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Hello all!

This is my first post even though I joined this forum more than a year ago.

Let me start by explaining my Vmax obsession. It was way back in the mid 80's. I had sold a co-worker my CB750 with a full fairing to generate cash to support my wife and I's growing family. The bank wouldn't finance the entire sales price so I carried the balance. Bad move on my part. Fast forward a few years and he never finished paying me though he did payoff the bank. I live in Conroe, TX and he had moved to Louisiana with no way to contact him. I did eventually find him and he agreed to give it back to me, which I was elated, then the hammer fell. He had wrecked it severely though he came away unscathed, the bike was literally in pieces.

I rented a trailer and headed to Louisiana to repossess what was left. A few miles after crossing the Sabine River a group of six or so street bikes screams past and one was a motorcycle I'd never seen before and that image was burned into my brain! That was the most badass ride I've ever seen!

Years rolled by and I finally had the funds to get that dream ride and found a used '05 Vmax with 5800 miles on it, so I snapped it up fast. I commuted on it for almost a year and noticed that throttle response was strange. The left side of the engine would come on late compared to the right. I bought a vacuum gauge set and tried to synchronize the carbs but the left front cylinder shows almost no suction compared to the other three. Even when I rev it up it shows very little suction until RPM's reach around 3000. I took it to my local Yamaha service center and have now spent over $3,000 trying to get it fixed.

4 years ago I was diagnosed with a Cerebral Spinal Fluid Leak and have been almost completely bed ridden due to the symptoms which are severe nausea, headaches, dizziness, and cold sweats. I don't get to ride very often now and working on it myself has become too difficult.

Can anyone suggest a Vmax mechanic specialist near me? I don't care if I have to send it to a neighboring state to get it fixed! I love my Vmax and refuse to part with it. The joy I get from rolling on that throttle and having that violent acceleration shoots my adrenaline off the chart. I may not get to ride often but when I do it is the best medicine.

Pappatop68

Pappatop68 said:

Can anyone suggest a Vmax mechanic specialist near me? I don't care if I have to send it to a neighboring state to get it fixed!

Pappatop68

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Sorry to hear about your condition.
Where are you located at?

Pappatop68 said:

Hello all!

This is my first post even though I joined this forum more than a year ago.

Let me start by explaining my Vmax obsession. It was way back in the mid 80's. I had sold a co-worker my CB750 with a full fairing to generate cash to support my wife and I's growing family. The bank wouldn't finance the entire sales price so I carried the balance. Bad move on my part. Fast forward a few years and he never finished paying me though he did payoff the bank. I live in Conroe, TX and he had moved to Louisiana with no way to contact him. I did eventually find him and he agreed to give it back to me, which I was elated, then the hammer fell. He had wrecked it severely though he came away unscathed, the bike was literally in pieces.

I rented a trailer and headed to Louisiana to repossess what was left. A few miles after crossing the Sabine River a group of six or so street bikes screams past and one was a motorcycle I'd never seen before and that image was burned into my brain! That was the most badass ride I've ever seen!

Years rolled by and I finally had the funds to get that dream ride and found a used '05 Vmax with 5800 miles on it, so I snapped it up fast. I commuted on it for almost a year and noticed that throttle response was strange. The left side of the engine would come on late compared to the right. I bought a vacuum gauge set and tried to synchronize the carbs but the left front cylinder shows almost no suction compared to the other three. Even when I rev it up it shows very little suction until RPM's reach around 3000. I took it to my local Yamaha service center and have now spent over $3,000 trying to get it fixed.

4 years ago I was diagnosed with a Cerebral Spinal Fluid Leak and have been almost completely bed ridden due to the symptoms which are severe nausea, headaches, dizziness, and cold sweats. I don't get to ride very often now and working on it myself has become too difficult.

Can anyone suggest a Vmax mechanic specialist near me? I don't care if I have to send it to a neighboring state to get it fixed! I love my Vmax and refuse to part with it. The joy I get from rolling on that throttle and having that violent acceleration shoots my adrenaline off the chart. I may not get to ride often but when I do it is the best medicine.

Pappatop68

Click to expand...

There is a pretty good Houston Area Vmax group with a couple that live in your area you might want to join the Houston Yahoo group

Hello all I'm Robert and I'm new to the forum. On oct 29th my grandpa passed away and he was a avid motorcycle rider. He mainly rode his 1986 Vmax till earlier this year when he had a stroke. When he passed he left me his 86 vmax. I'm super excited to pick up the bike and start riding( should get it later this week or next).

Im from Wichita ks and look forward to posting and learning

Rickrossthaboss said:

Hello all I'm Robert and I'm new to the forum. On oct 29th my grandpa passed away and he was a avid motorcycle rider. He mainly rode his 1986 Vmax till earlier this year when he had a stroke. When he passed he left me his 86 vmax. I'm super excited to pick up the bike and start riding( should get it later this week or next).

Im from Wichita ks and look forward to posting and learning

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Welcome Robert.

Make sure you post a few pics when you get it. Not many of us can say that it's Grandpa's Vmax. Sorry for your loss and congrats on the ride.

Hello everyone. Have an 85 vmax that I have owned since 88. I'm currently restoring the bike and would like to thank Sean Morley for his advice.

grampa said:

Hello everyone. Have an 85 vmax that I have owned since 88. I'm currently restoring the bike and would like to thank Sean Morley for his advice.

