I used to think I wanted a full dresser Honda until I stopped to help an older fella pick his up.  He let it lean too far over at a stop light and over it went.  He couldn't budge it.  Like I've always been used to doing, I grabbed his handlebars and lifted it up.  Well, it didn't actually lift up; I just bent the hell out of his handlebars.   Oops.  I called a wrecker for him and left when it got there.

I also have a 49cc scooter and a 250cc scooter.  Unless I'm going somewhere on the highway or feel the need for speed, I will probably continue to grab my Grand Vista.  It will run 88 mph.  Some laugh at it, but I honestly don't care.  Here is one identical to mine except I have a rear 'trunk' on the back.


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## NorthernRedneck

Yah.  Dads got a valkyrie interstate full dresser.  Gorgeous bike and all kinds of power.  Not too loud.  But around town or the city, he finds it a pain especially with bad knees and ankles.  That's allot of weight to hold up at a stop light.


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## Dargo

Well, would you believe that I just didn't care for the lack of handling inherent to the VMAX and any Harley?  The Harley Heritage sits at my dad's house, so I hardly ever ride it.  It's a complete dog power wise anyway.  So, I set out to find a lighter bike that handled a lot better and not give up any power.  Drum roll please.......

Would 

you

believe

New Ride. A bit faster and handles better


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## Av8r3400

Congrats and more power to you, Brent.  

That type of bike has no interest to me because the rider position is not compatible with my back.  I have no interest in going fast on the ground.  Way too dangerous.  I much prefer my heavy, "underpowered", "poor handling", yet very comfortable HD.


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## Dargo

Av8r3400 said:


> Congrats and more power to you, Brent.
> 
> That type of bike has no interest to me because the rider position is not compatible with my back.  I have no interest in going fast on the ground.  Way too dangerous.  I much prefer my heavy, "underpowered", "poor handling", yet very comfortable HD.



I suppose that's why they make more than one color.  Between me and my dad, the Road Toad (Heritage) has less than 5k miles on it in 10 years.  The new Kaw rides much better IMHO.  One thing is different though.  About 5 or 6 years ago, nobody on a 'cruiser' style bike ever waived at anyone on a sport bike.  Now that the two are getting more blended, like boaters, bikers all seem to be one group now.  I have a feeling I'm in no way the only person who has one of each.  Let's ride!


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## SShepherd

quite a wild ride you have !

Wish I would have seen this sooner, I would have suggested the Diavel from Ducati.

http://www.ducati.com/bikes/diavel/index.do

I wanted one...........but there's no place on it for a passenger


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## tiredretired

Dargo said:


> I suppose that's why they make more than one color.



As we said when I sold used cars (on weekends) a million years ago.   There's a seat for every ass and an ass for every seat.


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## Dargo

SShepherd said:


> quite a wild ride you have !
> 
> Wish I would have seen this sooner, I would have suggested the Diavel from Ducati.
> 
> http://www.ducati.com/bikes/diavel/index.do
> 
> I wanted one...........but there's no place on it for a passenger



That looks really nice, but there just aren't any dealers in my area.  I really liked the BMW bikes I rode, but they were relatively slow IMHO.  I thought about it last night, and after my dad put the Vance & Hines pipes on our Harley Heritage, I've never ridden it.  As opposed to most Harley owners, I think open pipes on a Harley make them sound like a mid 70's Briggs lawn mower that needs a muffler and a tune up.  I just really dislike that sound.  All I can think of is "loud", "slow" and someone changing their entire wardrobe to Harley propaganda.  I own no clothing that says Harley on it.  I was given a vest once for Christmas but took it back.  Our local Harley shop is one of the largest around, Bud's Harley, and it's about 80% merchandise and 20% bikes.  I'm just not going to get all tattooed up, always wear leather with fringe and ALWAYS wear a black Harley tee shirt.

