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adigati

New Member
Joined
Sep 24, 2016
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Location
Lake Arrowhead
Hi I'm recently new to maxdom, however been riding for 50 years. A guy dropped off a 85 with Supertrapps at my shop for charging issues and I fell in love, 2 weeks later there is a lovely 2005 anniversary edition with 10k miles in my garage. Yes it had the same problems/issues that all the rest have, except brakes. Upon reading this forum I saw many things that would work however all these posts are old and many things I wanted to know but could not find..........so I will document what I've done and the results.

Suspension: The forks as you know, suck, harsh and dives too much, also every little bump came through the handlebars. Racetech .90kg springs with gold emulators did the trick. Now no one told me that the emulators do not fit the late model damping rods, an adapter is needed. I believe Racetech sells them but I made a set on the lathe in about an hour. I used yellow springs and 2 full turns on the adjustment, I used 140mm of 15w fork oil compressed no spring with emulators and spacers and 25mm of preload. It worked out that 25mm of preload required a 264mm spacer with the suggested washers. As it turned out everything was 10mm from the top edge of the fork tube. Remember start your preload measurements from the bottom of the threads! BTW the forks work perfectly now, very compliant, smooth, no where near as much brake dive. I am 100% happy with them. Rear shocks are stock for now, I have them at #1 on preload and #2 on damping, for now they are fine (I ride alone and weigh 180), but I'm sure my wonderful forks will point out the shocks deficiencies soon enough.

BTW I run brand new Avon AV71/77 Bias ply tires 120/90 18 front and stock 15" rear. These tires rock! My bike handles great, turns in nice, no headshake, its no GSXR, but for what it is, it handles great. When I bought it the fool had a low profile radial on the front and ME77 on the rear (worn out), forks were lowered. It was the scariest thing I have ever ridden in 50 years, it fell over in turns, not stable, just downright scary. Didn't your mama ever tell you NOT to mix tire types. No wonder he was scared of it.

Charging system: Whats up with Yamaha, cannot believe they put this out with so many problems. I bought a new MOSFET Voltage regulator rectifier from Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00RB3ABP8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Universal 5 wire type. Mounted it in my left scoop for cooling. Took the 3 white wires from the Alternator and directly wired to the VR, the ground went to my own new ground via 12 gauge wire to engine block. The 12v wire went directly to the battery via a 12 gauge wire, bypassing the "crimp" and all that BS wiring. Also put the main fuse (inline with the charging wire) under the "gas tank" so I can check or change it without removing the seat. Also installed a Signal Dynamics Voltage Monitor https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AC5J84M/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 This is a small LED that changes with charging voltage, very simple green=good, red=bad yellow =so/so. I mounted it in my speedo, looks trick but was a real PITA to disassemble the speedo. So after all the charging modifications, it still was red or yellow at idle, what an abysmal charging system. Ok in poor max's defense, a 140watt load comes on when you turn the key on (headlight, taillight, running lights etc.) So what to do? I now have a 65watt draw when you turn the key on and I'm steady green at 1000 rpm. Here is what I did, I have had terrible luck with LED's in the past, all the normal issues. I found these, not cheap but super bright and high quality https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MC6B2WK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and also these https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PHRU5C4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
These replaced the two tail/stop bulbs and the front amber running t/s lamps. For the headlight I thought about an off switch but it is illegal in California without a functioning headlight day or night, so I went with these HID ones https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GKQLXXA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 they work great and I have a spare one! And only 35watts high or low beam. Now I left the rear turn signals as normal bulbs thinking that would stop the dreaded "quick flash" of LED's, but it did not. I wired these resistors (put them in the left scoop as they get HOT) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UNG3EXQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and the blinking is perfectly normal now. It was a lot of work, but am happy now that my lights are super bright and I'm not discharging at idle....steady green light.

Coil on Plugs: For the life of me I do not know why I did this. But I'm glad I did. My bike ran perfectly before and does now too. I used Honda coils (a reccomended part number I read here somewhere) they are the shorter ones. I bought them on eBay and I bought these particular ones because the guy was selling the harness with them and I wanted the proper connectors (all for $40)! Still had to make a new harness but at least I had the proper connectors. I also saw on here a guy was making a harness with resistors and selling them, but I could not find him or anyone selling them. These old posts are frustrating. Anyway, made my own harness just like the ones I saw, resistors in line and all, took a bit of time but is now plug and play. I feel more comfortable with the resistors, The new coils now match the old coils resistance (3 ohms). Just didn't want to take the chance that the computer would go south 75 miles from nowhere. I used Iridium NGK plugs gapped at .6mm. Now if your looking for power, I didn't find any....BUT....the bike is so much crisper at low revs. If you can believe it, it now sounds even better at idle. Starts quicker and just sounds nice and crisp. Ok I'm weird.

