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First thing I want to say is thank you to Sal98. Saw his threadjack, pm'd him about his bike going up for sale soon, and he got right back to me with the info I requested.
As soon as he was ready to sell, he shot me another pm to let me know.
I am a new member to this forum, impaitently awaiting my first vmax purchace. Original plan was to get an 05 and up model, but my ability to sell unused items isn't progressing as well as I had hoped. I have enough in my savings to get what I would like, just don't want to turn that savings into spendings (largely due to my "financial advisor's dismay with this idea).
Currently trying to sell a lifted duramax silverado on cl (hint hint.....anyone?) But just no real serious bites yet. Once that is sold, I will have PERMISSION to buy. Just can't f****n stand the wait. So many beautiful riding days this season in the rearview mirror already.
The bike will be a daily driver (weather permitting). 180 mile average roundi trip to work a day. I know, just have to strap a 2 gallon Jerry can till I can pry the money for a real tank to replace the false one. This will save parking money, as most places I work will not allow me to park a car on the dock but a bike is usually not an issue.
So cross your fingers for me to sell that truck today, and I can become a max owning member of this wonderful site filled with many knowledgeable and kind participants. I am still considering checking out Sal98's bike this weekend, but i am guessing it will be scooped up by then.
Thanks for reading, and hit the boost for me till I can do it for myself!
 
Welcome Jethro, your dream will come true, I dont think many of us had the vmax, gen I or II as soon as we wanted it!
 
Good evening folks. Banff_springs here. Yes, I am a newbie to join the forum. Just bought my first bike, '98 Vmax. Very happy with the external condition of the bike, got it for a sweet song however, ran across a few issue's. Feel free to point me in the right direction for any of my woe's.

Found rust in my tank (cleaned and treated)
Plugs with 2 different heat ranges...no good..changed out for OEM plugs
Found out after the fact it had been stored improperly and now having major 'carb' issues.

Have carried out a 'Shotgun cleaning' on the carbs and so far, it'll now start and idle however that is where she will stay.

Have a friend helping me out. Took the carb's right off and he has found large amounts of corrosion and 'varnish' in the guts of the carbs. Might explain a lot.

Anywho, can someone suggest a proven method to get the carb's back to almost 'new'? I've seen on other forum's the suggestion of using oven cleaner. So far, have gone through an entire can of carb cleaner with little success. I've yet to put any real miles on the bike and hoping this issue won't cost me my summer to sit on the sidelines. I'm mechanically inclined however, never worked on bike engines before. Any constructive tips will be well received.
 
Hi Bannif, welcome to the forum!............You made a great decision when you chose your Max, they can however be a bit finickey but once running properly they are a blast to ride!........Your carbs are one area where long term storage especially if not prepped beforehand can cause a lot of grief, you mentioned lots of corrosion, are the metal surfaces badly deteriorated?..........If so you might consider purchacing a good used carb rack from someone as opposed to trying to repair the old ones, it would get you up and running quicker and quite possibly be cheaper..........Tom.
 
Hi everyone, I'm Chris and just bought an 88. Just stopping in to introduce myself, I'll be lurking around for a good long while.
 
Hi chaps, I have owned Vmaxes for last 25 years and never got fed up with them:biglaugh:

I have a '93 and an '86 (which I am rebuilding). I am a retired bike mechanic, still love riding but I am getting long in the tooth and have had to fit forward controls due to knee problems (old bike accident and arthritis)

Nice to be here, I am near Canterbury in England but have been to the US quite a few times

Baz
 
Hi Guys,
My name is frank and I am 28 years old, but online I go by TK427.

I Ride a 1997 VMax Black that I just picked up a month or so ago! For such an old bike the thing only had 8K on the dial, and not a scratch on it. Finally talked my step dad into selling his 15 year old bike to me since he never road more then 75 miles at a time every couple of weeks!

So after spending some good doe to replace all the seals, do the carb work,
( It sat for more then three years in his garage)
and all the fluids also adding brand new tire. The thing looks and feels like it did when he picked it up from the dealership 15 years ago!

