I thought my bike was fast

[Hellboy]

I rode my first Max in 1985 and bought my first of 4 that I have owned in 94. I've owned many other bikes but none can match the overall "Vibe" of the Mighty Max.
Anyway, I've read about and watched video of the Gen 2 and the Diavel, sorry for the bad language. I rode the Diavel a few weeks ago, I've never really been a Ducati fan but thought that I shouldn't criticize without trying. To be honest, it did nothing for me. It definitely didn't give me that wow! this is so much more powerful and fun than my Gen 1 Max feeling. I just thought that they look better than they feel and will no longer consider one.
Now comes the Gen 2. I test rode one last week and WOW! what a kick in the pants. From the first second I could feel the brute power. I've heard all of the talk about it, but never really thought that it could be so much more of a rush than my bike, boy was I wrong. In the low range it is unbelievable, although i'll have to say that in the upper rev range my bike seems to close that gap and the difference isn't quite as much, the low end is another story though, completely insane power.
I don't understand how the 1/4 mile times they are getting on the Gen 2's aren't really much better if at all than the original times of the Gen 1???? I'm sure the 1200's can do under 11 and it seems that most of the times I see for the Gen 2 are about the same? That being said, the Gen 2 feels so much more responsive and brutal with it's power delivery that I now know, I Really want one.

 

[shaneqt]

I too have started thinking about a gen 2. Haven't rode one yet but want one. Still keep the gen 1 as I feel it is a nicer bike that can be customised and feel it will be a classic ( just my personal opinion ) I have noticed how much attention the gen1 gets at rallies etc, there is just something about them. As for the gen 2, can't find a second hand one yet here in New Zealand. The current owners seem to be holding onto them!!

 

[Hellboy]

yeah, I will always be a loyal Gen 1 fan. I can't see ever replacing my Gen 1, just adding to.I love the fact that they are somewhat misleading to the unaware riders or drivers that just see another cruiser style bike with not much go, how wrong could they be and I will be the first to show them. I hate traffic but I do love the occasional red light at times, If you know what I mean.

 

[Itgoes]

I don't understand how the 1/4 mile times they are getting on the Gen 2's aren't really much better if at all than the original times of the Gen 1???? I'm sure the 1200's can do under 11 and it seems that most of the times I see for the Gen 2 are about the same? That being said, the Gen 2 feels so much more responsive and brutal with it's power delivery that I now know, I Really want one.

Actually Gen 2's are quite a bit faster in the 1/4 mile with similar mods.
I had several Gen 1's and my last one had a Kerker race exhaust, flatside carbs and was professionally tuned. The best I ever ran in the 1/4 mile was 11.4 @ 120 MPH. On my Gen 2 I've run 9.8 @ 138 mph with similar mods. As far as top speed goes, the Gen 2 has a limiter that will make it fall on it's face at around 137 mph. With the limiter removed though I have run 171 mph.

The power delivery you are describing on the Gen 2 was exactly what Yamaha looking for when they designed the bike. They wanted the bike to leap forward when you twisted the throttle at any speed and rpm. They accomplished that by having the engine make a lot of TQ starting at 2500 rpm and continuing up to redline. It makes the bike a lot of fun to ride.

 

[Hellboy]

I'm jealous, I want both.

I stand corrected, It's hard to argue with someone who has firsthand experience with both. You must be quite a good rider and experienced in the 1/4 I would guess. most of the You tube vids the guys seem to be around 10.5 to 11.2 on the Gen 2. I was sure from my limited experience with the Gen 2, aprox. 20 minutes, that It had to be much quicker than a Gen 1. Thanks for the confirmation. And now, thanks to you, I want one even more. My wife would hate you for that, they cost $31,000 here and about $26,000 for a 2010 second hand.

 

[SpecOps13]

We've got several really fast Gen II's here in Florida..... I know, I've races a couple on the road with Skullduggery... Generally if I can stay with them, the rider is really lacking but I have caught several in turns. I have gotten insane to do so a couple times.


Skullduggery will stay with most stock R1's in the first 3 gears and in some cases outrun FZ1's.

 

[one2dmax]

It's not that easy to get a gen 1 under 11 seconds. I've only done it a few times on stock engined bikes (never a fully stock bike).

 

[customizedcreationz]

You won't find but maybe a handful of Vmax's running in the 10's without major work or a very light weight rider. Most stock or mildly modified gen 1's with "Joe average" riders will be in the 12's. Maybe a high 11.

