New here, just bought my first Vmax.

[Yamaha_Fan]

Just found this forum a week or so ago when I found a vmax I wasnted to look at and I bought it a few days ago.

Picked up a 1997 with 29k miles on it for $2500 to join my 2014 R1 and my 2009 YZ450F in the garage. Drove 3.5 hours each way to get it.

The bike was pretty clean, especially considering the year and the only things I found were a scratch underneath the left exhaust, and a small bubble/ding in the paint on the top left corner of the fake gas tank.

He told me he painted it because he didn't like the original silver color, and was going for a "cast iron" look. I think he got it, but I don't particularly care for it. I'm probably going to repaint it flat black, paint the front fender flat black and put it back on the bike, but leave the rear fender off.

The bike had aftermarket bars and mirrors, I like the reach to the bars so I'll leave those alone, can't see much out of the mirrors but oh well. The bars are straighter than stock.

I like the riding position of the bike, with the pegs directly below the seat. Makes it easy to stand up on the pegs if I feel like it, and a bit more aggressive than a typical cruiser. I'm about 6'2", and my knees hit the fake air duct things, and it bugged me on my test ride but I rode some more and it's not too bad. Might look into rearsets or a different seat to keep my knees from bumping. The guy I bought it from put highway pegs on the bike and they're nice to stretch out on.

The one thing the bike needs right away is a fork rebuild. They're extremely soft, probably low on oil or ran out of oil. Don't really notice it going straight, but it feels squirrelly hitting potholes or speed bumps, especially turning and hitting a bump at the same time. I didn't notice any headshake, but I read that these bikes can suffer from headshake due to faulty steering bearings, so I may replace the steering bearing just for peace of mind.

Feeling the brake rotors with my hands they're a bit warped and could use some new ones, but there is no shake while braking and it stops fine. I'll replace the rotors soon and pads soon.

The Vboost is awesome. So much fun to hit it. The R1 still obviously takes the cake for power, but the Vmax has enough to keep me interested, which is what I was looking for.

Overall very happy with my purchase.

Yesterday I changed the engine oil and final drive gear oil, and put in a new air filter. The guy I bought it from had the bike for a year or two and only put about 1,000 miles on it, and all he did was change the oil and replace the tires and the battery, so I'm going to go ahead and check the valve clearance and adjust them if needed. While I'm in there I'll probably throw some new spark plugs in there as well.

I'd already mentioned the steering bearings, would it be a good idea to do the wheel bearings just in case? I figure with the age of the bike it would be cheap insurance.

Anything else I should check maintenance wise right away?

I know I will want a new exhaust for the bike, and possibly a re jet as well. Just started looking into those. When I got my R1, I put a full Akrapovic exhaust on it and flashed the ECU, and it turned it into a whole nother beast. Looking for something that will give me the equivalent on the vmax.

Yesterday on the way home the speedometer quit working. I haven't taken it apart yet, but guessing the cable needs to be replaced or messed with.

 

[marsmax85]

Congrats and welcome to the forum !! Plenty of reading to here and lots of great people here to help !!

 

[Specs95t]

Hi Yamaha Fan,

Welcome to the forum...

There is a ton of info here regarding mods and service.

One common discussion is upgrading the front suspension. Thus ranges from simply replacing stock springs with progressives (which I have done and can attest is very worthwhile) to adding emulators to swapping everything out with a USD setup.

There is also a ton of good info on head bearings - from ways to check them, to the Furbur fix to step by step to replacement.

Do some searches and then ask your questions - we have an amazing amount of folks with practical tips and experience that are ready to jump in and help.

Thanks for posting pics and have fun!

Sent from my GT-P5113 using Tapatalk

 

[Traumahawk]

Congrats and welcome to the forum.

First, what is the air in the front forks? The caps will spin off, and you can put air in the forks. 5 psi is min, and 15 is max.

Also, you can tighten up the steering head bearings, and that might make a difference around the pot holes.

Here is Sean morleys video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW-CmACI5xQ

 

[Yamaha_Fan]

Congrats and welcome to the forum.

First, what is the air in the front forks? The caps will spin off, and you can put air in the forks. 5 psi is min, and 15 is max.

Also, you can tighten up the steering head bearings, and that might make a difference around the pot holes.

Here is Sean morleys video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW-CmACI5xQ

Thanks for the video, I'll check mine using that method and see how it is.

I just checked to air in the forks, there was none. I put about 13psi in each one.

 

[Shredder]

Congrats. I just bought my first max about a week ago.

 

[jims-max]

Welcome Yamaha Fan.

there's a wealth of information on this site and tons of great people, rest assured if its broke or just needs a mod, someone on here can help you fix it.

 

[maxrom]

Hy,
Welcome home :eusa_dance:

 

[Traumahawk]

Thanks for the video, I'll check mine using that method and see how it is.

