Who knows more about this conversion?

VMAX  Forum

Help Support VMAX Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Wow, I just joined up as this was look I was trying to find more info on and lo and behold the 5th thread I check out here it is. I have several pics of this bike but no specs. Thanks for the link to the maker.

The frame, guard/fender, seat, fuel tank mods etc don't seem too difficult fabrication wise. What I'm curious about is the wheel/tyre combo, is this stock?

I did some research on swapping front ends over and custom triples along with 17" rears etc but after seeing this bike and seeing almost the exact look I'm after I don't want to buy anything thats going to detract from it. I have a sports tourer I spend so much money on turning into a sports bike I don't want to do it again. I'm quite happy with the Vmax as is in stock form, just aesthetics really. Better brakes wouldn't hurt though
 
Wow, I just joined up as this was look I was trying to find more info on and lo and behold the 5th thread I check out here it is. I have several pics of this bike but no specs. Thanks for the link to the maker.

The frame, guard/fender, seat, fuel tank mods etc don't seem too difficult fabrication wise. What I'm curious about is the wheel/tyre combo, is this stock?

I did some research on swapping front ends over and custom triples along with 17" rears etc but after seeing this bike and seeing almost the exact look I'm after I don't want to buy anything thats going to detract from it. I have a sports tourer I spend so much money on turning into a sports bike I don't want to do it again. I'm quite happy with the Vmax as is in stock form, just aesthetics really. Better brakes wouldn't hurt though

Yeah, the front brake sucks in my opinion. This is where my attention is going next.
If I had to pull this much on the lever on my sons CBR 919, I'd get catapulted 50 yards! :biglaugh:
 
'Better brakes' depends on what you want to accomplish.

If you had a leaking fork seal, you want to check the front brake pad(s), as they may be oily, and replacement is what needs to be done: (1) replace the oil control seals in the sliders, (2) replace the downtubes ($$) if they are corroded to the point where the chrome is chipped where the oil control seals make contact with the surface of the downtube, check out forking by frank for replacements, not cheap, but have you checked the factory price lately? $$$$ You have to call them: http://www.frankmain.qpg.com/

That takes care of the 'what caused the leaking forks in the first place' question.

To improve your stock 4 piston (two opposed pairs of pistons, from 1993-2007) setup, buy HH-rated pads from a reputable aftermarket supplier, like EBC, Vesrah, or any other good well-known brand. Consider a stainless steel hose set, usually 3 hoses, totally drain and flush the entire system. Refill with DOT 4 or 5.1, do not mix DOT 5 with DOT 3, DOT 4 or DOT 5.1! They are not compatible! I recommend the reverse-bleed, pushing brake fluid from the calipers up to the master cylinder. http://www.vmaxforum.net/showthread.php?t=45011&highlight=reverse-bleed

If your rotors are warped, consider replacing them with the aftermarket ones, yours should be 298 mm dia. Again, stock is fine, but expensive. If the lever noticeably seems to pulsate in your hand upon sharp application, they probably need replacement. You can also look for bluing on the caliper pad contact surface of the rotor, a giveaway sign of overheating, which can only be fixed by replacement.

If you want to go to the 1994 FZR1000 triple opposed pair (six-pistons) calipers, you can probably get by with the stock master cylinders.

Where some people run into frustration is switching to aftermarket master cylinders, and by not getting the correct size master cylinder. Too-small a bore size, and the smaller volume of fluid moved will cause the lever to come-back too-far towards the handlebar, because you need to move the smaller master cylinder piston a longer distance to move the same volume of fluid; too-large a bore size, and the volume of fluid will move very little towards the handlebar, because the larger bore master cylinder piston moves a shorter distance to move the same volume of fluid as stock, making the brakes overly-sensitive, and hard to modulate. You don't want touchy brakes on a marginal traction surface, like wet pavement, or oily pavement, or while cornering.

Just changing levers (and keeping your stock master cylinders) can also cause problems in the length of the pushrod causing issues with effective braking. There are a number of posts about this problem, some have drilled the hole in the aftermarket lever deeper to effectively shorten the rod that pushes the master cylinder piston. I think is some cases others have ground the actuating rod a bit shorter to get the same result.

On the clutch side, a too-long master cylinder actuating rod may not allow the clutch pressure plate spring to fully engage the clutch friction disc stack. A bit of pressure from the too-long rod keeps pressure on the stock clutch diaphragm spring, or the pressure plate springs if you have an aftermarket pressure plate in the clutch, with individual springs, like Barnett.

The early YZF 1000 or Yamaha R-1 calipers that are not radially-mounted are direct replacements for our calipers, they have the same 100 mm on-center mounting points. Some people use these, and actually the 1987-1993 FZR1000 two-pair opposed piston front brakes also fit. However, I don't think there is all that much difference among the FZR/YZF/R 1 calipers that are two-pair opposed piston front brakes. The ones that are commonly-referred to as 'blue-dot' or 'gold-dot' refer to the blue or gold anodized insert in the piston bore of the brake calipers, these are supposed to be a bit more rigid than the earlier calipers like your 1993-2007 model has.

Sean Morley also sells a conversion kit to adapt a Suzuki six-piston caliper (three opposed pistons) to the VMax, an alternative that probably eliminates a bit of weight while providing another braking solution.

Wow, I just joined up as this was look I was trying to find more info on and lo and behold the 5th thread I check out here it is. I have several pics of this bike but no specs. Thanks for the link to the maker.

The frame, guard/fender, seat, fuel tank mods etc don't seem too difficult fabrication wise. What I'm curious about is the wheel/tyre combo, is this stock?

I did some research on swapping front ends over and custom triples along with 17" rears etc but after seeing this bike and seeing almost the exact look I'm after I don't want to buy anything thats going to detract from it. I have a sports tourer I spend so much money on turning into a sports bike I don't want to do it again. I'm quite happy with the Vmax as is in stock form, just aesthetics really. Better brakes wouldn't hurt though
 
I do the reverse deal on my KTM.
I have the SS lines just need the HH pads.
This will be done over the winter.
 
Wow, I just joined up as this was look I was trying to find more info on and lo and behold the 5th thread I check out here it is. I have several pics of this bike but no specs. Thanks for the link to the maker.

The frame, guard/fender, seat, fuel tank mods etc don't seem too difficult fabrication wise. What I'm curious about is the wheel/tyre combo, is this stock?

I did some research on swapping front ends over and custom triples along with 17" rears etc but after seeing this bike and seeing almost the exact look I'm after I don't want to buy anything thats going to detract from it. I have a sports tourer I spend so much money on turning into a sports bike I don't want to do it again. I'm quite happy with the Vmax as is in stock form, just aesthetics really. Better brakes wouldn't hurt though


better "wave" rotors & the blue or gold dot R1/FZ1/FJR calipers is all you need.....
 

Latest posts

Back
Top