I dont have a gen 2 vmax but the couple I rode felt electric like. You twisted the throttle and it was just smooth. Not aggressive like the gen 1 vmax. I would say the same situation above with the gen 1, would be in the low 11's high 10's. I ve talked to many gen 2 owners that arent drag racers and that's about what they have said they ran.

In either situation throw a light weight or more drag race oriented rider you could chop those times down almost a second.

Bottom line the gen 2 vmax has awesome power. If you want power then thats what you would like the gen 2. Dont expect to pass to many gas stations though. Most owners I ve talked with and witnessed the fuel light comes on around 70-90 miles....

Thats a downfall to me. But it wasn't made to go long distances anyways.

Todd

 

[jbretthorton]

I have ridden my 30,000 mile plus 2010 running 89 octane to the track with the bags on it many times and ran 9.80's without doing anything to it minus letting some air out of the rear. No new maps, nothing....I weigh @ 210 suited up

 

[customizedcreationz]

I have ridden my 30,000 mile plus 2010 running 89 octane to the track with the bags on it many times and ran 9.80's without doing anything to it minus letting some air out of the rear. No new maps, nothing....I weigh @ 210 suited up

That is awesome. But honestly you've been down the track more then once :biglaugh:

I don't think many Gen 2 owners that have little to no track experience would be running that fast.

Damn that is awesome fast and to run 9.80's with your bags on! Talk about embarrassing a hardley owner!

Todd

 

[jbretthorton]

The "average" Gen II rider goes out and runs 10.30's or 40's typically

 

[Itgoes]

The "average" Gen II rider goes out and runs 10.30's or 40's typically

I agree.

If you've never been to the track and don't really understand what the important fundamentals are, then I guess any crappy time would be possible. Like for instance I had know idea how important the 60 foot time was for a good ET until I talked to an oldtimer that took an interest in the Gen 2 the first time I took it to the track.

I ran a best 10.25 my first time there on the Gen 2, and was only able to make 4 passes. By my 3rd trip and after maybe 10 passes total passes on the bike I ran a 10.16 @136 mph. I'm 210 LBS suited up.

It did take me several more trips to get into the 9's.

I am almost always the worst jockey at the track, unless it's someone’s first time there. So it's not real hard to run low 10's on a VMax with just a pipe and a tune.

What has only been understood pretty recently is that you are much better off launching a Gen 2 at pretty low RPM's, like 2500 -3000. I was always trying to launch at 4500 RPM and up........which can make for some very inconsistent 60 footers. You either spin the tire badly, or wheelie.

I haven't been to the track since that revelation, or since I had my ECU reflashed. I'm looking forward to turning in some more consistent times next time I get there.

 

[srk468]

A well tuned gen 1 with an average weight rider and average skill level can run mid 11's pretty consistently, I've got some stuff done to mine and I'm hoping to run 10.9's on the motor this season. Most average weight and skill riders on a gen 2 run roughly 10.3-10.5 as mentioned earlier so a gen 2 is roughly a second faster in the quarter. The gen 2's are nice bikes and I've rode a few of them now but just hate the top heavy feeling to them, the power is great but you just usually burn out on the street, I've taken a couple gen 2's from that mistake. To me they are just obscenely priced, I just can't bring myself to drop that much coin on ANY motorcycle let alone one that can't really make it 100 miles on a tank of gas. These are just my opinions, if that's what you like then by all means buy one and enjoy it but as for me I'll be sticking with my gen 1

Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk

 

[invalidsession]

The Gen 2 may be faster but I can't get past the horrible look of the things. Call me old fashioned but the Gen 1 is just a sleek cruise missile compared to the Scud appearance of it's newer brother. In fairness, I have yet to ride a Gen 2 but I sure as hell aint waiting with baited breath for that that first test. Imho, aesthetics count for a lot and the latest offering from Yamaha is a pig wearing lipstick. Fast ? of course but a pig is a pig and it's just pig ugly.

Chris.

 

[Itgoes]

the gen 2 may be faster but i can't get past the horrible look of the things. Call me old fashioned but the gen 1 is just a sleek cruise missile compared to the scud appearance of it's newer brother. In fairness, i have yet to ride a gen 2 but i sure as hell aint waiting with baited breath for that that first test. Imho, aesthetics count for a lot and the latest offering from yamaha is a pig wearing lipstick. Fast ? Of course but a pig is a pig and it's just pig ugly.

