- Warp12's 1989 V-Max Adventure -

[Warp12]

So, one of my goals is to run the bike into the 10's in the 1/4 mile. I want to do it on stock wheelbase, with bolt-on mods, and no nitrous. The challenge with that is weight. I am not a huge guy, but not small either. From what I have seen it can take a little work to coax a stock motor 'Max into the 10's, without a jockey. Especially on the stock wheelbase! In this vid I was 225 lbs suited, but the bike was light. Even though everything wasn't just right (bike and technique), I was still able to run into the 8's:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-PL81zPjnQ

In order to do so, I really had to lighten the bike up quite a bit. I managed to shave about 85 lbs off of the bike....but at a large expense. That bike was making about 185 hp to the wheel, and weighed about 450 lbs in race trim. 60' times were mid 1.4's, and 1/8th mile times were high 5.70's@ 127-129 mph. A smaller rider would have easily ran 8.70's or better!!

I have a fairly methodical process for dropping weight from bikes and prepping them for the track. I am going to apply the same process to my V-Max. I am not going to make it a pure race bike, mostly going for the "low hanging" fruit. I am somewhat budget conscious right now, so I will start by looking in my spare parts bins. The first, easy bit of weight loss will be the battery. Primarily because I already have two spare LiFe batteries just sitting here:

You can see they are much smaller than the oem. They are the 8 cell models, which have somewhere around 240ca. Fortunately I have two, so that will give me a spare if there are any issues. This size battery will start this bike fine, but is definitely not the choice for year-round riding in cold climates. When the temps get below about 45f, it can take a little coaxing to get the battery going. For that I would suggest a larger 12 cell model that is a little more tolerant of the cold! The 12 cell will even spin over my 1441cc 14R in 35f temps, without issue. Anyway, the stock battery weighed:

And the LiFe:

As you can see, a weight loss of about 10 lbs...just by using a battery I had laying around. In fact, I paid $106 for that battery about 2 years ago....from China! Without ever using it on a bike, or charging it, it started the V-Max right up! That 10 lbs is equal to roughly .03s in dragracing terms. I will have to take some time to make a clean mounting setup for the tiny battery, but it will be worth it! :biglaugh:

 

[Traumahawk]

It will be interesting to see what kind of weight you can actually drop from a Vmax.

 

[wildweasel_pt]

A lot can be done but its like this the lighter it gets the more expensive it gets as well, removing doesn't cost, replacing does...

 

[Warp12]

A lot can be done but its like this the lighter it gets the more expensive it gets as well, removing doesn't cost, replacing does...

In the case of my Gen 1 14, I did both:

Carbon fiber wheels, race fairing with no headlights, single front rotor, all sound damping materials removed, fiberglass solo seat, no horns, no passenger pegs, etc., etc...

In the case of the V-Max, I want something a lot more street-friendly....and a lot more economical! So, it's not going to be a cut down race bike. I want to cruise around town on it and have fun, mostly.

 

[Warp12]

Regarding carbon fiber, I did have a moment of weakness today, and I ordered these parts:

I ordered them from http://www.tyga-performance.com. The airbox cover and scoops are kind of heavy, and this will help that. I can just paint over the carbon (say, purple?) if I wish, and still get the light weight benefits.

Soon I will have to take a little break from this project to work on another, but I am excited about the direction this one is headed!

 

[DMAN999]

Swapping the Stock Pipes out for Slip-ons or a Full Aftermarket system will net you somewhere around 30Lbs.
And you can remove the Center Stand and just leave it in the Garage for when/if you need it to lose at another 6 lbs or so.

 

[Warp12]

Swapping the Stock Pipes out for Slip-ons or a Full Aftermarket system will net you somewhere around 30Lbs.
And you can remove the Center Stand and just leave it in the Garage for when/if you need it to lose at another 6 lbs or so.

Yes, I am installing an aftermarket exhaust and removing the centerstand. Right now I don't have the extra money to spring for the exhaust, but hopefully soon I will. I will also be doing something with the wheels as the project develops.

