Greetings to the group. 91 black

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Gazoo6657

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Greetings! My given name is Michael but Gazoo (yeah, the Flintstones Gazoo) was foisted on me years ago from a VROD group as I had the AUDACITY to paint my VRSCR Kawasaki Ninja green (there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth
😉
) and I have a big head. Enough about me.....I'm just not that interesting.

I came across my 91 about 5 years ago from a friend that was culling his herd. The fact it had cams and NOS was too seductive to pass up. Especially for $2000. I rode it a half dozen or so times then put it up as I had other projects I needed to finish.

Jump to today and my current plan for it is to go through it, change bearings, seals, etc and make it my daily driver. Cosmetically it is in pristine condiiton.

Anytime I engage in a new bike project I find a forum and mine for information, ideas, etc. I promise to search for anwers first before asking something that's already been hashed out a dozen times.

I'm pretty excited to finally get going on this projects.
 
Welcome, be sure to use the search function, someone before you, probably > one, likely had the same issue. Do dome (re)search, and see how others fixed things.

What bearings do you think are bad? Is the NOS a dry-shot?

Some reading for you:
https://www.vmaxforum.net/threads/new-vmax-owner-faqs-new-members-please-read.21240/
Thanks for the reply! I'm pretty well versed in forum use and know the ins and outs of searching.
As far as bearings go I'm mostly going to check wheel bearings, swing arm, neck, etc. It's set and barely used for at least 10 years. It's a 91 with 7k miles so it was never really ridden much. Seems like a good idea to give it a good once over.

The NOS is a wet shot. The fuel pump is in a little cavity behind the seat. I've only used it twice. It's simply terrifying and I'll keep it more because peoples reactions to it amuses me. 😁
 
More for you, save it to your computer but I also recommend printing out a copy and putting it in a 3 ring binder for shop referral.

https://ia800204.us.archive.org/14/...ice-manual/yamahavmaxvmx12-service-manual.pdf

The first 64 pp. are annual updates with data which may or may not refer to your year. 1985-'89 have an analog engine management system, using two pick-up coils for ignition timing while 1990-'07 use a digital ignition box with a single pick-up coil. The 1985-1992 bikes have a single pair opposed piston, two caliper front brake system, and the front rotors are smaller in diameter. The fork downtubes are 40 mm as are the sliders and triple trees, of course. The 1993-'07 bikes are 298 mm rotors, and front two opposed pistons, each caliper (two calipers) and 43 mm downtubes, sliders, and triple trees. Don't forget to check the air in the forks at the schrader valves, 5-~15 psi, unless you have Progressive Suspension fork springs, they say to not use air pressure in the forks.

You can improve the 40 mm forks bikes by swapping out the 40 mm front end for a 43 mm front end, you can re-use the wheel, but the rotors, calipers, front wheel brace/fender mount; downtubes, sliders, & triple trees will need to be replaced with the pieces from a 1993-'07 bike. The front brake caliper stays the same. Add to that Progressive Suspension fork springs, or Race-Tech fork springs, and Race-Tech Cartridge Emulators (C.E.), which change the damping from the fork internal rods to the C.E.'s. Setting the pre-load and adjusting the C.E.'s for your weight and riding style are necessary to get the best use out of the components. RICOR is another company which also uses pieces similar to the C.E.'s for damping. There are many threads on here about these pieces, so look at them for more info, and riders' experiences.

Going to an USD fork is an expensive thing to do, and you need to extend the downtubes buying custom ones or using 'slugs' to extend the factory downtubes. Why? The sportbike downtubes are inches shorter than the OEM VMax downtubes. There are triple trees that can be used with the factory USD forks you choose to use, but they are also expensive. If you absolutely have to have them just look on ebay, there are several suppliers. I checked exactrep, a British supplier of many custom parts, but it looks like they have stopped carrying the USD fork pieces.

Here's one place which does have a selection of Generation 1 (1985-2007) VMax USD fork triple trees. Bear in-mind that you need to ensure that the calipers, rotors, and brake lines, and the speedo drive and front wheel have to be matching the front end you choose to use. https://www.ebay.com/itm/162646972426

The best ways to improve brake handling on a budget are to replace the brake pads with HH rated brake pads, and to replace the brake rubber lines with stainless steel (SS) lines. Also, purge the brake system of all the old fluid, and replace it with fresh DOT 4 brake fluid. Doing that using a reverse-flush method is what I prefer, it's a fast, easy way to bleed/replace the clutch fluid. Using some teflon tape on the brake caliper or clutch slave cylinder bleeder nipple helps to keep the fluid flowing into the hydraulic system, and not 'peeing-out' of the bleeder, past its threads. Here's a thread on reverse bleeding, repair/replacement of the clutch slave cylinder, and how to make an easy to source reverse bleeder tool:
https://www.vmaxforum.net/threads/clutch-slave-cylinder-replacement.45011/

Another resource for electrical diagrams, yearly Generation 1 designations, differences among the years of production and the factory shop manual (again):
https://www.vmaxforum.net/threads/vmx12-factory-service-manual.52788/

All that should keep you busy awhile, and servicing the brakes is something that a bike which can accelerate to 140 mph in about a half-mile should have done periodically.
 
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