Chris.

LOL!.........:biglaugh: Hey, It's no Honda VT 1100 that's for sure! :rofl_200:

 

[Hellboy]

I actually don't think it looks nearly as nice either. I would say however that if you are a real motorcycle fan/enthusiast? that you would have to give one a go if you get the chance. Lets face it, the original and ongoing major appeal of the V-max, as nice as it looks, was, and is the whole Power thing. It would be hard to deny that you wouldn't like to have a Pig, (as you put it) that could outrun a horse, Just for the fun of it. I even broke down and rode a Ducati, mainly because if it has two wheels, a motor and a clutch lever, I want to ride it if given a chance. I've ridden bikes that I new I would love, that turned out to disappoint and bikes I didn't care about in the least, ending up wishing I had one in the shed. Do yourself a favour and just give one a try.

 

[frank5079]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aR_fztJ-Cto

 

[VMax-Mike]

I totally agree that your 60 foot make or brakes a good run. I was 267 lbs in gear the last time Todd and i went to the track and i ran two best time runs for me at 11.71 that day I could run my my bike in the 11.80s just about every run without trying that hard but watching Todd and talking with Scott helped me alot. The rpm you launch at will depend on your weight and i can tell you its alot lower than you would think. when i first went to the dragstrip i was launching around 4000 to 6000 rpms and it was getting me in the 11.80s but when i started to launch at 4000 rpm and below mt et droped to low 11.80s and a few high 11.70s like 11.79 or 11.76 and i did pull off 11.71 . The one thing i did learn is you need to master a low rpm launch and than start slowly adding launch rpm to it. as you add rpm you will automatically learn that the clutch will need to be let out differently. The gen 1 is a fast bike but to get everything you can out of it takes alot of passes to learn how to launch a good 60 footer. After the 60 foot mark and your in 2nd gear the bike is so simple to run its almost boring. At launch the vmax has a fine line between a lose of power bog and a bog that will accelerate through the bog and give you a good 60 and get you two 2nd gear as fast as you can put your feet up. Its up to you to study how your weight and rpm are affecting your launch. Like Scott told me when you can get the bike to come out of the hole with a strong bog and the front wheel is just about to lift all the way through the bog your doing it the best you can. as for i thought my bike was fast it is but are you. look at this way you can put a pipe on a $3500 gen 1 and jet it right and pull mid to low 11s and drive the bike dependable anywhere you want. Or you can spend $12000 to $20000 and do the same 1 second faster (one thousand one) faster. Dollar for dollar a stock gen 1 is one of the fastest bikes you could own. And if you spend $4000 on the bike you can get a very clean bike.

 

[invalidsession]

I actually don't think it looks nearly as nice either. I would say however that if you are a real motorcycle fan/enthusiast? that you would have to give one a go if you get the chance. Lets face it, the original and ongoing major appeal of the V-max, as nice as it looks, was, and is the whole Power thing. It would be hard to deny that you wouldn't like to have a Pig, (as you put it) that could outrun a horse, Just for the fun of it. I even broke down and rode a Ducati, mainly because if it has two wheels, a motor and a clutch lever, I want to ride it if given a chance. I've ridden bikes that I new I would love, that turned out to disappoint and bikes I didn't care about in the least, ending up wishing I had one in the shed. Do yourself a favour and just give one a try.

I agree Hellboy, "Never judge a book by it's cover" so to speak. I'll see if I can arrange a test drive but there are no dealers in my area who have had one in stock that I'm aware of so a trip out to St Louis or KC might be in order unless I stumble upon an owner who would be willing to let me take a spin. I'm just casting my mind back here and truthfully I don't even recall seeing one on the road, heck, I've only seen one other V-Max Gen 1 in the last year. Anyway, point taken, I'll shut up about pigs until I get my hands on one.

Chris.

 

[jfeagins]

When first shown a color poster of the upcoming 1985 Yamaha Vmax, I thought it was quite fugly too, and in fact, thought Yamaha was trying to mimick that god-awful V-twin look of a f'ing Harley. My view changed somewhat less than a month later when Yamaha released the hp and 1/4 mile stats. By the time I took delivery of my first 85 the 1st week of March, I couldn't look at it without getting a faster pulse rate.