The five best and worst mods to a vmax?

[oz1961]

hi everyone
I want to make a new video for my YouTube channel

The question I want to answer is

What are the 5 best and worst mods for a Vmax?

I look forward to everyone’s thoughts

 

[rebeltaz83]

Gen 1? Gen 2? Both? Lol

 

[[email protected]]

Gen 1 Best Mods
1. Seat
2. Fork Springs
3. Exhaust
4. Muscle Jet Kit
5. Swap turn signals and tail light for items from this century

Plenty of others I like including solid mounts, clutch upgrade, HD oiling kit, a tachometer up on the bars, radials, shocks, extended arm, etc...

Bad mods?

 

[Fire-medic]

It's expensive, but getting at a minimum a new rear wheel in a 5-5/12" width, so you can mount radial tires f & r, will take-care of many of the concerns that enthusiastic VMax riders have, about handling. Usually, that will be a 17" wheel, because your rubber choices are better/more varied, but an 18" rear wheel will come closer to your stock 90-series 15" rear wheel/tire height. The smaller diameter 17" wheel/tire has the effect of gearing the bike lower, so more acceleration, as-if it needs-it. The 17" rear tire/ wheel combo will also cut-down on your top-end a bit, but who's riding around at 145 mph, not-anyone who wants to maintain their riding privileges. You should also run a same-manufacturer and same-style front radial tire, though that may limit your choices a bit as the OEM/stock VMax is a narrow, 18" rim, and proper rim width for the size tire that a VMax would take is 3-1/2". It is not a good idea to mix-and-match different manufacturers' tires, because of differences in construction, even the same manufacturer's tires but different rubber compounds, because you can end-up with an evil-handling bike.

Actually, mounting a good-quality set of premium tires in bias-ply will come-close to the handling of a pair of premium radial tires, for the first 1,000 miles, and at legal speeds, but the handling noticeably deteriorates after that, (concerning miles on the tires, and speeds attained) for me. Radial tires are much-more precise in their handling, should you find yourself at 'big-traffic fine' speeds. It's a shame that Yamaha never made their VMax first-generation wheels in a wider style, because that would have largely-ended concerns with the VMax handling (taking into account its 1980's frame geometry, tire design, and materials). The VMax is no Kawasaki Mach III (ask your motorcycle-riding father or grandfather) in (bad) handling, but it definitely benefits from modern tire technology. It's just expensive to get there. No there are no Yamaha wheels which will swap-in at the rear to give you a 17" or an 18" rear wheel, with proper centering in the swingarm. Also, a 6" width wheel requires a widened swingarm, not hard to-do, if you have the proper tools and the skills.

There are many-more parts of this discussion, but that would be an entire youtube video itself.

Another change to-make, which will greatly-ease your riding issues, is to go to a larger headlight, and modern bulb technology. You don't realize how-much better you can-see at-night until you try a better headlight/lighting. I think that would probably be the #1 thing I would consider doing if I just bought a new-to-me, used Gen I VMax.

 

[oz1961]

Gen 1? Gen 2? Both? Lol

Thanks for your reply

This time Gen 1

 

[oz1961]

Gen 1? Gen 2? Both? Lol

For this time a Gen1

 

[oz1961]

Gen 1 Best Mods
1. Seat
2. Fork Springs
3. Exhaust
4. Muscle Jet Kit
5. Swap turn signals and tail light for items from this century

Plenty of others I like including solid mounts, clutch upgrade, HD oiling kit, a tachometer up on the bars, radials, shocks, extended arm, etc...

Bad mods?

Thank you

 

[oz1961]

It's expensive, but getting at a minimum a new rear wheel in a 5-5/12" width, so you can mount radial tires f & r, will take-care of many of the concerns that enthusiastic VMax riders have, about handling. Usually, that will be a 17" wheel, because your rubber choices are better/more varied, but an 18" rear wheel will come closer to your stock 90-series 15" rear wheel/tire height. The smaller diameter 17" wheel/tire has the effect of gearing the bike lower, so more acceleration, as-if it needs-it. The 17" rear tire/ wheel combo will also cut-down on your top-end a bit, but who's riding around at 145 mph, not-anyone who wants to maintain their riding privileges. You should also run a same-manufacturer and same-style front radial tire, though that may limit your choices a bit as the OEM/stock VMax is a narrow, 18" rim, and proper rim width for the size tire that a VMax would take is 3-1/2". It is not a good idea to mix-and-match different manufacturers' tires, because of differences in construction, even the same manufacturer's tires but different rubber compounds, because you can end-up with an evil-handling bike.

