So, which group do you hang with most?

[Jayhawk]

I've only been riding a couple of years now, but riding a VMax, I find myself sort of caught between the cruisers and the sport bikes, and not really a member of either. Some of my friends ride Harleys, some ride sport bikes. As you might imagine, one group much younger than the other.

In the end, I find myself riding and attending bike nights more with the sport bike crowd than I do the cruisers.

If you're fortunate enough to have a group of fellow Maxers to ride with, I'm envious. If not, which side of the aisle do you most hang out with?

 

[maleko89]

Most of the time, I'm lucky and ride with other Vmaxes. I haven't ever ridden with the sportbike crowd but some of my friends do ride Harley's. When I ride with those guys, I get 45 mpg. :eusa_dance:

 

[4gasem]

A mix of both... I have a sport bike as well so I have friends that have them so it just depends.

I'll ride with anyone with a bike. I don't care what it is as long as it can keep up. :biglaugh:

 

[QuarterHorse]

My good friends I ride with locally are riding:

81 Gold Wing (It's not what you think)
87 Fazer
04 636 Kaw
06 Victory King Pin
99 Magna
ZRX1200R

Most of the bike nights I attend are more "H-D" than anything else, but I couldn't care less what kind of bike you ride, it's the operator on the bike that I have to talk to, and he/she is what makes who I hang out with and ride with.

 

[backfire]

I'm always working, so I don't get to ride much and I've only ever seen 2 other VMAX's in my home town of 349,000. Everyone around here either has a Harley or a sport bike of some kind, but not too much in between. Two of my employees do have nice bikes that I'd trust to ride with, but after us being together in the same building all day at work, the last thing we want to do is ride together after work..

Most of the sport bike guys in this town are dangerous morons that I wouldn't ride with if someone paid me to and the Harley guys always ride to darn slow for me to have any fun. So~ I usually ride by myself and enjoy a little quality time with the bike.


- john

 

[Redbone]

Since I live in a rural area I ride with a little bit of every kind. Mostly I run with my brother and his FZ1 but I also with the following:
Star Silverado bagger, '77 HD sportster, 250 ninja's, several new sportsters, Honda/ Yamaha cruisers (not sure which models, lol they all look the same!).

 

[Shuriken]

Since I live in a rural area I ride with a little bit of every kind. Mostly I run with my brother and his FZ1

How well does the Max run with the FZ1?

 

[Redbone]

How well does the Max run with the FZ1?

Not even close, but I weigh about 100 lbs more than him. I still cannot launch properly so it is pretty much us testing each other at speed and his bike is a lot faster than mine. We ran on a open stretch last year and at 145 on my speedo he was able to just walk away from me. He says it will go 170 (his speedometer reading).
I was hoping to go to the VMOA Spring Icebreaker event so Jim could help me with launching but work messed that up. I should be able to take him out of the hole just haven't learned how to yet.:confused2:

 

[KY_BOB]

Most of my friends ride Harley's. They seem to respect my bike for what it is. If money were no object, I would have a new Harley sitting next to a new Vmax.

 

[2stangs69-91]

I am like most here I ride with both groups. The guy I ride with the most has a Buel firebolt 12R, but there is a meanstreak and a 750 nighthawk plus different harleys. When we ride with sportbike groups the ridding is more fun...when I ride with the harley guy's to events the party is more fun lol. As old as I am I can not stand cruising slow and getting passed by cars. A few of my harley friends are like that when they ride the point it is like pulling teeth. The Vmax is really the best of both worlds you can hang with either group.

 

[Rusty McNeil]

Most rides I'm on are usually about 75% Vmaxes, 20% sport tourers and sport bikes, and the rest a hodge podge of Vtwins, mostly H-D.

We usually pull together around 15-20 bikes when we put a ride together.....

Rusty

I have no problem riding with the Vtwin guys but rarely have as much fun because they wanna haul ass from take off points, get in front, and then ride really slow on all the corners and ruin the fun for everyone in the twisties cause they ride scared in the corners....

We usually have a pre-ride meeting to adress that now tho'...if your slow in the corners and find everyone on your ass then just start out in the back in the first place.....

