Got my new to me Vmax. Now my list of wants/to-dos

[mdfb42]

Picked up my new to me 1998 Vmax today with 5,300 miles on it. Here's what I know about it from stock(apologize for the copy and paste):

Has a true stage 7 jet kit with pods but a modified, powder coated, stock exhaust and v boost taken out but owner says is always on now. I don't know enough about it yet to know exactly what is going on but it runs good.
Avon tires with about 1,500 ridden on them
Frame and fork braces
Aftermarket triple trees with forks adjusted that shorten the rake.
A TON of aftermarket cosmetic touches.
Drag bars
LED turn signals on front with LED taillight w/ turn signals on back.
Bigger headlight.
Oil pressure gauge
Highway bars
Speed bleeders on everything
Stainless brake clutch lines etc
I'm sure I'm forgetting something but don't know for now.

There are 4 "issues" with the bike that I plan on correcting in one way or another
1. Stock exhaust with stage 7.
2. No sissy bar for the wife
3. Faux tank cover have a blemish in it from having clip one and bars turned to far and crushed some paint. Thinking best remedy would be to plug weld it, sand it down, and repaint it
4. Right side of frame by rear shocks has some sloppy welds running down the frame. Once again looks like needs to by sanded primed and painted

Wants/to-dos:
Full exhaust system
Sissy bar
Repair faux tank cover
Repair frame welds
One of the speedos from the discount section on the forum
Recover seat and/or new seat
Fat max hard bags
Increase fuel range (overdrive 5th gear? Extend swing arm and Morley fuel tank? Fuel tank to replace faux tank cover? Fab seething up?)
Dyna 300 (for rev limiter and ignition control)
Diagnose and fix Vboost situation


Feel free to suggest more/less/or alternatives.

 

[marsmax85]

congrats on the vmax and welcome to the forum ..

 

[PATMAX]

Yeah, welcome to a badass forum! Sloppy welds at the back of the frame? Never heard of that but do you think it's just factory weld that got rusty?
Sounds like you did some research already for which this site is awesome. Yes stock exhaust and Stage 7 is an oxymoron. Just start thinking of a different exhaust, NOT a Slip On exhaust. Of course this means dialing in the carbs. You may need help there. The dented airbox cover from dragbar can be bought undamaged pretty cheap unless you got a custom color. One thing to check is hidden damage to the steering stop which will be hard to see at the bottom of steering head.
Get you a shop manual as soon as you can !
I hope you are excited! Ride and enjoy it and get to know it. That sissybar is gonna cost you though.

 

[mdfb42]

Yeah, welcome to a badass forum! Sloppy welds at the back of the frame? Never heard of that but do you think it's just factory weld that got rusty?
Sounds like you did some research already for which this site is awesome. Yes stock exhaust and Stage 7 is an oxymoron. Just start thinking of a different exhaust, NOT a Slip On exhaust. Of course this means dialing in the carbs. You may need help there. The dented airbox cover from dragbar can be bought undamaged pretty cheap unless you got a custom color. One thing to check is hidden damage to the steering stop which will be hard to see at the bottom of steering head.
Get you a shop manual as soon as you can !
I hope you are excited! Ride and enjoy it and get to know it. That sissybar is gonna cost you though.

congrats on the vmax and welcome to the forum ..

Thanks guys. Been poking around and posting for a few weeks now and this forum is definitely badass.

Already talked to Sean as anyone that visits this site knows he's the guy to talk to. Already has a sissy bar and full exhaust on hold for me when he gets back from vacation (shout out to him for taking my call on his way to vacation. Appreciate it more than he knows).

Thankfully the PO had a service manual and gave it to me. Pretty cool guy and real stand up as I don't feel like he was trying to hide anything. Just wanted to find a home for his bike with someone who would care for it and not flip it for a quick buck.

To answer the weld question in lieu of reposting pics and using server space here is a link to the pics. http://www.vmaxforum.net/showpost.php?p=374896

Would like to know where to get a faux tank cover for cheap in perfect condition as I thought they were difficult to find and/or expensive. On the lookout for a black one nothing fancy or rare.

