Tested an 88 max a few minutes ago and...

[Heretic]

It looks like its in really good shape. Congrats!

 

[Shuriken]

If that one were around when I was looking, I would have given $3k for it.

 

[dave741]

I can't find ANY from the last 15 years for that price...I have searched cycle trader, craigslist, ebay and here with no luck. This is the cleanest and nicest one I have found for the money. Wanna sell me yours?

ps i forgot to tell you , i got mine from the local yamaha dealer for 4000 . i dont understand why you cant find one . you will allways pay to much when you by from cycle trader or e bay because ppl think the bike they have is worth twice as much as it is . do what i did and call every dealer within driving distance and tell the what you want . i called the five that were by me and i found a 89 my 02 and a 06 . i dont care if it looks perfict and only had 5 mi on it , the worst thing you can do to a car or bike is not use it . the bikes looks clean because he took it out a few times , then parked in the back of the garage for 20 years . i bet every seal in that thing is just waitting for you to get it home so they can start leaking lol . wait for one that looks ok and runs grate , not one that look grate and runs like a HD lol

 

[HDKILA]

ps i forgot to tell you , i got mine from the local yamaha dealer for 4000 . i dont understand why you cant find one . you will allways pay to much when you by from cycle trader or e bay because ppl think the bike they have is worth twice as much as it is . do what i did and call every dealer within driving distance and tell the what you want . i called the five that were by me and i found a 89 my 02 and a 06 . i dont care if it looks perfict and only had 5 mi on it , the worst thing you can do to a car or bike is not use it . the bikes looks clean because he took it out a few times , then parked in the back of the garage for 20 years . i bet every seal in that thing is just waitting for you to get it home so they can start leaking lol . wait for one that looks ok and runs grate , not one that look grate and runs like a HD lol

I feel like it did run great. It was my first time on one and compared to my BMW K1200S it was not what I was expecting. All the gears were fine and it held second on full throttle. The brakes felt "ok" but nothing compared to what i'm used to. The front end wobble sounds like a combination of original front tire and possibly overtight steering nut.


Anyways I am going to put a deposit on it today or tommorrow and I am going to ride it again. What else should I look for?

Thanks,
Abe

 

[naughtyG]

I would double-check the state of the rotors and brake pads. Pads are cheap to replace, rotors not so much. Minimum rotor thickness is 7mm.

Also take a real close look at all the rubber parts, looking for cracks. Put the bike on its center stand and manually spin the rear wheel. Make sure it spins smoothly and there are no grinding or other noises coming from either bearings or drive shaft.

Shine a flashlight in the gas filler hole to check there's no rust in the tank. Warm the bike up, then put it on center stand on level ground and stop the engine. After a couple of minutes, check the oil color and level through the window on the bottom right side of the motor. Also remove the oil filler plug, and check it for deposits. Any light brown gunk indicates coolant in the water.

Warm the bike up, then let it get hot enough for the cooling fan to kick in - make sure that the temp gauge works properly too. Remove the faux-tank, and check coolant color and level.

Can't think of anything else right now..

 

[kozy]

dang it's a good thing I picked mine up when I did! I got my Max off eBay from a guy in Naperville. A 1997 with 15K for $4k. It was his 3rd Max and he knows what he's doin. I got a perfect bike!

Safe ridin to ya....

 

[Earlzach]

If you feel like treking to PA. This is on Craigs list.
http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/mcy/860239756.html
Talk about like new???:biglaugh:

 

[lankeeyankee]

My VMAX wobbled also when I first got it. I agree the VMAX brakes arent the best! But if you dont want to spend hundreds of dollars on calipers rotors etc. Put some EBC HH pads on and you will notice a difference!! I almost went over my handlebars trying them out once I got them broken in.
Change the front tire to a Metzler ME880 and read about torquing the headset on the VMAX and you will solve the head shakes. I dont know about hard to find neatruel I never had that issue with any of the 4 engines I have had in my VMAX.
Most VMAX issues are simple fixes and fairly cheap to upgrade. Its definently not a maintanence free motorcycle I assure you.

 

[QuarterHorse]

Lankee pretty much hit the nail on the head. I never had the head shake in my '93 and it saw 10,500R's in 5th. I also had the EBC HH pads front and back on the bike. However, neutral was a pain in the ass to find on my '93, even worse when I put the forward controls on it for some reason.