Age of Vmax owners

[racerboy]

I'm 57, and have been riding most on my adult life. I have been through cruisers, older Jap inline motors, and "power cruisers" and settled on the two bikes I now have.

They say that this type of progression happens but now it looks to me like in reality most people START with cruisers, and stay there. So this poll will shed some light on the age that people are at when they get a Vmax

61 here, been riding since I was 11. It was a CB100 66 model my Dad owned. Reminds me of the time when the Harley riders hated "Rice burners" not knowing that during the AMF Harley ownership days during the late 60-70s, that all Harleys ( I assume most of them ) had Kehin carbs. Seems to me that qualifies as Rice burners too. I'm the oldest racer out there in the CCS/WERA events. Its ffun

 

[Lars-Erik Andersson]

Hi, me 67 years old, like my generation 2 bike my second Vmax ; first was a 92 red metallic very nice bike with a very scary handling.....
Now wants a Boss Hoss the Max has no real torque; needs twisting with gearbox all time BOSS seems OK !

 

[schudaddie]

61 here, been riding since I was 11. It was a CB100 66 model my Dad owned. Reminds me of the time when the Harley riders hated "Rice burners" not knowing that during the AMF Harley ownership days during the late 60-70s, that all Harleys ( I assume most of them ) had Kehin carbs. Seems to me that qualifies as Rice burners too. I'm the oldest racer out there in the CCS/WERA events. Its ffun

I always told those "Rice burners" trash talkers "yea but it cooks it real fast"
later, bill

 

[Zeus36]

[QUOTE="racerboy, post: 481051, member: ... Reminds me of the time when the Harley riders hated "Rice burners" not knowing that during the AMF Harley ownership days during the late 60-70s, that all Harleys ( I assume most of them ) had Kehin carbs. Seems to me that qualifies as Rice burners too. [/QUOTE]

Harley parts: Some wheels made in England and Australia, starter made by Hitachi, battery and fuel petcock made in Japan, font forks made by Showa in Japan, rear shocks made in Canada, ignition wiring, speedometer and coils made in Japan. KML wheel bearings from China, Brake and clutch parts have come from Brembo in Italy -Sportster brakes are Nissin of Japan , pushrod lifters made in Mexico at one point. Harley Iron Eagle replacement pistons made in Taiwan; Light bulbs made by Phillips in China. I believe some of the relays on my Harley were made in Germany.

 

[mavgrab302]

My first mode of transportation was a Honda CB750 custom, at 15 given to me by my dad. I remember riding that damn thing to alleman Kawasaki in Shreveport rain sleet or shine trying to get to work. That same year bought an 84 Honda V65 I bought from a pawnshop, probably one of my all time favorite bikes and the only one I ever wrecked, I remember having to piece it back together with an old Honda Interceptor being the pegs killed the case. Kawasaki 600, a TL1000 were buys all before the 2000's. Moving to Texas first vmax was a 91, second was an 01 which When I sold it had 56,000 miles and yesterday bought a 2012 with 1201 miles on it. I am 41 now and while I've lost a bit of my nerve at my age after riding that thing yesterday it just fits.

 

[desert_max]

62! Been riding since early 70s. Mostly Hondas, but went through a lengthy British phase as they were fading from the scene. Japanese stuff ever since.

This '86 is my third Vmax. Can't seem to stay away. Although this one is a handful. One owner, but idle for a long time. It'll come around. The good news is that I have other machines to ride. Who is satisfied with just one motorcycle? Or two?

(Or ... ?)

 

[tbird71]

66 Here pulled my 1st bike off a scrap heap in back of a Honda dealer in '69 (250 Kawasaki) I've had em all, except a 2nd gen which I'll get. Sold my '94 and got a VRod, mean soundin bike that cannot compete with the Max but fun to ride. Have Harleys but my best current ride is a Yamaha (of course) 05 Royal Star Tour Deluxe fits me perfect for the kind of ridin I do at 66.

 

[eric1959]

I am 61, my first bike was a 125 Suzuki GT in 76, after I had somme others like 750 cb, 1100 XS and now I have 3 1200 VMAX, 1985, 2000 and a 2005.

