References to help you get started:
https://www.vmaxforum.net/threads/new-vmax-owner-faqs-new-members-please-read.21240/
https://ia800204.us.archive.org/14/...ice-manual/yamahavmaxvmx12-service-manual.pdf
The first 64 pp. of the service manual are annual model updates, check the 'pdf page counter and you'll see that after those 64 pp. the main content of the factory service manual is there. Be sure to check-out the Appendix at the back of the factory service manual, it contains specs, fastener sizes, where they're used, and torque values, and more. The VBoost function is explained, showing when it begins, and how it increases in the opening of the two butterflies, to fully-open. Cable routings, hose routings and wire routings are also found there. There is much-more. You don't need to memorize the document, but being able to navigate its contents will help you to find specifications and procedures to do service, repairs, and trouble-shooting with a minimum expenditure of time.
For the use of the VMaxforum website, to best benefit your needs:
Use the 'search' function to read threads on whatever you want to research as you return the bike to the road. In my experience, fewer words to search is better.
'Brake caliper' is better than,
"how do it remove, repair, and replace a brake caliper?"
There are many threads on doing just what you're facing. Here's a good example of one of the threads you may find helpful:
https://www.vmaxforum.net/threads/got-her-running-but.53703/#post-538250
If you don't have much in the way of tools, I suggest Harbor Freight Tools (HFT) as a place to buy what you need to get things done without buggering the fasteners. A set of 3/8" drive metric sockets in standard depth and deep-depth is a beginning. Include a manual impact driver in either 3/8" or 1/2" drive. VIM is a company which sells a variety of impact driver tips, just ensure that the hex shank size (the base of the piece) fits the size of the impact driver you have. They have a set of both phillips and slot head tips for not a lot of $. Yes, you can look for the JIS tips for the X-style tips, that would be best, but I confess to using the phillips style hex base bits in my hand impact driver for decades, and Ol' Scratch hasn't collected me yet for it, and they still work.
A 24 oz ball pein hammer is a good one to have to make the manual impact tool work better, because you strike the manual impact tool to make it 'shock' the fastener off. One way to help that, is to use the properly-sized tip in whatever fastener you need to remove (or re-tighten), and to
pre-load the impact driver in the direction you want it to go. Easy to say, a bit hard to imagine, until you have the impact driver in your hand, and you press the impact driver down, and then turn it a bit in a counter-clockwise direction (to un-fasten a fastener) until it stops, and then you deliver the impact driver's striking end a decent blow with the 24 oz. ball pein hammer. A word of caution! Potmetal (also called german silver) pieces like carburetor bodies or similar lower-strength material like die-castings of delicate proportions may very-well crack (!) from using an impact hammer on them! You have been warned.
You will need metric L-shaped allen wrenches, they come in a pouch, don't get the ones fastened all-together in a U-shaped metal holder, that will just get in the way when you're trying to access a restricted-space fastener.
Screwdrivers come in different size and types of heads. The best screwdrivers for Japanese machinery are JIS, they look like phillips, but the shape of the X is different, and having a set of No.'s 1, 2, & 3 JIS screwdrivers will save the X-slots from deforming/rounding-out. Toptul is a good brand of screwdrivers, Vessel also. Check Amazon. The traditional blade screwdrivers come in different widths and usually, the wider the width, the thicker the slot drive tip. HFT has a big blister-pack of sizes and types of screwdrivers, but none are JIS, so that will be a separate purchase.
A pair of ratchet wrenches in 3/8" and 1/2" drives, and short, medium, and long extensions, and also a set of adapters (3/8" to 1/4", 1/4" to 3/8"; 3/8" to 1/2"; and 1/2" to 3/8" are commonly used) will allow you to do nearly everything on the bike, short of specialized tools like disassembling the shaft drive or the big f'ing nuts for the middle drive components.
U-joints like 1/4", 3/8" and 1/2" allow access to confined space fasteners.
A couple of torque wrenches in 3/8" or 1/2" drive are something you need to properly torque fasteners so they stay tight. Sometimes you're supposed to use Lock-Tite blue (lower holding power, fasteners removed with ordinary hand tools) or red (higher holding power, for things like studs, and needing a bit of heat to easily-remove fasteners tightened with the red). You can also get 1/4" torque wrenches for delicate, low-torque fasteners, those may be measured in inch-pounds for something like the JIS screws holding on the master cylinder caps instead of the foot-pounds for fasteners like the axle nuts.
I don't use a torque wrench for tightening the master cylinder cap' screws, I'm just using that as a comparison of the force needed to tighten things so they stay tight, without stripping-out threads or the JIS specification X (think phillips head) screws.
About torque wrenches, two 1/4" drive in different torque ranges (remember they are usually
inch-pounds not
foot-pounds, and 12 inch-pounds is =1 foot pound) and a 3/8" and a 1/2" drive, can cost you for a digital read-out set,
as-much as your other basic mechanics hand tools combined! Do NOT drop your torque wrenches, or use them as hammers! You do and you just junked an expensive tool.
There are less-expensive torque wrenches, called split-beam style, and these are perfectly adequate for your beginner's use. A more-expensive model is called a 'clicker' torque wrench, you set the torque value you want via an adjustable 'barrel,' and when you exert that force, the stick makes an audible '
click,; and it moves a bit, to say, 'you have arrived at your pre-determined torque value.'
The $$$ digital torque wrenches are numerical read-out, for setting and they also notify you once you reach the set value. Treat all of them like holding a newborn, and they will last for years. If you're obsessive/compulsive you can send them in for calibration once in awhile.
The Appendix in the factory manual has a listing of the location of fasteners, the type of fastener they each are, and the torque to be used to properly service it. The factory shop manual is your friend, learn how to use it. Don't guess on things, Work form a point of reference information from the manufacturer. As you become more-proficient in doing things and you have to touch the same fasteners time and time-again (like an oil filter fastener, or the axle nuts, or the battery terminals) you will recall what is the torque setting you need.
Now, if you're a professional 'wrench-spinner,' disregard all of the above.
Probably #1 on your list of things to do is to check on the condition of the gas tank. Sitting for years, it's likely the gas tank has dried gasoline and rust inside. The easiest way to undertake this is to remove the gas tank for re-conditioning. The thread below is one way to approach the task.
https://www.vmaxforum.net/threads/gas-tank-removal.45385/#post-463164
Cleaning the carburetors without checking to see that the gas tank is shiny-clean inside, is going to frustrate you if your dirty gas tank plugs-up your newly-cleaned carburetors.
A helpful thread with multiple gas tank cleaning tips:
https://www.vmaxforum.net/threads/just-another-bike-guy.54166/#post-542157
https://www.vmaxforum.net/threads/m...2-road-ready-after-sitting-for-5-years.51471/
If you run into a point where your search didn't give you what info you needed to proceed, pose the question and you will likely get multiple suggestions about proceeding.
A good wiring diagram is very handy. Here is one in color, much easier to use than the one in the service manual in b & w. I suggest saving this to your computer, like the factory service manual, and print a copy enlarged and kept in a clear vinyl pocket to use as a reference in your garage/shop. The service manual printed-out and a 3-ring binder will also find a useful place where you do your work.