Side note my best friend has his own motorcycle shop so hopefully have a good resource there but do not know how well his Vmax knowledge is considering they aren't an everyday bike you see. That's why I got you guys! Haha

Once again thanks for the comments, already can tell owning a Vmax and being on this forum is gonna be a blast.

 

[Fire-medic]

A priority for me would be to install radials. I don't think any other single change can pay-off like radials. Triple digit speeds are much-more easily handled. Your confidence in the bike will be much-higher.

Sounds like you got a good deal and are prepared to spend some $, plan things and keep a spreadsheet.

 

[asherc]

P

 

[mdfb42]

A priority for me would be to install radials. I don't think any other single change can pay-off like radials. Triple digit speeds are much-more easily handled. Your confidence in the bike will be much-higher.

Sounds like you got a good deal and are prepared to spend some $, plan things and keep a spreadsheet.

Haha fire I feel like you know me without knowing me yet. Being an accountant I am a spreadsheet freak.

I will probably switch after the next 3,000 miles once these are well and used. They way I see it, the tires on it are a great way to help keep costs lower by having one less need now with a whole list of wants.

Also this is my "wanted done today" and "want to do sometime, hopefully" list combined into one.

Edit: what specific radials would you recommend. I like to have my "wants" lined out and ready when funds are instead of the "i will figure it out when I can afford it" attitude

 

[mckzx9]

Welcome to the best forum on the planet. Sean also has been answering me via email today. Wish I knew he was on vacation and I wouldn't have bothered him.
But I will 2nd that the best mod you can do right now is radials. And Sean might only have a couple more sets of those carrazzerra rims left. Extend the swing arm 3' and add the extra tank and the rims. The bike will be done. Your wallet might as well but you can fill that up again In no time lmao. Welcome to our addiction.

 

[mdfb42]

Welcome to the best forum on the planet. Sean also has been answering me via email today. Wish I knew he was on vacation and I wouldn't have bothered him.
But I will 2nd that the best mod you can do right now is radials. And Sean might only have a couple more sets of those carrazzerra rims left. Extend the swing arm 3' and add the extra tank and the rims. The bike will be done. Your wallet might as well but you can fill that up again In no time lmao. Welcome to our addiction.

Haha the wallet definitely feels light today after buying my Vmax before selling my other bike first.

Has anyone done the 5th gear overdrive mod? Was hoping to go that route along with dyna 3000 first to see if it gets me where I want to be. Also, is that overdrive mod similar to the sports max rear end mod? Yeah that may be a stupid question, but what do you expect from a noob? Haha

 

[davesax36]

I have the overdrive Trans an had a venture final drive on it before that (that's what the sportmax mod is). Way snappier around town with the o/d Trans plus super easy feeling at highway speed.

 

[Traumahawk]

Welcome to the forum, no matter what question you have....someone here can answer it.

 

[mdfb42]

I have the overdrive Trans an had a venture final drive on it before that (that's what the sportmax mod is). Way snappier around town with the o/d Trans plus super easy feeling at highway speed.

Dave do you mind me asking what the approximate cost is to do those mods?

Thanks

 

[davesax36]

The final drive was on the bike when I got it, but I believe many guys are finding them on eBay or from Sean or Kyle anywhere from $50-250 depending on condition. My bike also came with an "extra" transmission in a box - a red flag I managed to ignore. The cost of the new gear and complete undercut was $1100,I think. I also drove to sean's place with my motor in the back of my wife's car and "helped" with the actual install of the transmission. That greatly reduced my labor cost, and Sean took some parts on trade (venture final drive, wind screen, headlight). The labor cost was only $350 or something. I didn't care. I had priced the work at a local shop - NOT V-max specialists- at $1400 with the motor in the bike and $850 if I pulled it and took it to them.