Some guys I know seem to work only so they can buy more accessories for their Harley.  Great it that's what you want.  Just not my bag of tea.  I suppose after racing so many years I have a desire for a whole lot more power than a Harley has and a LOT better handling.  I rode a 200 mile leg on a trip on a friend's HD that had 'ape hangers' on it, and I couldn't stand it.  Hell, my armpits got sunburned and you have almost no control.  No way you're going to dodge a deer, person, car, etc. with those and IMHO they were very uncomfortable.  Me, I guess I gotta have the power and bike control.  Being able to run a 9.3 1/4 out of the box, completely stock, is fast enough for me and it handles rather well.  A friend has a 2007 ZX-6R Ninja who wants my fertilizer spreader and one of my scooters.  He only has 1500 miles on it and is afraid of it.  May have to work out some trade with him.  His was fast to start, and he spent about $3k on 'go fast' accessories (which add zero to it's resale value).

Oh, did I ask if anyone else has one of the bluetooth helmets?  Man, I love that helmet!  The full face part folds up (so you can put on your glasses), it has a clear and tinted shield, and it has a stereo bluetooth headset in it and the mic has great noise reduction to it because most people can't even tell I'm riding if I answer their call.  Mostly, I like having a quality full face helmet, eye protection and the ability to listen to my choice of music as a relatively low volume to relax me as I ride.  Here is the helmet I have.  Mine is gloss black Torc bluetooth modular Contrary to what you may think, just because the bike is currently the fastest production bike built, I generally cruise rather slow in the right lane and just enjoy the ride.  Ride on!


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## SShepherd

I have a Nolan N104, the B4 bluetooth should come today.

http://www.n-com.it/site/index.php?...ayout=blog&id=55&Itemid=228&lang=en&brandid=1

http://www.nolan-usa.com/home.php?cat=249

btw, yes..I have a harley. 103ci, 125hp. Yes it's loud, but it's also like a sofa. I ride because I enjoy it (I have a pic of myself when I was 2 on my dads bike)

Too bad a Ducati stealership is so far from you. The diavel only was about .1 sec slower in the quarter than the vmax


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## Dargo

SShepherd said:


> The diavel only was about .1 sec slower in the quarter than the vmax



The new Ninja is about 1 and a half seconds faster in the quarter than the VMAX.  That's a considerable difference.  Still, 99% of the time I'll just be cruising around however I like.  I got right at 39 mpg on the first tank.  Obviously I wasn't running it hard any on the first tank!  Kind of like yours; it fits you and you like it.  That's all I wanted in mine.  I thought the VMAX was it, but it just didn't handle like I wanted.  Both are reasonably quiet with the stock exhaust.  I made it clear to dealers that I won't have an out of tune B&S lawnmower sound and I simply told individuals that there was no need to look at their bike any further if they had megaphones on it.  I had that when I raced and they were actually tuned pipes for two strokes, not hollow pipes for the sole purpose of being loud.  I guess I'm getting old...


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## SShepherd

my onlt point to the quarter mile times, the diavel is lighter, and less cc. No dount the zx14 is the fastest bike, but like you said that's not important to you


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## Dargo

I got blown away by a very modified Kawasaki ZX6RR. It's only 600cc's too!  I rode it a bit and then decided to see what it will do. It didn't take long. It's a 6 speed bike and has the big shift indicator light. I knew my run was going to stop when the shift light didn't flash on in first gear and I was already running over 95 mph and it was still pulling _hard_ at 18,000 RPM!   That's the wildest beast I think I've ever ridden. I shifted to 2nd and it picked the front end up a bit on the power shift. That was enough. Dunno what speed. Other things were going by so fast that I didn't look down to see. 

Hey, on a side note, I opened a box I got from the guy I bought my VMAX from and it had two new 90 series Nolan helmets in it. I really like those helmets! They are more comfortable than the new Bluetooth helmet I got.


