Re: [VMH] BIKE SHOW
I absolutely loved it.
I got there at 7:40, (cold ass ride in too, it was 40 when I left home, but sunny and bright also, a beautiful day) was the 7th or 8th person in line. They started sign-ups at 8:00 and by that time there were probably 50 people in line; the line stayed at 40-50 even till I left at 12:00.
The vmax schedule (they have three left, the rest having been put out of commision by accidents) was full-up by 8:45 or so.
The ride was great, leaving Reliant Staduim, heading around the loop to 288
South, right on Genoa-something and then some circuitous route I
can't remember back to Reliant, it was about 20 miles total, very
generous I thought. We rode with a lead rider and drag rider with
about 10 bikes in between.
At the riders meeting we were told; "no wheelies, stoppies, or
burnouts or we would be walking back to Reliant". We were also told to
"be exceptionally careful of the Vmax's acelleration capabilities."
They didn't say anything about not DOING ANY extremely hard
accelleration so I basically rode the living piss out of it beyond
what I would normally do even to my bike. I did a few of these
with the drag rider right behind me and was never warned to ease up.
I also ran it up to 7000-8000 rpm in various gears and held it steady
and then snapped the throttle wide open in different gears, as well
as taking off and also shifting rapidly into much higher gears than
normal for the given speed. There is no lugging this bike, and
driveline lash is almost non-existent.
The seating position for me is perfect, the pegs and bars are in the
right place, and the brakes are fantastic.
I would probably end up putting some more "forward but not quite
drag" bars on it if I bought one.
The tach, shift light, and speedo (digital) are quite easy to see.
The instruments someone else said were hard to see are probably the ones in
the cowl cluster, which is the mileage, distance, fuel level etc,
nothing I saw down there is anything that you'd look at very often.
It exceeded my expectations by light years.
I thought the suspension was very soft, at least compared to
my bike. It was one of the first things I noticed when it got bumpy.
It starts out soft and gets firmer as you go like it's supposed to.
Of course it ain't a goldwing tho'
I also noticed that 5th gear cruising at 80 mph it's turning about
4200 rpm give or take. This bike doesn't need a 6th gear.
I'm 6' tall and never noticed the scoops at all unless I looked down
at them.
When looking down at them they DO look very wide-----agressive
too....it's a sweet look in my opinion.
In person all the different textures and color accents aren't nearly
as noticeable as when critiquing pictures of the bike.....
The paint, while looking black at 1st glance, actually has some deep,
dark, cherry hue to it, with a miniscule metalflake that I didn't
notice till after almost an hour of looking at it.
To say this thing is ungodly fast is an understatement.
It's the fastest hole-shotting, low speed 1st or second gear roll-on bike I've ever been on in my life.....which might not mean THAT much since I haven't ridden very many late model sportbikes....
197 hp and 121 torque goes a long, long long way!!!!! Even on a 680 lb bike.
I took it to over a 100 several times by falling back away from the
group in front of me and nailing it at different times starting in 1st gear from anywhere from 5-15 mph to 50-65 mph.
In doing so I also had to brake very, very hrad to keep from running
up the ass of the group, the brakes bite and bite
hard, someone there commented they had too much bite and that it came in too quickly, but I don't think it's anything you wouldn't get acclimated too
quickly................................In going back and forth between my Vmax and my XR650L enduro I've gotten very used to realizing every bike has it's own clutch, brake and turning characteristics, same as when I have to peel my wife off the windshield of her FX35 when I drive it for the first time after
not having been in it for a while....eventually I get used to the feel of the brakes and she can take her hockey mask off
WOT in 1st at anything under 40 mph results in pure tire spin unless
you get your weight back and let it bite.
When I leaned back and got it to bite, in a WOT rollon in 1st from
around 20 mph, it did a nice 3-4" front tire skim for probably 50-70
yards,.
This bike is so much faster than the old one there is ZERO comparison.
With the exhaust it has, at WOT you hear mostly intake roar, which is
considerably loud but quite pleasant.
I also thought that the bike felt lighter than mine, both just
sitting on it moving from side to side, and at speed and in the corners. I can't believe it weighs 680 wet (mine currently wieghs 595 on the low fuel lite on the scales at the strip)
It also turns much, much easier than mine as well. (my bike has the
exact same size tires and wheels as this one)
I think Yamaha hit a homerun with this one, and I also think it's
worth every penny; but with 2 bikes already and a Kid away at college
it's not in the cards right now.
Dale Walkers statement on the starvmaxforum (he cut a 10.26 I think)
about thinking the electronic fly-by-wire throttle is holding the
bike back is accurate in my opinion, others said they didn't notice
it but to me......................
....When making a WOT 1-2 shift near redline, no matter how hard you
shift, or how hard you release the clutch, or even not using the
clutch at all, the fly by wire seems to very quickly and only for a
few milliseconds back out of the throttle for you and ease into 2nd
gear. There is no "BANG" and hard front wheel lift into 2nd like
there is on the old one when shifted this way. I think they designed
it this way on purpose, either too make it more controllable, rider
friendly or easier on 2nd gear considering the torque it's generating.
The effect I'm talking about is almost imperceptably short in
duration and would never be noticed except at a Full WOT shift.....and only then by riders with a lot of feel who ride that hard on other bikes.
I've had it confirmed also that there is a "race-only" ECU available for this bike, through Yamaha, $1000, that would address this as well as the top speed limiter too.....
I want one bad now, somebody hurry up and buy one, go scare yourself,
and sell it to me cheap OK?
Rusty
