Oh well, at least he came here looking for info. He'll learn.
Here is a good place to begin for a new VMax owner lots of good info in one place, from our friend RaWarrior:
https://www.vmaxforum.net/threads/new-vmax-owner-faqs-new-members-please-read.21240/
An AGM battery is better than a traditional lead/acid battery. Many, (me among them) have gone to a lithium battery, smaller, lighter, and powerful.
You probably don't yet know who he is (Sean Morley) but you will learn,
Grasshopper. Sean has done a battery box mod to allow use of a Gold Wing battery. Look in the stickies under Electrical, then Gold Wing battery (as MaxMidnight suggested, a 'search' but here on the forum), Sean has a banner ad at the top of the pages here on the forum: Morley's Muscle. A good place to buy your parts, as the owner will freely provide advice about things VMax, and he offers service up to and including engine-building and complete bike overhauls and modifications.
What year is your bike (OK, I see, 1998) , how-many miles? I would immediately change the oil, use either a motorcycle specific oil or Shell Rotella which is primarily a diesel engine oil. It has additives for bikes to be able to keep their wet clutches healthy, though Rotella is not advertised as a motorcycle oil.
If I were you, I'd be changing all the fluids in all places: front & rear brake systems, coolant, the engine/transmission, the final drive, the hydraulic clutch, and for the gasoline, look at the inside of the gas tank for any rust, and change the fuel filter, EMGO makes a sintered bronze, cleanable, reusable filter, available from your local bike shop, or mail order/online. The stick throwaway filter isn't much-different in price.
By changing all the fluids, you will have a starting point for knowing your lubricants/coolants/brake fluids/hydraulic clutch have clean fluids, in the proper amounts, and you're ready to ride safely, and with less chance of a breakdown due to any of these being low in required capacity. Start a spreadsheet, a notebook, or another record of what and when you do things to the bike.
I bet your brake fluids are opaque, a sign you are overdue for a change. Brake and clutch reservoirs should be filled to their proper levels, measure with the bike on the centerstand, or upright if the bike has it removed, as happens using a Kerker 4:1 complete replacement exhaust, which provides you with a fantastic sound.
I don't know your level of mechanical expertise. These bikes aren't too-bad for service items, and with a bit of guidance, you can do a lot on them. They are sensitive to sitting with alcohol 10% /gas in them, unused, as it tends to plug the ldle jets, which to correctly fix requires a carb tear-down. You can try the
peashooter or the
shotgun cleaning methods (look at the carburetor section) before a carburetor teardown, but I will usually just remove the carbs and disassemble them, and place 'em into my friend's shop ultrasonic cleaner.
Dannymax on here, like Sean Morley, can clean your carbs for you, and has the experience to make carburetor repairs to ensure your bike stays in operable condition, but the #1 best thing to do to keep it operable, is to
ride it!
You can find an online copy on here of the factory service manual, download it, and use it.
http://www.vmaxguru.com/Tech/Gen1/Manuals/VMX12-Service-Manual.pdf
A helpful thread when using the factory manual, correcting bad information:
https://www.vmaxforum.net/threads/how-to-errors-in-official-manuals-preventing-proper-how-tos.44668/
If you don't have much in the way of tools
, get some! Apart from a good set of quality 3/8" 6-point sockets (a set of deep sockets is a good addition, too), extensions, a universal joint, and a ratchet, you need a set of combination wrenches (box-end and open-end) from about 6 mm-19 mm; and a set of metric allen keys, I prefer the loose ones to the ones on a holder, where they are all fastened together.
A
very-important tool you need is an impact driver, usually they are 3/8" or 1/2" square drive, and some tips for them. The supplied tips are usually slot-head (different widths) and phillips (P1, P2, P3). These will keep you from buggering-up your screws as you try to disassemble things, and will make your jobs much-easier. If you have a set of 3/8" drive hex bits/allen wrench tips, it can help speed your work. You don't need to buy Snap-On tools, your local Harbor Freight will have decent quality tools for not a lot of $. The Snappy owners are very-sensitive to comments about their tools. I have a set of Wright 3/8" 6-point sockets & a ratchet w/extensions, and a set of Wright open-end wrenches I got as a teenager, over 50 years-ago, and they are still the ones I use. Out of a desire to get newer tools, I bought a set of 3/8" and 1/4" sockets in regular and deep sockets from S-K when they ran a 40% off promotional last year.
Working on brakes can be frustrating, same for the clutch. A technique for quicker, easier brake and clutch hydraulics service and repairs is the
reverse-bleed method. It's described on here, it doesn't require any expensive tools, but it will allow you to bleed your front and rear brakes, and the hydraulic clutch much-quicker than the old two-person method of pump, open the bleeder, feel the pedal or lever go to the stop & while maintaining pressure, close the bleeder valve, now release the lever or brake pedal. Repeat... many times!
Using the reverse-bleed method, this is NOT necessary! Read this:
https://www.vmaxforum.net/threads/reverse-bleeding-clutch.47305/#post-472105
The reverse-bleed doesn't know, doesn't care if it's the clutch, or the brakes, it just works much-more-quickly to bleed either system than the traditional
pump & hold method. For me, there is no-other way. Pro mechanics may use a pressure-pot, but those are hundreds of dollars (car and truck models). Some people use a one-way valve and reservoir assembly, which isn't very expensive either. For me, the advantage of the reverse-bleed is that it follows the simple physics principle you see when you pour a beer:
bubbles rise. By introducing brake fluid at the bleeder valve on either the brakes' calipers or the clutch slave cylinder, and pushing it upwards towards the master cylinder reservoir, you are pushing any residual bubble in the line in-front of the fluid, into the master cylinder. Some people like to wrap the bleeder valve with a couple turns of teflon tape, to get a better seal when bleeding the brakes using either method. Sometimes I'll do this, but I usually can get the reverse-bleed accomplished without having to do it. Remember, brake fluid is corrosive, it will ruin your paint quickly! Protect your painted surfaces, and immediately rinse-off any spillages. I use WD-40 or a spray bottle of mineral spirits for this.
Working on brake and clutch lines, you also need flare-nut wrenches in metric sizes. Use the right tool for the job, and you won't bugger-up the flats on those expensive hoses' nuts. Sometimes a set of 'crows' foot' flare-nut wrenches will permit you access to an otherwise impossible-to-reach flare nut.
Welcome, time to get to work, and take lots of pictures, we like pictures.