The seat sucks too. Unfortunately every body lowers their seats, except Corbin, there is no way I'm spending $600 on a seat, plus not everyone likes them either. I do not want a lower seat. I like the footpegs below me, not stretched out like a lazy boy recliner. So first the seat....a guy on eBay sold a gel pad with some thin foam for $40 I think. It was about 8" x 6" so I flattened my foam, cut a pocket for the gel pad, covered the whole deal up with the thin foam and stapled everything back together. Much better, but not perfect. Still searching for that solution.

The footpegs, once again what was Yamaha thinking with your knees higher than your butt? Thought about rear sets (I'm an old roadracer) but a nice set was $600 and not specific to the Vmax... nope. I tried this, not 100% happy only because of the clearance, the location is great. Took some 1/2" steel and made some lowering blocks (see photo). The brake pedal was easy to make work, the shifter was not. Had to make a new shifter (again see photo). But with-out all that silly linkage, you think shift and it does, no more conscious movement. It just snicks into neutral, rolling or not, perfect. Do they look the best....no, but they are not horrible. No one notices unless I say something. The position is perfect for me. All said and done the footpegs are 2" lower than stock. Now negotiating a slow speed obstacle course (think Cops) I did drag the right lowering block, but I never ride that way normally.....jury still out on those.

BTW used some dirtbike saddlebags and top bag, cheap, look decent and they work!

The engine runs perfectly the carbs are spot on, I can see no reason to touch the engine for now, plenty-o-power!

I hope this helps some folks, at least the information is current and fresh although repetitive.

Tony
 

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Hi I'm recently new to maxdom, however been riding for 50 years. A guy dropped off a 85 with Supertrapps at my shop for charging issues and I fell in love, 2 weeks later there is a lovely 2005 anniversary edition with 10k miles in my garage. Yes it had the same problems/issues that all the rest have, except brakes. Upon reading this forum I saw many things that would work however all these posts are old and many things I wanted to know but could not find..........so I will document what I've done and the results.

Suspension: The forks as you know, suck, harsh and dives too much, also every little bump came through the handlebars. Racetech .90kg springs with gold emulators did the trick. Now no one told me that the emulators do not fit the late model damping rods, an adapter is needed. I believe Racetech sells them but I made a set on the lathe in about an hour. I used yellow springs and 2 full turns on the adjustment, I used 140mm of 15w fork oil compressed no spring with emulators and spacers and 25mm of preload. It worked out that 25mm of preload required a 264mm spacer with the suggested washers. As it turned out everything was 10mm from the top edge of the fork tube. Remember start your preload measurements from the bottom of the threads! BTW the forks work perfectly now, very compliant, smooth, no where near as much brake dive. I am 100% happy with them. Rear shocks are stock for now, I have them at #1 on preload and #2 on damping, for now they are fine (I ride alone and weigh 180), but I'm sure my wonderful forks will point out the shocks deficiencies soon enough.

BTW I run brand new Avon AV71/77 Bias ply tires 120/90 18 front and stock 15" rear. These tires rock! My bike handles great, turns in nice, no headshake, its no GSXR, but for what it is, it handles great. When I bought it the fool had a low profile radial on the front and ME77 on the rear (worn out), forks were lowered. It was the scariest thing I have ever ridden in 50 years, it fell over in turns, not stable, just downright scary. Didn't your mama ever tell you NOT to mix tire types. No wonder he was scared of it.

Charging system: Whats up with Yamaha, cannot believe they put this out with so many problems. I bought a new MOSFET Voltage regulator rectifier from Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00RB3ABP8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Universal 5 wire type. Mounted it in my left scoop for cooling. Took the 3 white wires from the Alternator and directly wired to the VR, the ground went to my own new ground via 12 gauge wire to engine block. The 12v wire went directly to the battery via a 12 gauge wire, bypassing the "crimp" and all that BS wiring. Also put the main fuse (inline with the charging wire) under the "gas tank" so I can check or change it without removing the seat. Also installed a Signal Dynamics Voltage Monitor https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AC5J84M/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 This is a small LED that changes with charging voltage, very simple green=good, red=bad yellow =so/so. I mounted it in my speedo, looks trick but was a real PITA to disassemble the speedo. So after all the charging modifications, it still was red or yellow at idle, what an abysmal charging system. Ok in poor max's defense, a 140watt load comes on when you turn the key on (headlight, taillight, running lights etc.) So what to do? I now have a 65watt draw when you turn the key on and I'm steady green at 1000 rpm. Here is what I did, I have had terrible luck with LED's in the past, all the normal issues. I found these, not cheap but super bright and high quality https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MC6B2WK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and also these https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PHRU5C4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
These replaced the two tail/stop bulbs and the front amber running t/s lamps. For the headlight I thought about an off switch but it is illegal in California without a functioning headlight day or night, so I went with these HID ones https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GKQLXXA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 they work great and I have a spare one! And only 35watts high or low beam. Now I left the rear turn signals as normal bulbs thinking that would stop the dreaded "quick flash" of LED's, but it did not. I wired these resistors (put them in the left scoop as they get HOT) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UNG3EXQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and the blinking is perfectly normal now. It was a lot of work, but am happy now that my lights are super bright and I'm not discharging at idle....steady green light.

