My first ride impressions!!!

[WarriorR6]

Ok I finally picked up my 89 Vmax on Saturday. Because of the weather I only got the opportunity ride it home. Today I rode into work, about an hour ride down the Florida Turnpike. These are my first impressions:

Let's get the obvious out way, brakes are getting redone (this was apparent just on the ride home Saturday). Busa upgrade on the schedule. All parts ordered (R1 rotors, Busa caliper, Sean's adapter, EBC pads, Galfer lines and Progressive springs). I'm to accustomed to my Warrior and my old R6.

I love the sound of the flat slide carbs and Kerker headers on the Venture swap out. Sounds like an old Ducati. Great grunt straight thru.and still very tight (only 4600 miles) Fairly comfortable ride, though very sensative to road abnormalities (uneven pavement, bumps...). My only other concern is the stock mirrors, great view of the shoulders but nothing much else. Crazy traffic on the Turnpike at times, so I think I'm going to have to look for a solution there.

Should I look at fork brace? I also want to get a little more streamline with the front and rear turn signal. Any suggestions there without breaking the bank.

I'm loving the bike as a whole. South Florida rides let me know when your riding, I'm in.

Thanks to all of you guys who helped me thru my first Vmax baby steps, Garrett, Sean, Kevin, Chris, Abe, Brian, Kyle, Mike and Rober.

 

[naughtyG]

Welcome!

for mirrors there are TONS of choices on fleaBay at any price you like. I chose to go with wider bars instead - not my stock mirrors show me the road behind

Same for blinkers - tons of them in all shapes and sizes as well as prices on fleaBay - I have tiny cheapo chinese ones on the front and I love them. At $30 a pair, I can just renew them when they fall apart, but after a year they are still doing good!

I wouldn't bother with the fork brace, other than for looks.

A great front upgrade I (and others) made recently is to add the Ricor Intimators to the forks. That has really helped in making my front feel more 'normal', i.e. less sensitive to every bump and lane change, as well as being more solid overall! They are $300, but at the moment we are still getting them at half-price as a special offer to this forum. Well worth it IMHO.

I'm in Central Florida, so if you ever ride north let us know!

 

[WarriorR6]

Can you use the Ricor in conjunction with the Progressive Spring? How do we get the discount? Thanks again.

I'm going to work on adding a little time to my riding bit by bit and then I'll be ready for the Orlando trip.

 

[Redbone]

Ok I finally picked up my 89 Vmax on Saturday. Because of the weather I only got the opportunity ride it home. Today I rode into work, about an hour ride down the Florida Turnpike. These are my first impressions:

Let's get the obvious out way, brakes are getting redone (this was apparent just on the ride home Saturday). Busa upgrade on the schedule. All parts ordered (R1 rotors, Busa caliper, Sean's adapter, EBC pads, Galfer lines and Progressive springs). I'm to accustomed to my Warrior and my old R6.

I love the sound of the flat slide carbs and Kerker headers on the Venture swap out. Sounds like an old Ducati. Great grunt straight thru.and still very tight (only 4600 miles) Fairly comfortable ride, though very sensative to road abnormalities (uneven pavement, bumps...). My only other concern is the stock mirrors, great view of the shoulders but nothing much else. Crazy traffic on the Turnpike at times, so I think I'm going to have to look for a solution there.

Should I look at fork brace? I also want to get a little more streamline with the front and rear turn signal. Any suggestions there without breaking the bank.

I'm loving the bike as a whole. South Florida rides let me know when your riding, I'm in.

Thanks to all of you guys who helped me thru my first Vmax baby steps, Garrett, Sean, Kevin, Chris, Abe, Brian, Kyle, Mike and Rober.

Good to hear your getting a feel for your Vmax. It has it's quirks for sure but for some reason we just cannot get enough of it. Modding it will come naturally as know since you have already started the process. I'm going to try some wider bars during my winter mod time, what I have now are not too bad as I have gotten used to the elbow dip to see. I don't normally ride in much traffic thought.
If you are looking to replace all 4 of your turn signals I have had some luck with these from Pythonmotorsports.com , they come in smoke/ clear/ amber lenses. One thing I was worried about was that the way the bulbs are mounted I thought they may take a lot of abuse from vibration/ road shock so I cut small pieces of foam and fit them in behind the bulb mounts. I haven't had any issues with bulb breakage/ burnouts in 2 years. I would check with Sean as I think he can get you the same ones for cheaper. I can get a picture of what I did if you like.

