It's MINE now!!!

[BorgBiker]

After looking around for a few weeks I got serious this week. I talked with Sean Morley's customer about his V-max and we were ready to do the deal, but unfortunately the shipping cost proved to be too much to keep the total within my budget. (Thanks Sean for all the effort!)

So I called Dave in Carpinteria who had a V-max listed in Craigslist. We made arrangements to meet at his place Saturday morning at 10 am. It was about an hour and 20 minutes to his place, and the weather was almost perfect (heh, this is California!). I met Dave, talked with him and learned that this is the second of 3 V-Max's he's owned, now he's down to a single 2003 model, which is very nice.

His 96 model now belongs to me! It was almost surreal as I was riding down the Pacific Coast Highway and then the Hollywood Freeway for a total of about 90 miles. This was my first ride since 2004 when I sold my V65 Magna. Turns out I didn't forget much, everything came back so naturally! My biggest problem was remembering that I didn't have to double shift through 2nd like on my Magna (2nd gear was bad on it). Oh yeah, and I had to remember to not grin so hard, as my face started hurting.

The ride was great, traffic was uncharacteristically light, and I just grooved on back home. The Max had a bit of oxidization on some of the aluminum, and a bit of dirt and debris, after a thorough cleaning, it looks real good. I readjusted the windshield to be a bit lower and tilted back a bit more to look a bit better, and cleaned up some of the oxidization.

This pic is of the bike as it sat when we pulled up. I'll post some pics of it cleaned up later.

http://flic.kr/p/aTCd3P

Having newbie trouble getting the pic to show on this page, but the link should work.

 

[DakRatFink]

Congrats on the purchase, welcome to the Forum. I can't wait to get back the States to ride mine.

 

[bazwell]

Fantastic! Loved your story! :biglaugh:

 

[Dr.n2o]

Nice bike...welcome...The mod monkey should be knocking on your door any day now :biglaugh:

 

[KosRider]

Congrats and enjoy ! You'll have that grin everytime you take the Vmax out for a ride ! :clapping: Welcome to the forum !

 

[SpecOps13]

Congrats on the bike. You're gonna Love it more with each passing day....

 

[VMike]

Congrats on your V Max and welcome. I've had mine for a little over a year now and they are "grin makers". Sure is nice being able to ride almost year around in SoCal huh.:biglaugh:
Mike

 

[1967vmax]

congrats on the max all i can say is let the mods begin,lol

 

[ninjaneer]

wow the PCH. i think that that has to be a run that i need to add to my bucket list. congrats on the new ride!!!!! \(^_^)/

 

[Rand-5107]

There is nothing like a ride along the coast on your new bike. Nice story. Ride safe.

 

[one2dmax]

Congrats! I'm sure i'll be able to help you out get this new toy personalized!

 

[BorgBiker]

Thanks everybody, it was a day that I know all of you had when you got your bikes. It's so weird - so many times I would look out the window to the driveway and imagine my V-max there next to the cars, and yesterday as the sun was setting I looked out the window and I didn't have to imagine! Still feels a bit like I should wake up from the dream. But I'm not going to this time!!

Nice bike...welcome...The mod monkey should be knocking on your door any day now :biglaugh:

Yes, he was knocking about 3 years before I got the bike, thanks to this site! I'm going to drill the mufflers as described elsewhere for more of that V4 rumble goodness, leave the v-boost in the on position (until I decide whether to do a T-boost or my own on/off switch) for that 'hot-cam' sound at idle, and I think I'm going to locate some white decal stripes to match my new Bell Revolver Rally helmet - so It'll be black with thin double racing stripes down the tank.

 

[BorgBiker]

Congrats! I'm sure i'll be able to help you out get this new toy personalized!

Oh yes you will Sean! I have studied your site, and have big plans int he long term, but for now I have to recover from the purchase. Future plans are for your intake kit, likely a Kerker (especially if there's any way to avoid removing the center stand tabs), your seat, and tons of little things I haven't decided on yet.

You will probably be hearing from me sometime in the first part of 2012.

 

[Junior6996]

Congrats hope she does you good and it it makes me giggle like a school girl instead of just a grin!

I so need a tinted shield on my helmet!

 

[RaWarrior]

Glad to hear you really grooved out with your new ride. I remember having pretty much the same story as I drove my Vmax home from eastern VT back to Schroon....a good 90min ride or so.

Once you start to get a feel for the bike, I bet you'll want to ditch that granny windshield for something smaller(or lose it entirely). Things like that are a giant sail mounted to your forks....not conducive to stability. Cross-winds on the highway will seriously mess with you, and as you approach/pass triple digits it'll really start to interfere.

Tinted visors for your lid are a great idea. I wear glasses, so sunglasses are obviously out of the question. For my Icon Domain2 I got the iridium silver.....looks like a mirror from the outside, tinted enough to take the edge off glare and improve contrast on sunny days. Plus, it makes you look like a bad-***.

 

[Fire-medic]

If you want a windshield, get a stock accessory windshield mount & then buy a 5" higher replacement windshield from St. Augustine FL's Gustaffson Plastics. You can cut it to the exact height you want so you get the amount of wind protection you want w/o it interfering w/your handling. They will sell you the replacement extended version for ~$105 & even the saw blade to cut it.

 

[a113ycat]

Back in the early 80's my brother and I took a ride up PCH 1 and the 101 just to say we did it. We left Barstow went down to San Diego and rode all the way up to Oregon then back down. It was one of the roughest rides that I have ever been on and I would not trade that experience for the world! Hell he was on a CB750 and I was on a CB450 4 Super Sport. One of the most memorable times in my life. Camping on the beach and cruising up the coast is highly recommended by me IMHO

Oh and nice score on the MAX welcome and enjoy!!!

 

[BorgBiker]

First I tried to lower the windshield, but it's clearly not designed for a Max. So I removed it. If I find that I really miss it I'll put it back on, but I kind of like riding without any windshield.

My helmet is a flip up Bell Revolver, it has the regular shield and a drop down sunvisor that acts like sunglasses. It is pretty cool, but I already broke the mechanism. Not sure if it's a defect or my clumsiness, but I will be getting it exchanged this week.

Back in the early 80's my brother and I took a ride up PCH 1 and the 101 just to say we did it. We left Barstow went down to San Diego and rode all the way up to Oregon then back down. It was one of the roughest rides that I have ever been on and I would not trade that experience for the world! Hell he was on a CB750 and I was on a CB450 4 Super Sport. One of the most memorable times in my life. Camping on the beach and cruising up the coast is highly recommended by me IMHO

Oh and nice score on the MAX welcome and enjoy!!!

a113ycat - My first bike was a Honda CB350F 4 (the predecessor to your 450 I think). I rode it about 20k in about a year, then my dad and I put in the racing pistons etc form the CB400F kit. Power was probably close to double. But I can't imagine riding that ride you describe on my little 350. You were probably running 75-80% most of the time I bet.

I see you are in Austin - that was my hometown for 20 years. I used to know every road - heck probably every bump on every road - in Austin back then. I still love that town!