21Turner
Active Member
Hello I have a 1994 VMAX and was wondering what HP it has and the 1/4 mile times they turned?
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All are 145 horsepower at the crank RWHP is lower. But with a few mods you can step up the numbers quite well. As for ET's I am unsure maybe someone who knows will help you. !/4 mile I think in the elevens:confused2:
KJShover
Proud Vmax lover
Around 145 at the crank 110-119 at the wheel. As far as quarter mile it depends on where your at and who's on board. Average person will run mid to high 11's with it. If your a fly weight a high 10 wouldn't be out of the picture. A heavy weight would be in the low 12's high 11's.
Of course experience drag racing will help or hinder times too.
21Turner
Active Member
Thanks,
And thanks for letting me be part of this site.
And thanks for letting me be part of this site.
KJShover
Proud Vmax lover
unk::welcome_sign:
Ok, who was it that did the 'highboy' roadster greaseball & bottle-blonde talking to 'Dirty Harry?' Was it Cycle or CW? I think they got 119 HP from their test. Someone who recalls exactly can confirm/deny. At the time I believe it was HP King among standard production bikes.
The Japanese have a 40+ yr. tradition of hot cams for the 1st yr. bike to make big #'s for the mags & then they dial it back the next yr. to make it more-accessible/usable by the general public.
The Japanese have a 40+ yr. tradition of hot cams for the 1st yr. bike to make big #'s for the mags & then they dial it back the next yr. to make it more-accessible/usable by the general public.
KJShover
Proud Vmax lover
It's not so much big cams for the first year numbers. For a part of the 1st year there was a nice exhaust that got nipped later. They then opened up the Vboost to compensate.
To get the numbers and performance out of the stockers, Its the tuners. Or should I say team of tuners.
The car rags do this also. They have a factory team that tweak the stocker bike/car to get the max performance out of it, then have the magazine profile it.
For a more open example of this, take a gander of the "takin it to the 9's" article where you had several teams, including at the time some one-offs on the Vmax, to get it's performance. Wheels, Pipes, carbs. One group even chain converted and turbo'ed a ZL900 Eliminator. I would have really like to see that one run, but it has traction issues.
For the quarter mile times, or track testing they've always used a pro, either one for hire like Jay Gleason or one on a payrol like Motorcyclist's Nick Ienatsch.
To get the numbers and performance out of the stockers, Its the tuners. Or should I say team of tuners.
The car rags do this also. They have a factory team that tweak the stocker bike/car to get the max performance out of it, then have the magazine profile it.
For a more open example of this, take a gander of the "takin it to the 9's" article where you had several teams, including at the time some one-offs on the Vmax, to get it's performance. Wheels, Pipes, carbs. One group even chain converted and turbo'ed a ZL900 Eliminator. I would have really like to see that one run, but it has traction issues.
For the quarter mile times, or track testing they've always used a pro, either one for hire like Jay Gleason or one on a payrol like Motorcyclist's Nick Ienatsch.
KJ, yes you're right, the factories use a well-fettled bike to have the magazines test, & sometimes it's a case of, "look what an enthusiast can do with the bike & these parts, soon-to-be-available from 1) the factory catalog, or 2) a favorite aftermarket parts manufacturer (with whom the manufacturer has a cozy relationship). "
So, who did the Dirty Harry look-alike, was it Motorcyclist, Cycle, or CW? I don't think it was Cycle Guide.
The car manufacturers were notorious for that too. During the heyday of the pony cars & muscle cars in Detroit, people like Jim Wangers, ad-man for Pontiac, worked with a local dealership to turn-out performance packages that the average enthusiast could afford. Royal Pontiac in Royal Oak MI just off Woodward Ave. was where speed parts were distributed through a back-door deal with GM at Wangers' prompting, including complete cars so-well equipped that even the Mopar 426 Hemis were defeated by the Stage IV GTO 455. http://ultimategto.com/art26.htm
Thinner head gaskets, lighter manual advance springs in the centrifugal advance of the distributor, revised timing, different jets in the carb, all things a mechanically-adept owner could do in his garage were easy to acquire & install.
In 1969 I was in college in MI & my best friend on campus lived next to Royal Oak MI in Birmingham, & had a '68 GTO in the family. We would go cruising with it on Woodward Ave. At the end of our sophomore year, he flew to England & bought a Triumph Daytona 500, rode around for 2 months with another guy who went with him & who also bought a Triumph, & shipped the bike home. He held onto it for 35+ yrs.
The heritage of manufacturers' mods to get an advantage over the competition has many stories, all fascinating ways to make their car better than the other. The motorcycle manufacturers had the same thing. I am sure some members here may have even participated in some of them, let's hear some tales!
So, who did the Dirty Harry look-alike, was it Motorcyclist, Cycle, or CW? I don't think it was Cycle Guide.
