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Welcome Bounty!..........Personally I would try to score a good running Max, that way you can test 2nd gear properly, check things out good and be ready to hit the road right away, nothing wrong with buying a non running bike as long as the price is right............................Tom.
 
Hello everybody,

Not sure where to start or what to say except that I ALWAYS wanted a VMAX since I was teenager but never got one :confused2::confused2:
Anyhow Im looking forward to buy a 2005- 2007 and have been looking for good deal for the past 2 months on ebat craiglist......
Might get a non running one since it looks like lots of them have problem starting after 2-5 years sitting in a garage but overhauling the carbs may cost quit a few $$$$$$

Will see.


Bounty

Check gas tank for rust... when you get it...
 
New member with 1st Vmax!

Hey guys and gals! Richard here from Spartanburg, SC. Just wanted to drop in and see what's up. Just joined a few days ago been lurking in the shadows just to get a feel for the site. Recently purchased my 1st Vmax ever! I'm 45 and I have always wanted one of these bad boys since they came out! And I think I got a great deal on it as well. It's a '90 with only 2800 actual miles. Only problem is as you can probably already guess is that it's been sitting up! The bike runs extremely strong on the highway, but will NOT idle unless the choke is partially on. I know this is probably not the right place to post this, so if anyone was be kind enough to point me in the right direction, I'd be more than obliged!
 
Welcome to all the new people! Glad to see another Vmax in SC since I am relocating to Columbia at the end of the month. As for your bike issues I would imagine your carbs need some work. If you search for the pea shooter method that is an easy first start plus getting them re-synced Otherwise there are a few people on the forum who you can ship your carbs to and they will send them back better than new.

From the forums tab head to 85-07 technical then carbs/tuning for lots of info and people who are much more knowledgeable than me. This forum has everything and the search works wonders. In the end if you are still stumped, start a new thread and there will be a bunch of people there with good advice.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
 
Welcome to the club Bounty! I picked up a 1985 vmax from my father-in-law and while he took great care of it, it sat in a garage for the last 6 years.

I knew it had a few issues, but I also knew the 2nd gear problem had been dealt with. Right now I have it torn apart and am rebuilding the carbs (thanks to Sean Morley for parts, Damon for an amazing how-to video and dannymax for a spare carb body when I botched one of mine), I'm also rewiring the R&R and starter, changing all the fluids and finally coating the fuel tank to protect against rust.

For the fuel tank I used the Caswell system and it worked very well. The only thing to watch carefully is that the fuel port and breather port remain clear. :ummm:

Let me know if you have any questions or need any help. This is still all very fresh in my mind since the bike is still in pieces.

And most of all, have fun!

Percy

Hello everybody,

Not sure where to start or what to say except that I ALWAYS wanted a VMAX since I was teenager but never got one :confused2::confused2:
Anyhow Im looking forward to buy a 2005- 2007 and have been looking for good deal for the past 2 months on ebat craiglist......
Might get a non running one since it looks like lots of them have problem starting after 2-5 years sitting in a garage but overhauling the carbs may cost quit a few $$$$$$

Will see.


Bounty
 
HI Everyone, Joined The Forum To Find A Better Windshield And See What All You Can Do To My Vmax. I Have A 05 20Th Anniversary Edition. I Really Enjoy It So Far.
 
Welcome to all the new people! Glad to see another Vmax in SC since I am relocating to Columbia at the end of the month. As for your bike issues I would imagine your carbs need some work. If you search for the pea shooter method that is an easy first start plus getting them re-synced Otherwise there are a few people on the forum who you can ship your carbs to and they will send them back better than new.

From the forums tab head to 85-07 technical then carbs/tuning for lots of info and people who are much more knowledgeable than me. This forum has everything and the search works wonders. In the end if you are still stumped, start a new thread and there will be a bunch of people there with good advice.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


Thanks for the advice Tex85! I will definitely try the pea shooter method. I've heard a lot of people talking about that.
 
Hey guys,

After all the research on the site, I'm finally making my first post. Just wanted to say hi, and thanks for access to an awesome site.

I'm the happy new owner of a 2000 Vmax. I've been on the hunt for one ever since I rode a good friends 95 about 4 years ago. I'm from central Kansas, and I stumbled on the bike locally and had to have it.

I just finished a "complete" carb rebuild, ultrasonic cleaned, new rebuilt kits, and diaphragms. I'm in need of some advice, someone in the past has removed all the vacuum ports from the intakes except 1 and replaced them with cap screws and silicon..... :bang head:

I'm obviously having trouble getting the carbs synced, as I can only do it by "ear".

You guys have an awesome sight here with tons of knowledge. Has been a huge influence on me making it as far as I have.
 
Been meaning to get around to saying "Hey" but time keeps slipping away... so, Hi.

Got my hands on an 07 VMax last November here in Australia, and have slowly been upgrading/fixing it. Seemed like it was in ideal condition when I bought it off an old timer out to trim his stable. Turns out he spent more time hiding the bike from the rain than doing what would be considered "quality" maintenance (had to split a bolt to attach the crash bars for starters... a bolt he had used to remove his highway pegs before selling).

