first ride on vmax. got few questions

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raceshop

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sold my Harley last year and first time I haven't had a bike in a year so decided to pick up something cheap. the vmax seemed so appealing after watching bunch of you tube videos. picked up an 02 few days ago and I'm alittle disappointed. I'm still waiting for this vboost to kick in. should I feel it? I find myself constantly looking at the tach trying to see if I feel a difference. maybe it don't work or I'm just expecting more. second issue is bike is all over the place. feels like its making turns by itself. I can literally feel it when I ride on the white line on side of road. never thought about it but it probably has bias tires. haven't even looked closely yet. that could be the problem. I might be used to radials which handle much better.im sure ill get the bike to where I like it but its nowhere close right now. I guess I'm just expecting a lot more after riding a 09 Harley softail for 5 years. I thought they were supposed to be ill handling bikes but it felt like a caddilac. if my tires aren't radials can I put them on? would like a wider tire also. cant get bike to wheelie spins too easy:biglaugh:
 
I can do that. what makes me belie its tires is when I go into a turn and lean over the bike wobbles from rearend. if I gas it it brakes tire loose very easy. can only do this so many times before it high sides me. every downshift rear tires slides . feels like compound got hard from sitting. its a avon cobra something.
 
sold my Harley last year and first time I haven't had a bike in a year so decided to pick up something cheap. the vmax seemed so appealing after watching bunch of you tube videos. picked up an 02 few days ago and I'm alittle disappointed. I'm still waiting for this vboost to kick in. should I feel it? I find myself constantly looking at the tach trying to see if I feel a difference. maybe it don't work or I'm just expecting more. second issue is bike is all over the place. feels like its making turns by itself. I can literally feel it when I ride on the white line on side of road. never thought about it but it probably has bias tires. haven't even looked closely yet. that could be the problem. I might be used to radials which handle much better.im sure ill get the bike to where I like it but its nowhere close right now. I guess I'm just expecting a lot more after riding a 09 Harley softail for 5 years. I thought they were supposed to be ill handling bikes but it felt like a caddilac. if my tires aren't radials can I put them on? would like a wider tire also. cant get bike to wheelie spins too easy:biglaugh:



It's a very good chance you have bias tires on. They still can handle well, but like suggested check the tightness of the head. If you're spinning way too easy you must be running stock rear? As far as handling, they take a little to get them where you want them. Your vboost could be unplugged. I've been running mine unplugged and opened fully. It possibly Might not be the best thing to do. I ran wider on the rear with shinko tires. Like thousandths between the tire and swing arm lol.


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if I crack the throttle and look down at the vboost blades/lever should I see it move of do I have to be riding? just an easy way to check.
 
I would ditch the tires then and go for Shinkos. They are Shinko tourmaster 230's, in the stock sizes.....or you could do 170/80-15> They are very soft, and pretty cheap as well. They are more rounded, and grip VERY well.

All Gen 1 Vmax's come with bias ply tires (unless you swapped to a radial rear rim, then you can put a radial on the front, and a radial tire on the radial rear rim).

First question, do you hear Vboost cycle when you turn the key?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyfOyNksKKc
 
shit its cycling. was hoping I had some extra power on tap. I'm guessing its working.i was playing with airbox and seem to feel little different. spaced up t cover and the air box cover itself. hard to say exactly what it did. was looking at shinkos . probably first thing I buy
 
Also if the bike feels wobble, you can check the swing arm bearings as well. I had a wobble for years that I couldnt track down, and that was it.

If the carbs are rich, you can even remove the Y on top of the airbox. I wouldnt space up the lid though. The carbs are designed to flow a set amount of air, and if you allow too much air into them (the bike can run worse)

Things to make it faster.

If you still running stock exhaust go DOWN 1 step on the main jets to 150's (stock is 152.5's) MAYBE 147.5's

http://www.vmaxforum.net/showthread.php?t=3570

Make certain that the floats are set correctly. Set them for 1.125 which equals 17 mm wet.

http://www.vmaxforum.net/showthread.php?t=1427

The Vmax is actually set up a little bit rich from the factory, so unlike most motorcycles, it needs to be leaned out, not richened up.
 
shit its cycling. was hoping I had some extra power on tap. I'm guessing its working.i was playing with airbox and seem to feel little different. spaced up t cover and the air box cover itself. hard to say exactly what it did. was looking at shinkos . probably first thing I buy



I'm running them, I'm pretty sure there are more then a few on here that do or have. Great tire for the buck. Like Trauma says, very sticky. I use to burn thru my dunlops by the end of the season if I was being good, these shinkos break loose but not as easily and the front wheel comes up as well.


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At 6k you should certainly "feel" the vboost kick in...it's not a peel your ass off the seat kinda boost, but you most certainly can feel it...if not they it's not functioning properly...

Handling - hands down radials are THE BEST handling mod for the vmax...as mentioned, a modified or new 17/18" tire is required. Check steering bushing as mentioned and also think about frame connectors...those help a lot as well...
 
Are you running stock exhaust ? I have cobra's on mine and while I love the look and sound I did notice the vboost effect was diminished when I put them on. One of these days I put on something different but for now I'll live with it.
 
If you have the bike up, go ahead and check rear swing arm bearings as well, if worn they can cause some handling issues. I have the factory tire size, bias ply and it handles decent, I put progressive fork springs in and new OEM seals and that made a good difference in ride quality. I would say that ride quality and handling are not the innate strong suits of the Vmax but those things are modifiable depending on how much you want to do. Make sure your fork brace is intact. Mine had a couple ears missing.

My guess is your handling woes will come down to the things mentioned above. The PO of my bike had a Kerker 4-2-1 installed and carbs jetted by a local powersports shop. It was fast, vboost could be felt but after lusting after the Vmax since 85 I expected something more too. I ended up buying the Morleys muscle jet kit and playing around with float levels and jetting, by the time I was done I had a bike that was dramatic and violent if I hit Vboost in any of the first 3 gears. It's fun! The two things that come to mind right away in regards to power not being where you expected it is you might be only hitting on 3 cyl. These bikes run deceptively great on only 3 cyl, or jetting/tuning needs to be done to get her where she likes to be, quite possibly both. Just doing the jetting and tuning on mine brought me to a place where I have to be careful not to overrev it, it pulls so easily and quickly past the 10k redline and these bikes have no rev limiter. Also with 4 carbs the synching becomes important and with the right tool it's pretty straight forward and quick to do. In my experience out of synch carbs effect idle to midrange more than outright high rpm power but if you have any friends with a Carbtune it might not hurt to place a call.

Good luck.
 
As was mentioned above..a cheap infrared tester will tell you right away if it's hitting on all 4.
 

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