Bought another VMAX

Just picked up this 92 VMAX today for a song, needs a starter clutch and won't shift above 2nd, tranny is shot. I rode it around the block, the motor sounds fine, 45K miles, just bought it from the original owner who upgraded to a 2006 model. Now, what to do with it??? Decisions, decisions, I'm thinking a complete late model motor swap would be the quickest fix, if I can find a decent one reasonably priced! Anyone got a good motor they are willing to part with??? :biglaugh:

Looks clean and well taken care of...

Its in nice shape! Pull that engine out and tear into it. Total rebuild can't be that much $, and you will know you have a good engine instead of putting a used one in it that will last how long??

Yea clean.. If I may ask.. what ya pay for it cuz Im lookin at a max with 2nd out.

SWEET !!!

Put a Big-Bore Morley 1300 in that bad boy & you're ready to rock & roll.

Bike looks VERY clean.

I wrench for a living & I'm all about rebuilding bikes, but some things just aren't worth doing yourself. If you really bought it as cheap as you say, I would buy a plug&play rebuild from Sean & have one helluva ride for this summer. If your really committed to doing it yourself, check Craigslist or EBAY or wherever & just do a simple motor swap. I bought a fixxer-upper myself, but nowhere near as clean as your new ride.

Great find !!!unk:

Looks like a great buy - as far as shifting issue, did you consider that it maybe a pin out of the shift segment - easy enough to check before writing off the tranny/engine.

Mike

maxcruiser said:

Looks like a great buy - as far as shifting issue, did you consider that it maybe a pin out of the shift segment - easy enough to check before writing off the tranny/engine.

Mike

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I haven't done anything except ride it around the block, it goes down into first fine, but very hard to get in 2nd and immediately slips out, and wouldn't go up into a higher gears either? Besides, with the starter clutch out, you're talking about an engine case split anyway, correct? For some reason, I always thought these two problems were related in some way? I don't know, with 45K miles on the motor, I really figured it would be easier to just find a wrecked, low mileage one and swap it out. I've got plenty of bikes to ride, including a 90' VMAX in mint condition, so I can take my time with this one. I will most likely just leave it stock though, since it's so nice and well taken care of, this isn't the VMAX to go wild and custom on.........anyways, if anybody knows where to get a low mileage motor, let me know! By the way, this puppy only set me back 7 bills and included a Corbin seat and windshield that I used on my other bike, and a BRAND NEW battery which I needed also. I knew the parts alone were worth more, so I knew it was well worth it!

The shifter segment is under the clutch basket and the starter clutch is under the stator/flywheel. Either can be accessed without taking the cases apart.

45,000 miles is not bad if it's been maintained. My 96 had 112,000 miles when I sold it and it ran strong.

700 bucks is a wicked deal for that bike.

Mike

maxcruiser said:

The shifter segment is under the clutch basket and the starter clutch is under the stator/flywheel. Either can be accessed without taking the cases apart.

45,000 miles is not bad if it's been maintained. My 96 had 112,000 miles when I sold it and it ran strong.

700 bucks is a wicked deal for that bike.

Mike

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Hmmmm. For some reason, I always thought starter clutches were the "kiss of death" for 1st generation VMAX's, maybe I had them confused with the ZL900 and ZL1000's, because I KNOW FOR A FACT, that if the starter clutch goes out in a big ZL, the engine has to come out and the cases split to repair! The V65's are easy to replace the starter clutches on, about a 30 minute job start to finish! I just read another thread about the shifter segment, maybe I will check that out first before writing off the entire motor. That's definitely worth a shot anyway, thanks for the info!!!

texas-ss-tornado said:

Hmmmm. For some reason, I always thought starter clutches were the "kiss of death" for 1st generation VMAX's, maybe I had them confused with the ZL900 and ZL1000's, because I KNOW FOR A FACT, that if the starter clutch goes out in a big ZL, the engine has to come out and the cases split to repair! The V65's are easy to replace the starter clutches on, about a 30 minute job start to finish! I just read another thread about the shifter segment, maybe I will check that out first before writing off the entire motor. That's definitely worth a shot anyway, thanks for the info!!!

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A compression test and even a leak down test will tell you alot about the condition of the engine, than you can decide if a donor engine is needed.