In the process of learning the whole mechanical thing myself from scratch with this VMax, and I have to say this forum has been amazing help.

Managed to sync my carbs (running a bit rich though, so I'll have to do that again) among other things (like change out the cheap oil he was running too, fresh oil/seals/prog-springs in the forks that were also LONG overdue).

Right now I'm still tying to sort out a sludge problem in the cooling system. Waiting for a replacement rad to turn up as I think (and hope) it's just a thin layer of surface rust inside the rad that is triggering such a quick build up of slime. The first 4 gradual flushes earlier in the year saw surprise chunks of green coolant being released each time). I must be on the 10th + flush by now, and as it stands I expect to have to do another flush next weekend, though I'm keeping my mind open to doubling up with a mid week flush/change (of straight distilled water).

And despite the cooling system delays, and other little problems... I still loving saying "I have a VMax"... very zen feeling knowing I have a beast I intend to ride until the end.
 
Hi All, I've been browsing here for a little while.. My son and I just picked up a '85 V Max. I was my brothers. IT has just under 12K miles It's been sitting for a long time. It will be quite a project to get it going again. It has an interesting history. The original owner was very short term. He owned the bike until his wife found out and made him bring it back. So one of the mechanics at the dealer picked it up. So it was very well taken care of. My brother bought it in the summer of 2001. It is from the Philly area. The plan is to turn it into a drag racer. We'll be visiting here often for advice and help. We are in Columbus Ohio.
Marc
 
Hello all,

I have been lurking around for a while now gathering all the knowledge I can. As of this season I now own a very clean 2004 and have done some small, mostly cosmetic things so far.

I come from a fair background of motorcycle history. Spent some time mini road racing, Supermoto racing and have ridden for 17 years on a variety of sportbikes of all types and brands.

That being said I have plans for suspension, radials, and some frame bracing to help carry me safely along the pavement.

Cheers to all here! You all have such great input and are a friendly crowd!
 
Hello, been lurking on the forum all day waiting to post and it finally cleared me.
A little info about me, I'm 57, living in Alaska, a master mechanic and fabricator and can machine almost anything, several years ago I got into bikes, and now I own 15 of them, like 5 Goldwings, 2 Ventures, 2 Honda Cx bikes and several others, I will get them in my sig later.

Now the meat of my story.....


Last week a fella in Anchorage has a wrecked 95 Goldwing for sale, to me its minor but takes time, it was rear ended and laid on its side, I already had nearly all the parts, its being put together right now, it was his brothers who was severely injured.
So I buy it, now he also has an 85 Goldwing for sale but I already have several, if I get a buyer for it he will give me a "V Max".

My co worker buys the 85 Goldwing so I get the V max for nothing, now I own an 83 Venture and I ride an 89 Venture Royale almost daily so I know the engine but I do NOT know what an older V max is so I had no clue what it is. The bike is sitting darn near buried on the far side of his house, my guess is at least 10 years, its been covered so the seat is good but the engine is badly oxidized. Tires are shot, body is all there except for a side panel on the left side of the radiator. It has 8743 miles on it and the VIN says its an 85 with the last digits 000199.
They were transporting it and it fell off a trailer, broke the oil filter lower half boss, they basically abandoned the bike from that point on.
i have it in my shop now, it may have a different paint job as its a light blue.
On a whim i bought a lower engine dase for $25 on Ebay but I may just tap some fittings and do a remote filter, pickle the motor well, flush and fill everything and see if it runs. It was a free bike, it apparently is also a CA bike rated at 145hp, its value?

I have no clue, what is it worth? From what I gather its pretty darn popular but its not touring friendly, a stoplight screamer. Thanks, I'll get some pics, the engine really looks like crap but I will soda blast it and hit it with VHT black epoxy. I was even thinking about taking the engine out of my 83 venture and putting it in, that bike was in a house fire, melted some body plastic, put in a warehouse for over 17 years and has 17,000 miles on it, after replacing the ignition module it runs, rest of bike is still on my back burner to do list.
 
Sean's got block-off plates for blasting/painting/whatever. He's one2dmax here on the board (I'm sure you figured that out already). Good luck with all of this. Post lots of pics.
 
Having a 4g problem a bit ago so my smartphone would not upload the pics, will try again later, from the top up its a clean bike its just the white powder of the engine, the rusted rotors, the fork oil stains and those are darn tough to get off, I had to use oven cleaner the last time on another barn find bike a 95 Goldwing stored in an aircraft hanger for a long time.

Bikes need to run just like horses, they sit idle the wither away. Bad enough I have over a half dozen I need to ride every now and then, market is bad for selling bikes here in Alaska, all they want is something under $500.
 
HI all just a note to say hi, loving the forum as great for info regarding tuning the gen 1 bike, currently converting mine to fuel injection, flywheel being machined at present for the extra inputs required for the CDI. Hopefully be up and running in the next few weeks, will require injectors changing as a bit small, but will keep you updated and post pics/dyno graph accordingly. Thanks Sean
 
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