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Hello Grampa, welcome. Thats quite a stretch of ownership. Restoration should be lots of fun (and $$) but well worth it.

Always great to have more new owners join us. You found the right place. And welcome.o
Steve-o

Hello all
I'm new to the Vmax. Picked up a 2006 a few weeks ago and loving it. Been riding for years mostly cruisers. In the South Georgia area.

Hey all, checked in on an earlier post but not here. Have a 88 that I have been riding since late July. Lovin 6k rpm. Bike is stock except seat, and pair of slip ons. I ride in the Greater Cincinnati area.

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Welcome guys!
So GA, 2006 is the fastest year!
[emoji6]

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Welcome to all of the new Members.

Welcome!!................unk:................Tom.

hello all, uk biker here

just signed up and looking for my first max

Hey guys. New to the forum (obviously, I'm posting here).
Only 15 1/2 years of age, which is probably confusing to you all. You're probably wondering why I'm here.
My dad bought an 85 max when they came out, sold it years later, and I tracked it down this past summer. Plan on buying it back next march when I'm old enough to legally ride it. Have a ninja 300 now and it's just to darn slow. Haha.

I'm in Central Oklahoma (Okc).

Already loving this forum, seeing all the different bikes is super cool.

Welcome to all of the new members here.

OKCVmax, I will probably meet you one day. I live in Lawton and go to OKC everyso often.

Cool. I've seen one or two 1st gens and one 2nd gen around town. Heck, one was a mile from my house. They are always going the opposite way though and I never get a good look at them!

OKCVmax said:

Hey guys. New to the forum (obviously, I'm posting here).
Only 15 1/2 years of age, which is probably confusing to you all. You're probably wondering why I'm here.
My dad bought an 85 max when they came out, sold it years later, and I tracked it down this past summer. Plan on buying it back next march when I'm old enough to legally ride it. Have a ninja 300 now and it's just to darn slow. Haha.

I'm in Central Oklahoma (Okc).

Already loving this forum, seeing all the different bikes is super cool.

Click to expand...

Hello and welcome!

I am somewhere in the middle of the age range here, as the Vmax came out the year I turned 16. At that time it was the quickest accelerating vehicle you could buy, and the insurance wasn't even affordable for my (then mid-forties) father. A lot of insurance companies wouldn't insure you on a Vmax until you were 25; and if they would, for a 16 year old it was over twice the price of the bike ($5295)! They did this because they viewed 16 year-olds as immature and much more likely to crater themselves on the worlds quickest motorcycle than a normal bike. In my case, at 16 they were right. I raced my 350 everywhere I went, but it could barely hit 100 which is why I am still alive.

So needless to say I had to wait a while (a few decades - lol). Even though there are many faster quicker bikes today, the Vmax isn't any less potent than it was then. So please please please... if you do get a Vmax - respect it. Most of us 'old timers' with 10's or 100's of thousands of miles experience on all types of bikes still respect the Vmax. It has the low end power to get away from you in a hurry, and it is quick enough to to turn an arrogant rider into a concrete stain in a hurry. And the brakes are not nearly as strong as the motor is.

On the other hand, it is a blast to ride as long as you don't twist the throttle in anger. I'm on my 2nd now and will always have my current Max. Many others here will tell you the same.

Coming from a Ninja 300, it will feel like you have a rocket booster attached. It's also MUCH heavier. It is comparatively easy to drop it due to the greater weight, and obviously harder to pick back up.

I don't know how long you have been riding, so I won't say don't get a Vmax. But I would advise extreme caution, as the Max makes a lot of power down low (more at 2500rpm than the Ninja 300 at it's peak), combine that with it's relative heaviness and 30-year-old suspension and you've got to have a lot of self-control to ride the max, especially in the corners. Be honest with yourself before committing.


That being said, you have found the absolute best place for knowledge about the "427 Cobra of motorcycles". The people here are amazing, friendly and helpful. Some of them have decades of experience riding racing, and repairing the Vmax, and they are cool enough to share that advice. Some of them even sell parts/services to help you repair or customize your Max, from mild to wild.

Oh yeah... I understand it's a totally different bike than the ninja. The 300 is gutless, the max isn't. WAY more power.

I've ridden around on my dad's Victory Jackpot (1700cc vtwin) and love the power, I'm just not into that style of bike. I'm also not into sportbikes. Haha. They are too cramped. I just want to cruise around and also be able to haul butt if needed. The Vmax is perfect.

Oh, and thanks for the welcome! Love reading all of the different posts on here.

Hello all. My name is Bruce from Cabot Arkansas. My wife and I used to ride our ZRX 1200's to rallies in Eureka Springs. Seems like the VMax guys were always there the same weekend. The ZRX's have been long gone and I started wanting for another street bike and set out on a mission to find a low mileage 1st Gen. I located and purchased a 2004 with just over 2000 miles. It looks brand new. I'm sure I will have lots of questions. The first thing I have to do is something with the exhaust. The previous owner had installed UFO exhaust and this thing will wake up the dead. I love the sound of a well tuned aftermarket exhaust but I don't want to be heard from 5 miles away.