My 85' Max is approx. bike #4000 per the vin. number is also a pretty sweet bike for 23 year old. I had to restore her consumables 5k worth (ouch), but she's very reliable now and almost new in every way.:eusa_dance:
I was sold on this bike after finding out it had only 26K miles on the original odometer and garage kept her hole life and not a bit of real rust. Got it from a neighbor for $1,500.00 who was the 2nd. owner for about 14 year of its life. He was about to part her out because he didn't have the patience to restore her himself. So I thought his loss is my gain.
unk:
I agree this bike deserves it and should be kept as original as possible, when possible, which brings me to a story about the low mileage shown on the OEM odometer.
Magnetic tank bags are real nice especially on the Max's metal airbox cover, but they then get in the way of viewing the control console. What to do, what to do. Oh, hey, how about a new Koso RX-2N Digital speedo/Tachometer all in one unit w/ 2 digital temps so I don't have to worry about the dangers of trying to look around a tank bag any more.
New Koso RX-2n Digital Speedo/Tach unit in hand, remove the OEM speedometer, I take it apart to look inside, just curious mind you and what the FU&%!#K am I looking at inside the housing, someone had hacked into the odometer numbers and done a roll back! So much for my low mileage Vmax LOL - go figure. I guess I should have looked inside the speedometer case before I bought her .:bang head:
Sorry about the low mileage rant... Back on subject...
So during this restoration I have change only two things so far. The first as listed above is a Koso RX-2n Digital Speedo / Tachometer w/ dual temp sensors, dual trip odometers, and way to much more to list here so I'll insert a link to Koso North America:
http://www.kosonorthamerica.com/flashpage_us.php
All I can say about the Koso RX-2n is wow what a sweet digital speedo / tachometer unit for $399.00. It comes with an adjustable-tilting bracket and it mounts right where the OEM speedometer bracket had bolted on. It also comes with a powered magnetic speedo kit for the front wheel which is used in lieu of the OEM speedo transmission on the front axle. I removed the OEM speedo cable just capped that off with a large rubber cap. The instructions are very well done, but I warn you the instructions on their website might not be what you get in the box.
The only thing Koso missed here is a gear indicator and volt meter. Oh well, so much for price points driving available features.:confused2:
RX-2n Digital Speedo / Tachometer Unit Info:
The second major thing changed was the Halogen Headlight. I just installed a HID Bi-Xenon unit which I can't say enough about too. The best $250.00 ever spent on the Max.:clapping:
Xetronics has an H4 motorcycle conversion kit which used the existing headlight housing, so all you do is change out the bulb, mount the ballast, igniter and run some cabling. I got it from:
www.xtralights.com
I purchased the HID Digital Bi-Xenon Bulb 8000K (3300 lumins)with Hi/Lo features and the digital ballast with included igniter unit. The bulb features a electro-magnet to travels out for low beam and gets pulled back in about 1/2" for the high beam. I just installed this and really love the 300% more out put vs the Halogen and it only uses 35 watts of power. You gotta love that on a Max.
Totally water proof system and NO EMI to worry about.
The HID system does require two modification that are very do-able, but some may not wish to do so.
1. The nose guard on the front of the new HID bulb is about 1/8" to long to install inside the Vmax headlight enclosure as is, but the nose guard was only screwed on. I was able to re-drill the nose guard screw hole about 1/4" lower towards the HID bulb and re-attach it and install it into the headlight enclosure with its H4 style mounting tangs.
2. The bulb and electro-magnet are about 3/8" to long to fit inside the existing rear bowl of the headlight enclosure without some sort of modification. I was able to drill and cut as needed on the existing plastic bowl so the new HID unit has plenty of room to pass through the back side of the headlight bowl.
I discussed both HID Install modifications with the dealer and they agreed to put a note on my purchase record, so these mods won't affect my bulb warranty.
I still working out the kinks on my DG8 gear indicator and i'll post something when I get it running again.
Other than that I really love my Max!
BrianK
bdk2272-5125
Houston, Texas\