 

[Warp12]

I sprained my knee this morning and it's 47 degrees in the garage. I also have a v-boost setup and coil-on-plug conversion kit for the V-Max. Let's do this.

 

[fltinstructor]

Yes, I am installing an aftermarket exhaust and removing the centerstand. Right now I don't have the extra money to spring for the exhaust, but hopefully soon I will. I will also be doing something with the wheels as the project develops.

Yes getting rid of those heavy factory wheels will definitely help. :thumbs up:

 

[Warp12]

Well, the old V-Max kicked my ass today. I spent all day on it, swapping in the v-boost and the coil-on-plugs. And it doesn't run. And I don't know why. And everything is hooked up, as best I can tell. The v-boost cycles, as it should. The cop setup is simple plug-and-play. It will run for a second here or there, and smoothly here and there...but mostly it backfires, floods, and runs batteries down. It looks like I have to pull it all apart again and start from the beginning. That will have to wait for another day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sC75aU47GRk

 

[CaptainKyle]

Are you positve you did not get the front coil wires crossed ? It is a very common mistake .

 

[Traumahawk]

are you positve you did not get the front coil wires crossed ? It is a very common mistake .

+1

 

[Warp12]

Are you positve you did not get the front coil wires crossed ? It is a very common mistake .

That was it!!

After sulking briefly, I decided to go back up to the garage. A bit of reading and I knew what color the coil wires were for each cylinder. Of course, I also had no idea how they number the cylinders on a V-Max, lol. Anyway, I had the front two crossed. I really tried not to let that happen, but I think that when I put the v-boost plate back in it happened. Anyway, it did start and run cleanly...but the battery needs charged. It wouldn't start a 2nd time, do my testing of the v-boost will have to wait until after work tomorrow. I am amazed that it start and ran, seemingly smoothly a few times with the coil wires crossed? Crazy!!

Whew....this old bike wore me out!! :biglaugh:

 

[CaptainKyle]

Cool glad that was it !

 

[Warp12]

Just for reference, for anyone else who might get lost, here is how the cylinders are numbered:

On my particular bike, to identify the coil connections:

#1 coil has an orange wire
#2 coil has a grey wire
#3 coil has a yellow wire
#4 coil has a white wire

I am not sure if they are all the same, but that worked on the 1989 I have.

 

[Warp12]

Cool glad that was it !

Yeah, it had me pretty frustrated. For one, it is a royal PITA to get that v-boost in there. I had to use an impact driver to remove the screws holding the old coils. Then the rubber intake boots were literally crumbling in my hands.

I am not sure I am going to keep the v-boost. But I want to give it a try. It sure is a lot of heavy stuff....80's, baby!!

 

[CaptainKyle]

Well dont feel bad about it you are deffinately not the first one that it has frustrated . Like I said its a real common mistake.

 

[Warp12]

Here you can see just how much the intake couplings are rotted:

I also spied a lot of mismatch with the ports, on the intake manifolds:

I tried to realign them a little better when I put the 2nd set on. But I think I will work with my spare set and see just how much I can line them up, and maybe even clean up the casting a little. Since I will be back into the carbs soon enough, it is not too much trouble. Little things like this might only be worth 1 hp, but it all adds up. Attention to detail is key...a well performing bike is the sum of all parts.

 

[Warp12]

Wow, Tyga doesn't waste any time on processing your order (they are in Thailand!):

I had some pretty big reservations about making the order, so I am glad to see it is on it's way. I will report about the quality of the products once they come in. The research I did beforehand seemed to indicate that they had items of good quality.

 

[Warp12]

I can see I am not going to fall in love with these carbs anytime soon. I took the bike for a ride with the v-boost installed and it really didn't feel much different than without? I am sure the carbs are the culprit. I was getting an occasional lean pop through them, and experiencing some surging too. I went ahead and ordered replacement rubber boots and parts from Ron Ayers:

The various boots, clamps, and plugs came to $140. OUCH!! I also need to pick up a carb sync tool. I saw the motion pro is around $100, but I also read there is another one that works with a Stage 7 setup?