I just checked to air in the forks, there was none. I put about 13psi in each one.

I know that when I bought mine, and road it home, I didnt like the steering. I got home, found this forum, and then discovered that I had no air in the front forks.

 

[redneksoldier]

Welcome to the forum! I see you're from CC, TX. Lots of great people down there! I used to go down there for work and still keep in touch with many of the people I rode with in that area. We may have met before at bike night or one of the local meetup spots. Recognize this Max?

 

[95spfldmax]

Welcome to the forum. Nice find on the bike.

 

[fmcandrew]

Nice find...welcome aboard!!!

 

[RaWarrior]

Zero air in the forks (on stock springs) will definitely be too soft, leading to sluggish handling. Once I had the Progressive springs installed (forget the rate, but even for my 160lb weight they were stiffer than stock), I ran zero air with good results.

Slip ons will give you a nice sound (Supertrapps w 6 discs were my favorite), but don't do much of anything for power. Rejetting isn't necessary. A full system and jet kit (ask Sean Morley about that) should put you above 120 for wheel power- a healthy stock bike is ~112 or so. It's a noticeable increase, though it's not going to suddenly be running down the R1 or anything.

Stem bearings are a major PITA to change on this bike- the races either need to be ground through with a diamond bit, or a rod welded to them and slide-hammered out. Remove the front wheel/forks and feel the action (the weight of the wheel masks roughness). It's it's loose, gravelly, or there's a "notch" in center, disassemble the stem and clean/repack the bearings. Often this is enough, but if it's still bad, they may need replacement.

I would highly recommend checking the charging system, one of the more common problems on this bike. There's a detailed sticky thread in the how-to section.

 

[one2dmax]

Rotors are likely fine. Just need to be cleaned up on the rotor buttons to let them float again. The rear if warped will indeed need replaced.

 

[Yamaha_Fan]

Welcome to the forum! I see you're from CC, TX. Lots of great people down there! I used to go down there for work and still keep in touch with many of the people I rode with in that area. We may have met before at bike night or one of the local meetup spots. Recognize this Max?

I can't say I've seen that bike before. Looks very clean. I've been in Corpus for about 2 and a half years now.

Zero air in the forks (on stock springs) will definitely be too soft, leading to sluggish handling. Once I had the Progressive springs installed (forget the rate, but even for my 160lb weight they were stiffer than stock), I ran zero air with good results.

Slip ons will give you a nice sound (Supertrapps w 6 discs were my favorite), but don't do much of anything for power. Rejetting isn't necessary. A full system and jet kit (ask Sean Morley about that) should put you above 120 for wheel power- a healthy stock bike is ~112 or so. It's a noticeable increase, though it's not going to suddenly be running down the R1 or anything.

Stem bearings are a major PITA to change on this bike- the races either need to be ground through with a diamond bit, or a rod welded to them and slide-hammered out. Remove the front wheel/forks and feel the action (the weight of the wheel masks roughness). It's it's loose, gravelly, or there's a "notch" in center, disassemble the stem and clean/repack the bearings. Often this is enough, but if it's still bad, they may need replacement.

I would highly recommend checking the charging system, one of the more common problems on this bike. There's a detailed sticky thread in the how-to section.

I put around 13 psi in the forks, and they're still softer than I'd like but not clunking on potholes. I think I'm going to try the progressive springs.


I will look into the charging system. The previous owner put on a battery tender connection according to him because he rode it rarely.

 

[redneksoldier]

Thanks! I'm pretty sure I have met the previous owner of that max. If it's the same one, he took good care of it. He had a adv bike that he rode most of the time. Anyhow, I have the progressive springs, 1" lower in the front and running atf. Pretty pleased with the result.

 

[blaxmax]

I can't say I've seen that bike before. Looks very clean. I've been in Corpus for about 2 and a half years now.





I put around 13 psi in the forks, and they're still softer than I'd like but not clunking on potholes. I think I'm going to try the progressive springs.


I will look into the charging system. The previous owner put on a battery tender connection according to him because he rode it rarely.

http://www.vmaxforum.net/showthread.php?t=19108

 

[The Beekeeper]

Chris "Shredder" dropped by yesterday, we chatted for a bit, got to see his 06 in person, nice clean stock example, weather was nice for mid Feb with temps in the 50s, it was the first time he had a chance to get it out and put a few miles on it, got the oppertunity to take it up the road and back, felt good!..............Can't wait to get back on mine again...........................Tom.

 

[blaxmax]

Chris "Shredder" dropped by yesterday, we chatted for a bit, got to see his 06 in person, nice clean stock example, weather was nice for mid Feb with temps in the 50s, it was the first time he had a chance to get it out and put a few miles on it, got the oppertunity to take it up the road and back, felt good!..............Can't wait to get back on mine again...........................Tom.

Did he have his new cops on it yet?