Coil on Plugs: For the life of me I do not know why I did this. But I'm glad I did. My bike ran perfectly before and does now too. I used Honda coils (a reccomended part number I read here somewhere) they are the shorter ones. I bought them on eBay and I bought these particular ones because the guy was selling the harness with them and I wanted the proper connectors (all for $40)! Still had to make a new harness but at least I had the proper connectors. I also saw on here a guy was making a harness with resistors and selling them, but I could not find him or anyone selling them. These old posts are frustrating. Anyway, made my own harness just like the ones I saw, resistors in line and all, took a bit of time but is now plug and play. I feel more comfortable with the resistors, The new coils now match the old coils resistance (3 ohms). Just didn't want to take the chance that the computer would go south 75 miles from nowhere. I used Iridium NGK plugs gapped at .6mm. Now if your looking for power, I didn't find any....BUT....the bike is so much crisper at low revs. If you can believe it, it now sounds even better at idle. Starts quicker and just sounds nice and crisp. Ok I'm weird.

The seat sucks too. Unfortunately every body lowers their seats, except Corbin, there is no way I'm spending $600 on a seat, plus not everyone likes them either. I do not want a lower seat. I like the footpegs below me, not stretched out like a lazy boy recliner. So first the seat....a guy on eBay sold a gel pad with some thin foam for $40 I think. It was about 8" x 6" so I flattened my foam, cut a pocket for the gel pad, covered the whole deal up with the thin foam and stapled everything back together. Much better, but not perfect. Still searching for that solution.

The footpegs, once again what was Yamaha thinking with your knees higher than your butt? Thought about rear sets (I'm an old roadracer) but a nice set was $600 and not specific to the Vmax... nope. I tried this, not 100% happy only because of the clearance, the location is great. Took some 1/2" steel and made some lowering blocks (see photo). The brake pedal was easy to make work, the shifter was not. Had to make a new shifter (again see photo). But with-out all that silly linkage, you think shift and it does, no more conscious movement. It just snicks into neutral, rolling or not, perfect. Do they look the best....no, but they are not horrible. No one notices unless I say something. The position is perfect for me. All said and done the footpegs are 2" lower than stock. Now negotiating a slow speed obstacle course (think Cops) I did drag the right lowering block, but I never ride that way normally.....jury still out on those.

BTW used some dirtbike saddlebags and top bag, cheap, look decent and they work!

The engine runs perfectly the carbs are spot on, I can see no reason to touch the engine for now, plenty-o-power!

I hope this helps some folks, at least the information is current and fresh although repetitive.

Tony
Tony, It sure looks like you have read a lot of my brothers threads. First off he has a stock seat that is heavily padded and comfortable as hell for sale. He also builds COPS with and without resistors depending on your ignition. Honda coils were not the best choice for cops -gsxr were your best bet. Iridiums plugs were made to last longer than oem. He said you need to be careful about what resistor you used. Contact me and i will be happy to relay it to him. I am in Cleveland but i stay in touch daily with him- he is just down the hill from you and willing to help in any way.
 
I've had a Corbin on my bike and now a Maxgasser. The lower seat is nice but even with the Corbin the bike has no legroom. Highway pegs with adapter/extenders was the only way to get them out and forward enough for real comfort. I live in the hills so lowering the pegs not an option. I plan to carry an Airhawk for the long days.

Looks great, really like what you have done with it. What brand are those top/saddlebags?
 
Thanks for posting your mods, I'm sure there will be questions, welcome to VMax-dom!
 
The speedo was really a pain. There is a band near the bezel that you must carefully pry up. Kinda like with a jewelers screwdriver 1/2 mm at a time around the whole thing, 2 or three times, then the large case will come off. I think there are a couple of screws on the back as well. You'll see it. Getting it back together again is a challenge to make it look good. But once your in it's easy! A band of strategically placed tape hid my handiwork rough spots!

The bags are Wolfman, yeah the dirtbike guys, kinda small but really out of the way and I figure I'm not going to far on that seat anyway. Its the peak tailbag and the enduro saddlebags. They were very reasonable. Tailpack is zip tyed to the factory Yamaha rack and the bags have this nylon strap arrangement and a couple of zip tyes as well, the straps go under the passenger seat. I've never liked my footpegs in front of me. I guess I'm just old and stubborn. These work for now, I may decide differently if I change seats someday.

Tony
 

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