Restoring the 1985 Vmax

By now most here have seen or heard of my Vmax that was under a tarp for 15 years. Worse yet in Anchorage Alaska where its right next to a salty moist environment along the inlet.
From the short time I have been on these forums this weekend or so I have not seen any threads about restoring a Vmax back to original, no mods, no tire upgrades, not even a different color.

Maybe it will have some minor tweaking, for one thing I think the exhaust is aftermarket, it only has one muffler a great big Kerker on the right side that is massively oxidized, not even sure if I can save it short of having it bead blasted and powdercoated.

Engine is coming out and frame will be stripped, epoxy paint or powdercoat? I have a powdercoat shop nearby and the owner will give very good rates. I already have bought another front fender, lower case half, stator cover and soon will get a crankshaft as this one is broken,

This is the bike that was dropped off a trailer, broke off the oil filter boss, and then someone was removing flywheel and I think they strongarmed it too much and literally snapped the crankshaft, I pushed bumped bike in 5th and the engine rotates very freely and that was not even taking plugs out and lubing cylinders.

I own a restoration business, kinda like the one you see on TV though I specialized in classic Honda and Yamaha motorcycles, no dirt bikes and generally nothing newer than mid 90's. Mostly Goldwings, Ventures or performance bikes, the recent Vmax was a surprise, to me its just a stripped down lean mean Venture, first time I have ever seen a classic one. Just hardly any in Alaska. Would be nice to see it fully restored in next springs bike show, thats my goal to showcase it as the results of my restoration with before and after pics.

Will I ride it much? Probably not. To me it either fetches a good price or becomes one of my museum pieces.

I think Kyle was collecting stock 85 parts at one point. Get in touch with kj and see if he's got parts sitting around, too.

Good luck restoring it. Keep posting update pics so we can follow along in your progress.

Are you going back with one of the two OEM paints, or keeping the aftermarket blue this one seems to have been painted at some point?

Looks like a great challenge! Can't wait to see the after pics. I prefer powdercoat, but I'm biased as PC is a hobby of mine...

I also have an 85 parts bike if your looking for anything I may have it.

Have you listed the serial number yet on the oldest 85' thread ?

But first do us a favor and get a better camera. My baby boomer eyes will see that much better!

jfeagins said:

Good luck restoring it. Keep posting update pics so we can follow along in your progress.

Are you going back with one of the two OEM paints, or keeping the aftermarket blue this one seems to have been painted at some point?

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marsmax85 said:

Have you listed the serial number yet on the oldest 85' thread ?

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Yup, it's 217

Nice early number!.............Good luck with the resto!............Looking foreward to updates/pics...................Tom.

twistedmax said:

Yup, it's 217

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Nice unk:

Be nicer if it were more then a donor bike
Mostly there but would need a COMPLETE. Resto .

My last Vin digits are 000199, registered it on the Vmax registry last week.
Number four up from the lowest VIN registered.

The paint under the seat is considerably darker than what you see but its still not what I think is a stock color.

Got a replacement lower engine case off Ebay, a new stator cover, next is a crankshaft, starter gears. I also got lucky and found a nice stock 85 front fender with the brace.
Trying to decide where the front turn signals went, I think there was a part on top of the speedo they bolted to.

silverado6x6 said:

Got a replacement lower engine case off Ebay, a new stator cover, next is a crankshaft, starter gears. I also got lucky and found a nice stock 85 front fender with the brace.
Trying to decide where the front turn signals went, I think there was a part on top of the speedo they bolted to.

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Turn signals go on the crown in the lower right of this picture.

Might be missing that piece, goes on top of the headlight bucket? Cause all I have is a big rectangle sized hole there.
Bit by bit I will be getting these parts, more than likely it will be this winter when I am off season is when I will pull motor, go through it, powder coat frame and polish it up.

There is an 85 max for sale locally, it's apparently in tip top shape with 25,000 miles on it, has a windshield and bags, fella wants $1800 for it, looks original.

Looks like a deal. The price is right.

tothemax93 said:

Looks like a deal. The price is right.

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If it's in Anchorage then it's a 50 mile ride to see it, forecast is 47f for a high temp, kinda chilly.
I am tempted to ride it home, or just take the dually and trailer, gotta remove a pair of air compressors off it first.

Rear fender is missing and the stock exhaust cans also. You might ask the owner if he has those parts while making the purchase. I would say that is a very fair price considering your location.

Wow, thanks for noticing the fender and cans, I was wrapped up about just finding one here in Alaska, but at least I already have the rear fender from the 85 that was given to me earlier this year that is what this thread was about. What were the stock mufflers? Kerkers?