While Sean (and I) had the motor apart, he found that somebody had already swapped the transmission once, and had been a little loose with their interpretation of the instructions in the manual. Nothing catastrophic, but we replaced a couple bolts and things while it was all apart.

I also did the HD oiler kit and swapped in a different shift shaft even though mine was good. The other one I had was just a little smoother.

 

[mdfb42]

I may have to head over and see sean at some point as I got so caught up in the bike looking and riding good that I too overlooked a red flag. Well I should say I remembered to look this morning, after I brought it a good 300 miles home. The engine number and frame number do not match....

Don't know what that means but look for a new thread regarding it. I like to keep separate topics on separate threads to help others find it easier when they search instead of buried in a "got my new bike" thread

 

[Miles Long]

The final drive was on the bike when I got it, but I believe many guys are finding them on eBay or from Sean or Kyle anywhere from $50-250 depending on condition. My bike also came with an "extra" transmission in a box - a red flag I managed to ignore. The cost of the new gear and complete undercut was $1100,I think. I also drove to sean's place with my motor in the back of my wife's car and "helped" with the actual install of the transmission. That greatly reduced my labor cost, and Sean took some parts on trade (venture final drive, wind screen, headlight). The labor cost was only $350 or something. I didn't care. I had priced the work at a local shop - NOT V-max specialists- at $1400 with the motor in the bike and $850 if I pulled it and took it to them.

While Sean (and I) had the motor apart, he found that somebody had already swapped the transmission once, and had been a little loose with their interpretation of the instructions in the manual. Nothing catastrophic, but we replaced a couple bolts and things while it was all apart.

I also did the HD oiler kit and swapped in a different shift shaft even though mine was good. The other one I had was just a little smoother.

I'm betting that Mr. Morley would do a thriving business selling "Do It Yourself" overdrive kits. These could come with detailed instructions (with disclaimers re installer's mechanical ability, of course), maybe even a video.
If you read this, Sean, what about it? What would be the approximate cost?
Cheers!

edit - oops!, sorry about the hijack. I should have started a new thread.

 

[mdfb42]

I'm betting that Mr. Morley would do a thriving business selling "Do It Yourself" overdrive kits. These could come with detailed instructions (with disclaimers re installer's mechanical ability, of course), maybe even a video.
If you read this, Sean, what about it? What would be the approximate cost?
Cheers!

edit - oops!, sorry about the hijack. I should have started a new thread.

Heck yes he would! I got the friends that together would make most things mechanical capable (tool wise and skill wise) but the Vmax is such a unique beast, I am hesitant to do anything without solid instructions and guidance.

However we all must recognize that Sean makes his living off of helping us out and how it seems like the are a lot of us on this forum, it is a pretty limited market and doing a DIY kit would take away from his business and income as he has already provided a plethora of knowledge and guidance when he could have kept it to himself to force people to pay him to do certain things.

So whatever Sean decides, I support because it's hard enough to find a trustworthy person nowadays. Then add in all of the free knowledge he gives out , it makes me even more appreciative of what he already does for us.

 

[jagco1]

Welcome to the super vmax forum. Lots of info here.

 

[one2dmax]

I don't make a living of the bike work for sure guys! The OD trans isn't too terribly hard and i'm usually just a call away. Been a little busier lately and even found a new "day job" so it's harder to get much time at the shop again. I'll be taking care of you as best I can still!

 

[MtnMax/Magniac]

I could help with the sissy bar . . .

http://www.cycle-istic.com/VMax-rack-backrest/

or click my banner at the top of this page

 

[mdfb42]

I could help with the sissy bar . . .

http://www.cycle-istic.com/VMax-rack-backrest/

or click my banner at the top of this page

Thanks! I already saw them and they look great but unfortunately I would powder coat it black and sean already has a black one in stock so the convenience factor is too much for me to pass up.

Appreciate the offer as I have seen many comment on their love for the cycle-istic sissy bar.

One question for you though, in case I decide to add a rack latter on, do you have a bracket or a way to where I could add your rack to a stock backrest?