 

[HeeHaw71]

48 on my 2nd Vmax

 

[Lars-Erik Andersson]

[QUOTE="racerboy, post: 481051, member: ... Reminds me of the time when the Harley riders hated "Rice burners" not knowing that during the AMF Harley ownership days during the late 60-70s, that all Harleys ( I assume most of them ) had Kehin carbs. Seems to me that qualifies as Rice burners too.

Harley parts: Some wheels made in England and Australia, starter made by Hitachi, battery and fuel petcock made in Japan, font forks made by Showa in Japan, rear shocks made in Canada, ignition wiring, speedometer and coils made in Japan. KML wheel bearings from China, Brake and clutch parts have come from Brembo in Italy -Sportster brakes are Nissin of Japan , pushrod lifters made in Mexico at one point. Harley Iron Eagle replacement pistons made in Taiwan; Light bulbs made by Phillips in China. I believe some of the relays on my Harley were made in Germany.[/QUOTE]
Like Your reply me riding nearly all bike markes during more than 50 years motorcycling….Some of them I missed but some Im also glad to get away….
Now 4 bikes left ; A V-max 2009 , Honda cb1100 ex -13, Honda cbx 1000 -78 and last a Goldwing 1000 -79, love them all but Im running the new bikes if possible… they are better of course…..
Still will not sell the older bikes …. new bikes no problem will be out in minutes with right price !

 

[johndudek]

I am 72 and have been riding since childhood. Bought my first Vmax a few months ago. A 2001 as a project now that I am retired. I also have a 2002 Honda 1800 VTX I bought new. So far I would like to thank Morleys Muscle for helping me with my crazy questions and hope to see some of you Vmax riders here in Florida soon.

 

[Zeus36]

I am 72 and have been riding since childhood. Bought my first Vmax a few months ago. A 2001 as a project now that I am retired. I also have a 2002 Honda 1800 VTX I bought new. So far I would like to thank Morleys Muscle for helping me with my crazy questions and hope to see some of you Vmax riders here in Florida soon.

I just passed on a 2002 VTX 1800. The guy wanted $2500 but it was lowered so no suspension, horn and signals inop, corrosion on the aluminum, brakes weak... The kicker is that REV limiter. It kept cutting in just when the power was coming on. Tough to remove that device. I decided to put the money towards the VMAX.

 

[Nuclear Banana]

I've had my 90 V Max since 2000. So I've had it 20yrs now. I'm now 47. I bought it when I was in my late 20's and have drag raced it since I've had it. Needless to say, a lot of the sport bikes get their feelings hurt on the track and street.

 

[Fire-medic]

Like a lot of the posters, I'm 'up-there' in age, collecting Social Security, been on the same VMax 27 years, a '92, which I think has the prettiest paint. I'm also partial to the 1985 and '86 purple paint colors, 'just-because.' I can assure you, I'm nowhere near as-old as rons09! Been riding since the 1960's, had dozens of bikes, which I usually tend to-keep a long time... . The forum has been a fun place to gain knowledge, and I help when I can. Thankfully, I have a lot of friends and acquaintances who can help me, and I would like to mention Sean Morley, Captain Kyle, DMANN99, dannymax, patmax, gamorg02, redbone, traumahawk, maleko89, mabdcmb, SpecOps13, sdt354, and others who have freely-shared their knowledge, have been sources of parts, and whose forum contributions make this one of my favorite forums to spend my time. If I didn't name you, I'm thinking of you. Thanks, guys.

I like older stuff best, I don't own anything fuel-injected.

 

[02GF74]

Seems like I am one of the younger ones but not young enough
First bike was a Honda CG125, great for mpg but struggled uphill, moved to a Kawasaki Z1000A1, IMO the best looking bike ever made; still have that and if I spend a bit of cash, namely get the shiny bits shiny again, it would probably be worth £ 10,000. There's a problem with the carbs (once warmed up, closing the throttle leaves engine running at 2,000 rpm so makes life interesting pulling away from a stop) so rather than spend more time trying to fix them, I bought a Vmax, ironically it too needs the carbs sorting out, go figure.

