Buying my first Vmax.

[Saml01]

Congrats on the Vmax. Sounds like you got a game plan. that backrest is worth 200-300$ depending on shape. you can part it out for close to what you got in it, so id say you did just fine. Ride the heck out of it.

This is the other thing that makes me confident in the purchase. Worst case scenario, its a parts bike.

I dont think im getting rid of the back rest, my girl said she wants to ride with me. She caught me off guard last night when I said im gonna sell it.

You can get the shop manual (and the owner's manual) from www.vmaxoutlaw.com

Just click on the 'vmax tech & info' link on the left and you'll find it all - free to download.

That is so awesome. Best of all he has a table for the carb jet sizes.

 

[vmax626]

Hatter is right,
Buying the 06` model might be more pricey but it will save you alot of money in the future.
as for the coating on the scoops, Alot of remove it and polished them to almost a chrome finish , you just have to put some wax on them after polishing and your good to go and it makes your bike more noticable.
<<Dave>>unk:

 

[Saml01]

Hatter is right,
Buying the 06` model might be more pricey but it will save you alot of money in the future.
as for the coating on the scoops, Alot of remove it and polished them to almost a chrome finish , you just have to put some wax on them after polishing and your good to go and it makes your bike more noticable.
<<Dave>>unk:

Possibly.

But the upfront cost is higher.

My biggest contention with getting the 06 was that I didnt like the thought of 4500 dollars(after everything) sitting in my garage collecting dust for the winter months.

PLUS... Its not as much fun.

Thanks for the tip on the polishing, I plan to do some research on the best method, and tools, I just need to get a bench grinder.

 

[mattness]

Possibly.

But the upfront cost is higher.

My biggest contention with getting the 06 was that I didnt like the thought of 4500 dollars(after everything) sitting in my garage collecting dust for the winter months.

PLUS... Its not as much fun.

Thanks for the tip on the polishing, I plan to do some research on the best method, and tools, I just need to get a bench grinder.

u found an 06 for 4500??

 

[Saml01]

u found an 06 for 4500??

I was referring to the 97 with that statement.

I found an 06 for 5500.

 

[Saml01]

Couple questions.

Why doesnt my 88 come with a center stand?

Can I install a center stand with the kerker exhaust or what stand do you guys recommend?

I couldn't find 20w40 oil today, all the stores had was 20w50. Is this OK?

 

[The Beekeeper]

Your bike had one on when it left the factory, hopefully a previous owner had not cut the mounting tabs off the frame to clear the exhaust.............As for the oil 20-50, it is what was recomended by my Yami dealer..........

 

[mattness]

in the summer time they usually carry 20-50 and in winter places usually carry 10-40.

but really i think youd just wanna run 10-40 all the time

just what ive heard...
oil gets to where it needs to be sooner and easier
oil doesnt "slow" down your engine as bad
should start easier.
20w oils are only safe down to about 28?f

remember the transmission and engine use the same oil in these jap bikes so the primary polluter of your oil will probably be metal from your clutch grinding away over time. some guys use magnets on their oil filters heh. but the other pollutants are carbon from the combustion and it just makes the oil go bad over time. i think its only like 40 bucks to do an oil change for a max and a filter too so just do it

 

[Saml01]

Thanks for the advice.

next question.

How does the fuel pump know when the carbs are empty?

 

[Saml01]

This is the write up I made for another forum. I figured I wouldnt bore you guys with everything that I did before today since you probably eat sleep and **** Vmax, so another re-build thread would be yawn for you.

---------------------------------------------------------


I played hookie from work today thinking id get up, have a nice breakfast and go for a ride. It didnt quite happen that way. While the bike was warming up I went to get geared up. All of the sudden I start to hear popping through the carb. I run over and see one of the carbs pouring fuel out of its overflow. FFFFFFFUUUUU

I pull everything apart again, dismantle that carb only to find the float level in the culprit carb, WHICH I SWORE, I double and triple checked completely wrong. Basically it was so high the float was hitting the jet body and not cutting fuel off. Dont know how I ****** it up. Suffice to say I was not amused. I also decided to change the float and float needle valve for another to be safe. No pics cause I was too pissed.

I rode it like this because I stopped every couple of miles to make sure nothing was leaking.






After all that was taken care of I went for a ride. Nothing crazy to start and I wanted to get a feel for the brakes. I was testing them out and with the way the weight transfers coming to a stop the rear wheel locks up with no effort on the pedal, happened twice; almost **** myself. The front brakes are pretty much useless, I think. I need to bleed them and maybe change the pads for another brand.

I didnt run the bike WOT, I was too scurred and wasnt confident in the brakes. As far as motor goes. All I have to say is, V-boost should be illegal. The bike is stupid fast from 1k - 6k rpm at half throttle but once 6k rpm passes and the v-boost opens its like you just went from half to full throttle without doing anything. It just rockets away. Think of a turbo but it goes from not spooled to fully spooled with nothing in between.

Suspension is soft, which is excellent for me(many dont like it). I cant feel any bumps at all. Unlike the Honda which knocked the fillings out of my teeth. I didnt get to crazy with it but it seems like it can handle. I didnt mess around with it to much, but 600lbs gets around the corner with some confidence.