 

[2stangs69-91]

lol when I rode with a group of sport bikes last year. (GSXR's 600, 750's ,1000,R6's FZ1,cbr600 ) at one of our meeting points we were about to head up over a mountain very windy about 20 plus miles to our next stop. They wanted the slower riders to head at first not sure why. I said I will go first since I am on a cruiser...1 guy on the FZR1 passed me(scraped the rubber off his boots) we had to wait for everybody else(except my buddy on the Bueil). I was clipping along pretty good but it was my first trip over this mountain so I didn't feel it was unsafe. The sport guy bikes were amazed at how well the vmax moved out. I told them I put about 8000 miles through the mountains the last two years so I was used to it. I was trying to make them feel better. lol so much for Vmaxes not being able to handle. Sorry for the long winded story your post on keeping the slow guy's in the back reminded me of it.

 

[4gasem]

I'm the same way though... If I don't know the roads then I take it much slower... Then I turn around and do it properly! unk:

 

[odieoh24]

i'm still trying to contact the guys from vt who are listed with the vmoa so i'm not the only max. i ride with a high school friend who runs his high school 80's honda cb 1100. things got 38000 on it and, except for the oil smoke on the downshift, still goes along pretty frickin good. i also have an aprillia rsv mille so i'm comfortable riding with that crowd. and the ole lady cruises sometimes on the 02 marauder. it doesnt really matter whether its the sportbike guys or the harley guys-EVERYONE looks at a v-max. i was 18 when i saw my first max in 85 and 21 when i bought it-it was and still is the meanest looking bike on the road.

odieoh24

 

[113s&s]

usually ride alone and hang with all types of bike owners...i when riding alone i need a bike that tweeks my mind all the time with the sound and feel...max did it for me just like the 113 did.......harleys and vmax are so close when it comes to the mind game

 

[hubeerjw]

I usually ride with Harleys, but there are more of them around than the sport bikes in my small town. Usually the "kids" that ride the sport bikes are just riding around town and not really doing much "riding". I love the VMax and us fellow riders who like the VMax for what it is and not for what others "think" it is. I have such a hard time with all my buddies that have $20k in their bikes, and another $5k in "accessories" things from Harley: boots, t-shirts, leathers, wallets, and the list goes on. On the other hand, I have seen too many of the younger sport bikers in the area doing too much immature crap that it doesn't really look like fun to ride with them. Don't get me wrong, I do plenty of stupid crap, but I am usually putting myself in danger, and no one else.... except for when I work on axles..... but that is another story.
Jeff

 

[QuarterHorse]

but I am usually putting myself in danger, and no one else.... except for when I work on axles..... but that is another story.
Jeff

I'm glad you clarified haha.

 

[gleno]

I don't go out of my way to ride with anyone.

I'm not a herd animal and prefer to have the road to myself.

I'm happy to chat with any bike rider I meet on the way and that's what makes riding interesting. The V-max is a conversation magnet.

I think that's why I was drawn to the Max. It's an individual, even as a stock bike, but you can make it your own statement with simple mods.

It's happy enough to stand alone from both of the mainstream bike categories or happily co-mingle and retain it's individuality.

It's the James Dean of Motorcycles.

 

[richwrench]

Never thought of myself as a "loner", but I guess I ride like one. I commute to work every day (32 miles) & I take short cruises on the weekends to get a break from the ball-and-chain. I may go on a benefit poker run in a couple weeks that Uncle Philthy emailed me about, but that would be my first ride with a large group in years. I like Harleys & rockets both - I know good ( and bad ) people in both crowds. Too bad the biker community is split into groups - I think we could achieve more in the public eye if we were all on the same page.

 

[MikeS]

When I ride my max, I'm usually riding alone. Most of my group riding is done with my Vespa, riding along with other vintage scooters. Even with motorscooters there's a division, the vintage crowd, and the modern plastic twist n go scooters. The vintage scooters (mostly Vespas and Lambrettas) are like Harleys, always breaking down, you spend as much time fixing them as riding them

-MikeS