 

[Fire-medic]

Seems like I am one of the younger ones but not young enough
First bike was a Honda CG125, great for mpg but struggled uphill, moved to a Kawasaki Z1000A1, IMO the best looking bike ever made; still have that and if I spend a bit of cash, namely get the shiny bits shiny again, it would probably be worth £ 10,000. There's a problem with the carbs (once warmed up, closing the throttle leaves engine running at 2,000 rpm so makes life interesting pulling away from a stop) so rather than spend more time trying to fix them, I bought a Vmax, ironically it too needs the carbs sorting out, go figure.

Plenty of help/how-to's right-here about cleaning your VMax carbs. Shops don't seem to have much-use for bikes w/CV carbs anymore. Since you've already said your Z1's got carb problems, you probably don't have someone to fix them or your VMax carbs either. Learn here how to fix your VMax carbs, yourself.

I bet your Z1's got out of synch carbs. What you describe is a sign of out of synchronization carbs. Get the tool, fix your carbs, both the Z1 and the VMax can use the same tool, and doing both of those yourself will pay for the tool.

Check your gas tank for rust, water, and debris. If you have any, you have to address the tank before you do any carb work. I bet your pilot jets in the VMax are plugged, some of 'em or all. With a clean gas tank, a new gas filter, flushed gas lines, and cleaned carbs, I bet your bike will work like it's supposed to.

 

[02GF74]

interesting, I set up the Mikunis using a thin piece of wire, as read somewhere, to ensure they were all at the same height but can accept a set of vacuuuuuum gauage would be more accurate. I'm looking to get a set but seem to remember the covers for the vacuum gauge connections were kinda hard to move - no doubt the result of 43 years of the rubber ageing.

 

[Fire-medic]

Vacuum caps are available at any auto parts store, you need to know the outside dia. of the tube port on the carbs, probable equal to 1/8" or thereabouts.

Here is the lowest-priced set of gauges I found ($20, shipping included, guess from-where?) I've had a set like this for nearly 40 years, I think it's very similar to an EMGO set, probably made in the same factory. For this kinda $, there's no-excuse not to-have a set.

https://www.wish.com/product/5de4de3989a085cb93561bc6?hide_login_modal=true&from_ad=goog_shopping&_display_country_code=US&_force_currency_code=USD&pid=googleadwords_int&c={campaignId}&ad_cid=5de4de3989a085cb93561bc6&ad_cc=US&ad_curr=USD&ad_price=13.86&campaign_id=7203534630&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIj-7U5LPA6AIVkp6fCh378QHFEAQYBSABEgKFjPD_BwE&share=web

Here's a decent vacuum gauge set, $47, I have a set like this. I also have a set of Motion Pro 'wet sticks.'


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https://www.ebay.com/p/8021387752?i...MIj-7U5LPA6AIVkp6fCh378QHFEAQYBCABEgJrHvD_BwE

I don't know the 'wire-method' of setting up a set of CV carbs, I know the 'wire-method' of setting-up an old-fashioned rack of carbs where the throttle slides are hooked-up to a throttle cable wire (non-CV carbs).

 

[Johnwhatsisname]

I am 66 tomorrow. I've had many bikes over the years but my first was a 50cc Yamaha YF1AK 9 I think is was a '66 model.
I was still racing off road bikes in 2012 on a KTM 300 - That was great and wish I had started as a younger man.
I had a TDM850 sometime ago but didn't quite do it for me.
I bought the '89 VMAX as a cruiser and a hobby - I seem to be doing more hobbying than cruising at the moment but thats fine.

 

[crolf]

Howdy! I only saw one person older than me in these posts, I'm 71. During the late 50s, i used to steal my uncle's Solex, while he was sleeping from working all night. He admitted to me, when I was an adult that he knew I was doing it. Anyway, that led to a lifetime addiction to motorsports. I have a handful of bikes and that Vmax meets me need for speed