I just did a similar trade! I traded my 85 max with nitrous for MDoe's 01 FZ1.
You want an opinion from someone who just did what you did?
FUCKING DO IT!
Of all the bikes I have EVER owned the FZ1 has now instantly become my favorite. The bike is very comfy (mine came with a corbin seat), has brakes that are beyond incredible and will match or beat almost anything even by todays standards, has enough acceleration to rip your arms off and enough torque to pull the titanic from the bottom of the ocean! It also comes with a HUGE fuel tank (5.5 gal) that gets you 200 plus between fill ups! The handling is awesome and the FZ1 forum is as good or better than this forum for advice/tech stuff if you ever need it.
So in short...it's faster than the vmax, has better brakes than the vmax (night and day), gets better gas mileage than the vmax, has double the range of the vmax and outhandles the vmax (night and day again).
Does it have the attitude of the vmax? Absolutely not!
When I would get on my vmax it always felt like I was riding an upset bull. Hang on and enjoy the ride and if you make it, Godbless ya!
When you ride the FZ1 you feel like the pilot of an F-16, you have all the power, moves and ammo to kick almost anythings ass and you feel safe as can be at any speed.
If I knew what I knew today I would have given MDoe my vmax and 2000 dollars for this FZ1! I am totally addicted to this bike and I do not think I will ever get another bike without an inline jap 4 in it.
As far as poser value goes I get as much attention on the Fazer than I did on the max. They are both bikes with a commanding presence.
Does this help? LOL!