 

[naughtyG]

Yes you can! In fact I have Progressive springs, and at this time I didn't even cut the spacers down so the Intimators added 15mm of preload to my springs and so far I like it. I may cut them later and try using air instead.

To get the discount you just use the coupon code, which if I remember right is 'vmax' - somebody correct me if I'm wrong!

 

[maxcruiser]

First off, Welcome to the forum and it already sounds like the mod monkey will be taking up residence at your house for awhile!

Have a look at the gallery and garage sections for some inspiration on upgrades to your max.

Mike

 

[kaboom]

My bike before this was a 1983 Honda....

The Vmax seems just fine to me:ummm:


Dual disc up front and disc rear......

WAY better than single disc and rear drum on the Honda....:clapping:

 

[4gasem]

My bike before this was a 1983 Honda....

The Vmax seems just fine to me:ummm:


Dual disc up front and disc rear......

WAY better than single disc and rear drum on the Honda....:clapping:

Yeah but you have 4 piston front brakes whereas he has 2 piston front brakes, smaller rotors and smaller forks.

He NEEDS to upgrade it.

Sounds like you're headed in the right direction.

Take a look at CRG bar end mirrors. I put one on mine and LOVE it. I can see everything now. http://www.constructorsrg.com/ Also keep in mind that Gary McCoy at Mondak Motorsports can save you MEGA dosh on parts, OEM and A/M. Check out the VMF links for more info and umm... Links... lol

Chris

 

[gamorg02]

Ok I finally picked up my 89 Vmax on Saturday. Because of the weather I only got the opportunity ride it home. Today I rode into work, about an hour ride down the Florida Turnpike. These are my first impressions:

Let's get the obvious out way, brakes are getting redone (this was apparent just on the ride home Saturday). Busa upgrade on the schedule. All parts ordered (R1 rotors, Busa caliper, Sean's adapter, EBC pads, Galfer lines and Progressive springs). I'm to accustomed to my Warrior and my old R6.

I love the sound of the flat slide carbs and Kerker headers on the Venture swap out. Sounds like an old Ducati. Great grunt straight thru.and still very tight (only 4600 miles) Fairly comfortable ride, though very sensative to road abnormalities (uneven pavement, bumps...). My only other concern is the stock mirrors, great view of the shoulders but nothing much else. Crazy traffic on the Turnpike at times, so I think I'm going to have to look for a solution there.

Should I look at fork brace? I also want to get a little more streamline with the front and rear turn signal. Any suggestions there without breaking the bank.

I'm loving the bike as a whole. South Florida rides let me know when your riding, I'm in.

Thanks to all of you guys who helped me thru my first Vmax baby steps, Garrett, Sean, Kevin, Chris, Abe, Brian, Kyle, Mike and Rober.

no problem bud. sounds like you're on the right track. these bikes have been around for so long its nice how many options there are to customize them. i think with the flatsides adn these brakes you'll be in business. however be careful as the mod monkey bought me a beer (or 10) last night and i MAY have given him your addr. he said he was on his way over....

 

[Nicki66]

In the comfort department, You will need to add a Morley seat. This is well spent money!!

 

[Redbone]

In the comfort department, You will need to add a Morley seat. This is well spent money!!

+1 Indeed, money well spent!

 

[Transam]

+3 !!

+1 indeed, money well spent!

 

[WarriorR6]

Ok, I did the suspension and brake upgrade today. Everything feels much better. The only problem I'm having is that it looks like one of the R1 rotors I bought from eBay was damaged. It is causing pulsating during braking. Even with that it still brakes 70% better than previously. I have contact the seller about the "Used but in good shape with no damage" rotors I bought from eBay. The tech. that help me with my assembly said he might have a rotor at home. He took one of my old rotors to see if the holes match up. But like I said even with the pulsating is still has better braking feel than before. Thanks all the help Sean.

Just heads up about Sean, I gave him a call about turn signals Thursday knowing I was going to do the assembly on Saturday. I asked if he could Next Day them to which he did. But that isn't the story, I was having a problem with my Paypal sending $$ on Thursday and he was nice enough to send them while waiting for me to get the Paypal situation straightened out the next day. I had the turn signals well before he had his money. So I really appreciate the help.