I am a new member. I will be 27 next month and the vmax will be my first motorcycle. My first pick was a 2011 thunderbird storm but then i discovered the vmax. A battle was waged and the vmax one.
I am currently scanning every for sale ad I can find, waiting to pull the trigger.
Like the first post of this thread I too was surprised to find a relative lack of information on this motorcycle by simple google searches. I appreciate this forum's existence and I am excited to be a part of it. I will let you guys know when I get the bike. My motorcycle classes start June 21st and I would like to find one before then.
Can't wait to start riding and making weekend camping trips with the vmax. Hell yeah.:auto182:
ok, i'm not saying that the vmax is a poor choice for a "first motorcycle". on the contrary. if you exercise common sense, this will be the best thing that ever happened to you. being cocky and sporting an ego will only land you in the hospital and the bike being sold for parts. JUST heed my advice. the motorcycle classes will more than like have you learning on 250s, which are very forgiving in comparison to 1200s. i speak from experience. i'll hunt down my story post as well as others and provide a links later because there are others here that can attest to the lack luster results due to their underestimation. the vmax is a torque monster, so don't think those fat twists on the learners translate the same on the vmax.
when you get your max, have it delivered to your house so that you don't feel pressured to learn how to drive the beast quickly. you're gonna be filled with adrenaline and excitement. you won't be able to focus because you'll be distracted by what would normally be trivial things. dude don't take this personally, but being "young, dumb and full of cum" doesn't mix well with this bike when it is your first. if you hop on thinking that you are indestructible and know-it-all, the Max will learn you proper, tossing you off and ending up in a puddle of fuel.
also, i highly recommend you take someone experienced along to test drive it. don't test drive it yourself else you will be buying scrap metal. ask the forum how we know.
at your residence, don't rush it. SLOWLY and i mean SLOWLY learn where the clutch engages. once you are confident, slowly let the max pull you WITHOUT any gas. once you are competent with this skill, SLOWLY and i mean SLOWLY twist the throttle. scoot around your street in first, stopping and going. DO NOT feel pressured to twist that throttle any more than 1/8 of the travel. once you feel confident, with this get the rpms up to like 3k and shift into 2nd. DO NOT go over 4k. Do this for the entire weekend. When the sun sets on Sunday, park the bike. you are done until the next weekend. Dude if you thought you were gonna drive this to work and show it off, wipe it out of your head because learning to drive is one thing. learning to drive in traffic is another.
Take baby steps. And exercise common sense.
NOW this is important, DO NOT get your Max into the 6k + rpm range until you have mastered straight lines, stopping, cornering, etc. I'm sorry, but I took the MSF course (required in FL), and it ain't shit. I imagine that your course work won't be any more indepth. Anyways at 6k+ be prepared to hold on for dear life because that's when the VMax starts telling you who is boss. Research the Max. Do your homework. I don't think you researched hard enough, because there is plenty of information on the Net.
http://bit.ly/JmWXJF
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/1985-yamaha-v-max.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamaha_V-Max_and_VMAX
Browse through this forum, plenty of stuff, too.
I would rather make you think twice, scare you, or whatever it takes, for you to understand what you are getting yourself into. The VMax ain't your Mama's cruiser. And, true, I don't know you from Adam, and I apologize if any of my comments were "out of bounds", but I couldn't sleep if I didn't counsel you with my experience.
Oh ya, Welcome to the forum. Joining the forum was by far the best thing you could have done. The guys here are simply the best. Friendly and FULL of knowledge. You will not find a better place to find the amount of information here as well as the level of the braintrust.
GOOD LUCK. You're gonna love the Max.