""BUT"" the only thing/ problem that is really bugging me is this:

OK, the front forks feel firm even with all the Air out of the shocks and take any big bump with ease, yep ""but"" upon return after the forks bounce back you can hear and feel a ((( clink ))) like the screw or what ever that stops the forks from going up any further hits ab normally. My mechanic said that it won?t hurt anything! Is he right??? It?s got new seals and fluids and the springs are pretty stiff still, but ?Man? they hit hard when the fork return back to its position (on bigger bumps) !!

I hope I explained it somewhat decent!

What do you all think?
 

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banff_springs said:
Anywho, can someone suggest a proven method to get the carb's back to almost 'new'? I've seen on other forum's the suggestion of using oven cleaner. So far, have gone through an entire can of carb cleaner with little success. I've yet to put any real miles on the bike and hoping this issue won't cost me my summer to sit on the sidelines. I'm mechanically inclined however, never worked on bike engines before. Any constructive tips will be well received.
Click to expand...


Do a search for 'baking soda'. Someone posted a thread about using that to blast carb bodies and the results were VERY impressive. The other idea would be an ultrasonic bath, apparently that also works good. Good luck!
 
TK427 said:

OK, the front forks feel firm even with all the Air out of the shocks and take any big bump with ease, yep ""but"" upon return after the forks bounce back you can hear and feel a ((( clink ))) like the screw or what ever that stops the forks from going up any further hits ab normally. My mechanic said that it won?t hurt anything! Is he right??? It?s got new seals and fluids and the springs are pretty stiff still, but ?Man? they hit hard when the fork return back to its position (on bigger bumps) !!

I hope I explained it somewhat decent!

What do you all think?
Click to expand...

I would download the Service Manual and double-check that all the parts are present and mounted in the right order inside your forks - what you describe does NOT sound right. With Progressive springs some may find it a bit stiff, but definitely not with the weak OEM ones. Also do you know which oil viscosity you are using?
 
TK427 said:
Hi Guys,
My name is frank and I am 28 years old, but online I go by TK427.

I Ride a 1997 VMax Black that I just picked up a month or so ago! For such an old bike the thing only had 8K on the dial, and not a scratch on it. Finally talked my step dad into selling his 15 year old bike to me since he never road more then 75 miles at a time every couple of weeks!

So after spending some good doe to replace all the seals, do the carb work,
( It sat for more then three years in his garage)
and all the fluids also adding brand new tire. The thing looks and feels like it did when he picked it up from the dealership 15 years ago!

""BUT"" the only thing/ problem that is really bugging me is this:

OK, the front forks feel firm even with all the Air out of the shocks and take any big bump with ease, yep ""but"" upon return after the forks bounce back you can hear and feel a ((( clink ))) like the screw or what ever that stops the forks from going up any further hits ab normally. My mechanic said that it won?t hurt anything! Is he right??? It?s got new seals and fluids and the springs are pretty stiff still, but ?Man? they hit hard when the fork return back to its position (on bigger bumps) !!

I hope I explained it somewhat decent!

What do you all think?
Click to expand...

Any signs of the fork seals leaking? Maybe there is no oil in them. Oil helps to dampen the forks. Without oil, they would be like a pogo stick.
 
I have posted elsewhere, but as a newbie I thought I would post a pic of what I ended up with here and introduce myself.

I'm 49 years old and I live in middle-western Indiana. I'm an industrial mechanic in a big plastic factory. Years ago I rode a Honda V65 Sabre.

My Vmax is a 98 with 17k miles. It's in nice shape for it's age. No rust in the tank or anywhere else. It has a stage 7 kit and 4 into 1 Kerker exhaust system. I paid 5k for it. I'd welcome opinions about whether I'd be able to sell it for that much. Not that I'm thinking about selling it. I LOVE this bike!

PS - I put four quarts of oil in it today and new filter (oops) ... think it'll be OK?

Walker

vmaxcell.jpg
 
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