Hey ... 'sup y'all.
This forum has got to be one of the single most comprehensive bike forums I've encountered. I only hope I can add something to it sometime! The Vmax seems to fit "me" so well it's scarey. Odd, different, function before form, and yet another one of Ymaha's wonderful "out there" designs. I'm just so glad to have found such a marriage .. great forum, great bike, great folks. Excellento!
I'm a 50 year old burned out Desert/MX/TT/Flattrack racer ... been riding on the street off and on since 1979.
Currently MAXLESS dang it! On the hunt for a Gen 1.
Let's see ... um, ex-military USAF (1979 1985) Nuclear Security fire team leader, basically babysat 18 megaton TITAN-II warheads during the peak of the Cold War. Ex streetcop in the S/E Los Angeles area during the late 80s/early 90s (got out of that thrillseeking gig after the riots in 92 and my partner was shot and killed. Gettin hairy around here ...time to go! I left friggin SKIDMARKS in 92 and moved to Yuma, Az.). I did the military and streetcop gigs out of my sense of adventure, less so for political convictions. I got a kick out of jumping from a perfectly good C-130 at 20k feet at night and later on pitting myself against armed gang members.
(fair warning ... it's a PTSD thing .. I talk about this crud sometimes .... perhaps too much ... as I age it's "louder and louder" in my head .. so fair warning folks ... I'm not quite Cotton Hill, but I may end up that bad some day! HAAHAA!!)
Bragging? Nope. Telling you that there's a good chance that I ain't quite *right*. HAAHAA!! Enough of this nonsense ... now that I got my screwball exmilitary jones out of the way ...
.. onward to Vmax stuff .. well .. almost ..
Currently building this ...
http://www.ironhorsemotorbikeforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=54
I've been setting up a little shop at home (mig/tig/lathe/mill/more)...
http://www.ironhorsemotorbikeforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=127
I've raced different stuff since I was about 11. Every bike I ever raced was a Yamaha up to about 1977.
circa 1972. My first bike, a 1971 Yamaha JT-1 Mini Enduro. 60cc rotary valve fun.
1989. A 1987 Yamaha Fazer 700cc. We lived in L.A then .. horrible place to ride a streetbike! The insurance costs alone forced the sale of the bike.
1988. A 1987 Yamaha Banshee 350cc. This was in my last desert race, was clocked on radar over 107mph on the dry lake on this quad. This thing ripped!
1988? Same quad set up for the dunes. We lived about 15 minutes from Glamis then. We rode in the dunes at least 8 days per month.
Nightrace at Tucson Motocross Park, 1974. A 1973 Yamaha 175MX. I was 14, raced this 175 in the 250cc class for nearly three years. This is where I earned the moniker "Holeshot". I was 4'8" and weighed around 90 pounds fully geared! The bike hardly knew I was on it. My dad used to call me "Flea on a missile".
1981. A 1979 Yamaha TT 500, my first "streetbike".
1977. A 1976 Yamaha 100MX Monoshock. I raced this bike at the CanAm Nats, took 4th overall in 1977.
1974. Oops ... not quite a Yamaha ... one of my handbuilt BMX frames I raced back then.
I've not ridden since 1991. Career changes, health issues .... life ... got in the way. I've beeen given clearance by my wife to begin the search for a Gen 1 Vmax.
It begins.
Nice meeting you all. I'll be around with many dumb ideas and questions. Many.
Thanks again .. Brian Cale.
Holeshot.