The car manufacturers were notorious for that too. During the heyday of the pony cars & muscle cars in Detroit, people like Jim Wangers, ad-man for Pontiac, worked with a local dealership to turn-out performance packages that the average enthusiast could afford. Royal Pontiac in Royal Oak MI just off Woodward Ave. was where speed parts were distributed through a back-door deal with GM at Wangers' prompting, including complete cars so-well equipped that even the Mopar 426 Hemis were defeated by the Stage IV GTO 455. http://ultimategto.com/art26.htm
Thinner head gaskets, lighter manual advance springs in the centrifugal advance of the distributor, revised timing, different jets in the carb, all things a mechanically-adept owner could do in his garage were easy to acquire & install.
In 1969 I was in college in MI & my best friend on campus lived next to Royal Oak MI in Birmingham, & had a '68 GTO in the family. We would go cruising with it on Woodward Ave. At the end of our sophomore year, he flew to England & bought a Triumph Daytona 500, rode around for 2 months with another guy who went with him & who also bought a Triumph, & shipped the bike home. He held onto it for 35+ yrs.
The heritage of manufacturers' mods to get an advantage over the competition has many stories, all fascinating ways to make their car better than the other. The motorcycle manufacturers had the same thing. I am sure some members here may have even participated in some of them, let's hear some tales!
KJShover
Proud Vmax lover
Shit, for the life of me, I can't remember. I see the damned picture in my mind. I think it was Cycle World.
One of the all-time greats in modern motorcycle writing! Right-up there w/the writer who decided to write about drag racing by doing it w/a top team & machine of the day, only to turn out to be not as-skilled on the strip as he thought, the great line went something like, "you turned an 8.63, not bad for a man without a bike!" He fell-off just before the lights...his body broke the beam first. I think he was racing a fuelie Sportster, but I may be wrong. It ended-up in bits & pieces when he dropped it, & he nearly did too!
I also saw where in my latest copy of either Motorcyclist or Cycle World, one of the editors makes a reference to S. Hunter Thompson's short story/narrative "Song of the Sausage Creature," describing his riding a BSA 650 twin in San Francisco along the Pacific Coast Highway & what can happen when a machine of such power causes you to lose control, & rips off your limbs to leave you like a human sausage.
The BSA Spitfire 650 was one of the baddest of the mid-60's, until the SOHC Honda 750 showed up. I recall when the performance Honda was the 305 Superhawk, because the 450 parallel-twin had not yet been released. I had seen the Honda V 12 Formula 1 engine in their car racing at Watkins Glen, so I saw what they were capable of engineering-wise.
satariel666
Well-Known Member
But, what was handling like "lets say modern R1" in 85?
Keep in mind this bike handled VERY well when compared to other bikes in that same era. I went from my 83 Seca Turbo and thought I was in heaven!
And they state the brakes are 'superb'. I've ridden a pre 93 after my R1 and EBC HH swap and seriously wondered if I was going to be able to stop the bike at all. I think putting my feet down and stopping it 'Flintstone' style would have done more. Yes, it was 1985, but Yamaha may have been providing the kool-aid that the author was drinking.
85vmax
Well-Known Member
I guess a lot of you guys haven't ridden the pre-80's superbikes...60+ horses, with single pod/single disc up front /drum in the back....you should try 80+ horses with drums all around...those days you knew who could ride.
Had 1975 70HP frame twisting CB750F the Jap bike that started it all...you should feel that on track day.
Also had a '79 GS 1000 with a ATP turbo setup Gleason ran 9's in CW test...just 115 horses but you needed "balls" to hang on to that naked setup, and hope no corners were up ahead and you had enough room to stop.:rofl_200:
Had 1975 70HP frame twisting CB750F the Jap bike that started it all...you should feel that on track day.
Also had a '79 GS 1000 with a ATP turbo setup Gleason ran 9's in CW test...just 115 horses but you needed "balls" to hang on to that naked setup, and hope no corners were up ahead and you had enough room to stop.:rofl_200:
Rand-5107
Well-Known Member
I went from an 83' GS1100E Suzuki to my 89' Max and I thought it handled like a pickup with a big block.
The bike mag editors frequently mention the Jap. big-bore bikes as getting better in handling, i.e., the Suzuki 750 'water buffalo,' the GS 750, and the two-valve GS1000 all got better suspension components and frame setups. Before that it was bikes like the Kawi Blue Streak 500 two stroke triple which gave thrills to riders everywhere as the power came on the pipe & twisted the chassis into something approaching sheer terror for the inexperienced, unskilled rider with more enthusiasm than handling expertise. I had one of the Kawi 500's, lots of thrills & it would spank my roommate's new Sportster 1000 in any gear.
I had several Kawi KZ 1000's & thought the VMax was not their handling equal, despite being newer, but the performance was of course superior.
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