Bottom line is, this bike is an animal. I almost want to say way to much bike for even me and I have a lot of restraint.

Below is the ODO, I rode it 16 miles and the fuel light came on. Last time I ran out of gas the bike weighed 350lbs and I pushed it 1/4 of a mile to a gas station. This bike weighs 600lbs and the nearest gas station was about 2 miles away; so I wasnt about to make the same mistake twice. But I made it home safe and racked up 16 of the most adrenaline filled miles ever on 2 wheels.




Made this post ride vid for you guys. Carbs arent synced in this video, bench synced, but not vac synced.

Be sure to turn on 480p
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HQfgaNhuLE

 

[RaWarrior]

"Aural ***"....I like it....

As for your Q, here's the fast 'n nasty version of the Vmax's strange system.

There's a thermistor in the tank, positioned so it's roughly ~.8 gallons off the bottom. A thermistor conducts when it gets hot, but not cold. There's always current passing through it, but the fuel acts as a heat sink and it stays cool, keeping the circuit open. When the fuel level gets low enough, the thermistor isn't covered by fuel anymore and the current begins to heat it up. After a minute or so, it starts to conduct (why the fuel light slowly fades on). That triggers the fuel light, and cuts power to the fuel pump (to get your attention). Flipping to reserve over-rides the thermistor and restores power to the fuel pump.

Find the calipers/master cylinder from an R1. Easy bolt-on swap, it'll take care of the Vmax's wooden brakes. Stainless lines also give a better "feel".

 

[Saml01]

Thanks for the write up on the fuel sensor. Hope it doesnt go off if the bike is left in the sun on a hot day.

I thought the calipers from an R1 require custom brackets?

What year R1?

 

[one2dmax]

R1's are bolt on for 93 and newer. Your year would require some fairly expensive custom brackets.

Sean

 

[Saml01]

WONDERFUL!!!

http://www.rmsportmax.com/caliper.html
Looks like 175 bucks. Gaaaaaaay.

Can I swap a Post 93 front end on my bike?

 

[RaWarrior]

Sorry, didn't notice you had an '88. Surprised Sean didn't mention this, but he sells adapters for $30 that will let you use either GSXR or Hayabusa calipers.

 

[Saml01]

Hey guys, i got a problem. Dont know why I didnt look at this sooner but going out for a ride tonight I decided to see if all the cylinders are heating up equally. One of the front two, the right one after idling for 10 min, is barely warm to the touch. The others are hot, definitely untouchable. Revving the engine produces additional heat but I can still hold my bare hand around the exhaust pipe.


What do you think could be causing this?

 

[The Beekeeper]

It appears as if that cyl is not firing, first thing to do is pull the spark plug and see if it's fouled, is the plug wet or black looking? if it looks good hook the plug wire up and lay the plug to the side making sure the plug base is lying on the head and contacting the metal surface, it might be easier to pull all the plugs for this test to prevent it from starting, crank the engine over and look for spark, if none is present try another plug to back up your test, you should find a nice blue spark at the electrode, let us know what you find and we can go from there......................Tom.

 

[Saml01]

Yea, I figured its spark related.
Ill do that tomorrow since its to late to wake up the neighbors now. Ill get back to you.

Edit: Pulled the plug out just now, it was wet. Reason it was wet, that carb overflowed yesterday and that's probably why. Though I have seen much worse with my previous bike and it still ran. Could be the coil, Ill troubleshoot tomorrow if wiping up the plug didnt fix it.

But the bike sounds normal in the video right?

--------------------------------

Next.

I decided to fix what isnt broken. I bleed a perfectly working clutch master because I thought the fluid looked old. I did it the conventional way first, went for a ride and the clutch barely gets disengaged. It hooks up soon as I let up the slightest bit while pressed hard against the handle bar. Then I went to search this forum, seems like its a pita to bleed and needs to be reverse bleed. Fine, I got a syringe, hooked up some clear hose to it filled it up with fluid, opened the bleader and the master and started pumping backwards. I held the bleeder valve down against the threads to prevent the fluid from backing up around the threads and it worked well, the master filled. Did this a couple of times, then went the conventional way then the backwards way.

Suffice to say I was covered in brake fluid after I was done.

However, while pulling in the clutch the most resistance is still almost right off the handlebar and stupid me doesnt remember where it was originally.

One thing has got me wondering. If I leave the top of the clutch master open and pump the lever fast a little bit of fluid will spit out from a hole inside the reservoir.

Is that a normal?
What am I doing wrong?

 

[The Beekeeper]

A little fluid spurting is normal, I have not had to bleed this system myself yet but have blead many different types in my career, when pulling the clutch lever in is it tight from the moment you pull it or does it pull soft and build more resistence as you pull it closer to the handlebar?

 

[Saml01]

Its soft at the very beginning and then gets tighter.

Its hard to describe the feeling of resistance. The "hump" is closer toward the handlebar than the middle or the beginning. Its like soft, hard, soft again.