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## love705

Dargo said:


> I sold my last motorcycle in 1988 when my wife was pregnant with our first child and promised not to get another until after our kids were pretty well raised.  We're getting pretty close now and my youngest son has no desire to ride one, so I'm really there for all intents and purposes.
> 
> My last bike was a V65 Magna Honda.  A reasonably quick bike but it had terrible balance.  You could literally flip it over backwards if you just twisted on the throttle in 4th gear running 60 mph.  Worse yet, they had a terrible track record for speed related head shake; otherwise known as a 'death wobble'.  The front end was so light that it would begin what was literally tank slapping with each handlebar and there was nothing you could do as a rider except try to get it shut down ASAP.  I left squiggly black marks on a highway for a full 1/8th mile after mine started a speed wobble at 130 mph and, by the grace of God, I rode it out until it quit at 45-50 mph.  So, no V65 Magna.
> 
> However, I just looked at a Yamaha VMAX and it had that look that I really like; not at all like a crotch rocket, but will run with them if pushed.  A friend let me ride his which has had the fuel electronics re-mapped, a larger air intake and exhaust that flows more freely (but NOT loud).  It runs the 1/4 mile in the low 9's.  It looked WAY cool to me and rode great.  Nice manners until you twisted the throttle.  It's not supercharged or turbo charged, but it sure seemed to really come on strong around 6000 RPM and pull hard.  It's probably the only thing I've ever driven that pulls harder than the 300hp Jet Ski I have.  I drove a new 600+ hp Mustang and really liked it, but I already have a 600+ hp car.  It's really loud, even with 3 chamber Flowmasters on each side and drinks gas like crazy.  This VMAX has all that performance but costs waaaay less and still gets around 40 mpg.  Thoughts?




i had this bike before i got a ducati . it is AMAZING in every whey its the best of all worlds . i definitely recommend it its really just plain awesome. you will love itso why did i get a ducati monster you ask .. there Ar many levels of awesome


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## Dargo

I've not exactly been physically able to do all the things I'm used to doing.  That includes enjoying rides on my 2 wheeled toys.  One of my 'sleepers' is a "HalfaBusa".  From what I'm told from the 'Busa fanatic who I let work on mine, he told me that my particular bike is basically half of the fastest 'Busa Suzuki ever built that has been detuned and put into.....um,....a scooter!   Yup, I have a 650cc scooter.  However, after I burned through my budget with Al, the guy who did the work, my scooter will flat embarrass a HUGE percentage of all bikes on the road.  Some think it's funny, others want to kill you after you leave their VROD in the dust.

Anyway, after I missed riding it all last year I got it out and rode it last week a bit.  I realize it has been a while, but it really seemed considerably slower.  So, I thought the least I could do was give it a regular tune-up.  In doing so I also solved the mystery of who was eating my snacks out in my shop.  When I went to change my air filter, this is what I found...


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## Big Dog

Dargo said:


> Anyway, after I missed riding it all last year I got it out and rode it last week a bit.  I realize it has been a while, but it really seemed considerably slower.  So, I thought the least I could do was give it a regular tune-up.  In doing so I also solved the mystery of who was eating my snacks out in my shop.  When I went to change my air filter, this is what I found...



You know what they say "If you don't use it ................." the mice just helped you!


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## OhioTC18 RIP

No wonder why you had a loss of power.


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## NorthernRedneck

I totally understand where you're coming from. I have the goldwing sitting in the garage about 95% done. I haven't even looked at it in months because of chronic pain in my back and legs. Like you two wheel toys may be a thing of the past for me. I've been looking at trikes lately and not a huge fan of them. 

I'm seriously looking into the can am spyder for sometime in the next couple years. Bike guys say it's not a bike. Car guys say it's not a car. I would classify it in the bike category myself but a branch off the bike tree since you're still out in the open air riding. The first ones that came out had a crotch rocket riding position. They heard the cry from riders and came out with a cruiser and also a touring model.  






Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk


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## Galvatron

The last Yamaha i had was a XJ550...it was chain driven and the newer 600 went to shaft driven.the late 1980's and early 1990's were a fun time....always wanted a FJ1300 but never got round to it.


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## Dargo

Okay, I have to be honest.  Since I may not get to ride any more this year after next Wednesday, I rinsed off the ole HD Heritage and took it for a 70 mile cruise around some country back roads in my area.  It's been so long since I've been on that bike I really forgot what it was like.  I guess since 3 of the 4 HD motorcycles I've owned were old AMF shakers, that was the image and feel that has been stuck in my mind.  Although it's no big cruiser by any means, I really enjoyed the ride on the Heritage and thought it was quite comfortable.  Heck, different bikes for different moods, right?


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