Dude, Pinwall cycle in Ohio is on Ebay and has one on there right now. Maybe call them and tell them you'll take it for the opening price. Buy it now price is close to that price. You would be into a clean 92 for under 2K! Gotta be one of the Max deals to date. Don't forget you can sell the old motor or do a simple rebuild and keep it on hand for a rainy day! You win either way in my view.

PATMAX said:

Dude, Pinwall cycle in Ohio is on Ebay and has one on there right now. Maybe call them and tell them you'll take it for the opening price. Buy it now price is close to that price. You would be into a clean 92 for under 2K! Gotta be one of the Max deals to date. Don't forget you can sell the old motor or do a simple rebuild and keep it on hand for a rainy day! You win either way in my view.

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Actually, I grew up not far from where Pinwall is located, but I had thought there were some previous posts about this not being the greatest vendor to deal with? I've seen alot of their auctions and it seems to me they are trying to get top dollar for everything, not sure if I could trust them for a good engine or not? Since I'm now hearing there is a "small chance" it could be fixable without replacing the motor, I may go that route first, and if the tranny really IS bad, then I will start seriously shopping for a new motor!

$700 :surprise: :clapping:

Great deal.. what a find !!!

1st thing i would do is build a bigger garage :clapping:

gunrunner said:

1st thing i would do is build a bigger garage :clapping:

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I hear you, it's pretty bad when you have to move 4 bikes to work on 1 !!!!!!

Did you buy the bike from someone you knew? someone who didn't know what it was worth? I'm amazed at the price you paid for that very clean bike.

I wish I had a chance to buy a clean project bike like that. I can't believe that a month ago I was about to sell my VMAX, now that I have been back on the forum I am excited again and can't wait until after my shoulder surgery and time to heal I will be back on it again.

You got a great deal on that VMAX and I agree you need a bigger gargae.........................lol

Dude that was an awesome find!!! That 92 looks cleaner than the 2004 that I just bought a week ago. Congrats and I hope it is something simple.

Nice find and can't argue about the price either!! I always wondered what my '92 looked like new. :thumbs up:

e_a_g_l_e_p_i said:

Did you buy the bike from someone you knew? someone who didn't know what it was worth? I'm amazed at the price you paid for that very clean bike.

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Basically, it was somebody that responded to my Craigslist ad. I have been running this same ad for going on 4 years now, and you'd be surprised how many people out there don't have a clue as to what these old bikes are worth. To alot of people, they are just something in the way that they are GLAD to see gone! This is only the 2nd VMAX I have ever had, the first one being my other 90 model that I went all the way up to Michigan for about 4 years ago. I do more V65 Magna stuff than anything, simply because there are more of them around and they are much easier to buy on the cheap, I get them in the 100-500 dollar range all day long, shoot, I have gotten complete V65's for less than 100 beans, and that's no lie!!! Seems most people KNOW what the old VMAX's are worth, this particular seller was in a hurry because he needed the cash to close the deal on a low mileage 06 model he had test drove the night before, also another Craigslist bike. He actually came over to my house first, because he wanted to look at my collection and maybe strike a "trade-in" deal, but I wasn't letting go of my VMAX, and he really wanted another one. Had he taken a ride on one of my V65 Magnas, or the 900 Eliminator, he may have changed his mind but it was raining and he had already looked at the other VMAX, so he really wanted to pull the trigger on the other one. He said he needed 700 dollars to swing the deal on the 06 Max, and I told him I would give him that much for his 92 model, before ever seeing it, all I knew was that it ran, had 45K miles, and had a bad starter clutch and 2nd gear. I had no idea it was this clean, but hey, you win some, you lose some, and I think on this particular one I hit a home run! I have a good friend who is also into the V65's like I am, and he's already BEGGING me for this one, he's a good mechanic and we ride alot, but I'm sure he's sick and tiring of seeing the tail lights of my VMAX, and he wants his own! I will most likely give it to him for what I paid for it and help him work on it too, because at the end of the day, I'm not into this hobby for the money, and that's what friends are for! I will post progress here as I go along, thanks for the positive comments. Oh yea, and here's my Craigslist ad, don't ya'll be getting any ideas now, especially you Texas guys! :biglaugh:

http://dallas.craigslist.org/ndf/mcy/1719093892.html

Everyone needs a good friend like you. To turn it over for the same price says alot about your morals. +1 to you.