Actually, mounting a good-quality set of premium tires in bias-ply will come-close to the handling of a pair of premium radial tires, for the first 1,000 miles, and at legal speeds, but the handling noticeably deteriorates after that, (concerning miles on the tires, and speeds attained) for me. Radial tires are much-more precise in their handling, should you find yourself at 'big-traffic fine' speeds. It's a shame that Yamaha never made their VMax first-generation wheels in a wider style, because that would have largely-ended concerns with the VMax handling (taking into account its 1980's frame geometry, tire design, and materials). The VMax is no Kawasaki Mach III (ask your motorcycle-riding father or grandfather) in (bad) handling, but it definitely benefits from modern tire technology. It's just expensive to get there. No there are no Yamaha wheels which will swap-in at the rear to give you a 17" or an 18" rear wheel, with proper centering in the swingarm. Also, a 6" width wheel requires a widened swingarm, not hard to-do, if you have the proper tools and the skills.

There are many-more parts of this discussion, but that would be an entire youtube video itself.

Another change to-make, which will greatly-ease your riding issues, is to go to a larger headlight, and modern bulb technology. You don't realize how-much better you can-see at-night until you try a better headlight/lighting. I think that would probably be the #1 thing I would consider doing if I just bought a new-to-me, used Gen I VMax.

Thanks

 

[Zeus36]

Gen 1 Worst Mods:

1. Adding high flow muffler to stock exhaust pipes

2. Tiny turn signals

3. Blacked out tail/brake light

4. Extended swing arm

5. Mirror delete

 

[02GF74]

examples of WORST mods.

1. stupidly wide tyres:

2. stupidly long swingarms (actually that doesn't look too bad, there was an example in UK that I will attempt to find)

3. studded leather HD style paniers with tassels, not posting a picture as that would be truly vomit inducing and I do not want to be faced with repair bills to your computa screen.

4. now this one may be controversial, but I personally do not like radiator covers - why restrict the air flow?

 

[desert_max]

 

[Vinmax]

5 Best Mods;
-Comfortable seat
-Superbike bend handlebars (or any others that get rid of the stock 'yard tiller' bars)
-Radial tires
-Suspension work (fork springs/emulators/rear adjustable shocks)
-Solid motor mounts
*pretty much in that order. The above bring the Vmax up to more modern handling, improved ride comfort and safety, and adds quite a bit of rider confidence to the mix.

5 Worst Mods;
-Flat glass aftermarket mirrors (can't see **** in them. The flat glass amplifies the vibes, and most aftermarket are smaller than stock)
-Putting radial tire on the stock front wheel (I did this in the beginning, but what's the point? That front wheel is so damn thin it's like having less rubber on the road. Save up and get both front and rear wheels for proper radial tire fitment)
-Cobra slip-on exhaust..... here we go again,,,,,just what no one really wants for a Vmax.... loss of hp and loss of torque, compared to stock. Basically cutting off one ball of the Big Brass Balls Vmax for the sake of looks
-Tboost; kills the torque on a stock exhaust Vmax, and makes the driveability in lower rpm's unpredictable. Fools some people into thinking the bike is faster because the unpredictable touchy response at part throttle. Yamaha opened the Vboost at 6000 rpm for a reason..... dyno sheets don't lie
-Dynojet jetting kit (and that goes for ALL of them). Not well thought out. Not dyno proven.
Make real gains and do the jetting yourself with Mikuni parts or go with the Morley kit.


Vinnie

 

[gentsvmax]

examples of WORST mods.

1. stupidly wide tyres:

2. stupidly long swingarms (actually that doesn't look too bad, there was an example in UK that I will attempt to find)

3. studded leather HD style paniers with tassels, not posting a picture as that would be truly vomit inducing and I do not want to be faced with repair bills to your computa screen.

4. now this one may be controversial, but I personally do not like radiator covers - why restrict the air flow?

Add my bike to your pics. I just wish you could tell me in person how"stupidly" you feel about my "stupidly" wide 300 or my "stupidly" long 5" over, swingarm. Dont like it dont look.....

 

[02GF74]

What do you propose to do if I told you in person? Shoot me, kick the **** out of me, over what? Grow up buddy. This is an open forum where anyone is free to post their opinion, within certain bounds which have not been crossed in my post.

If you don't like what people post on here, then why are you looking?

You may not like heavy metal/rap/country/guitar/classical/baroque/rock or other genre of music. You can post whatever opinion you have on those - nobody has any justification of stopping you express your personal opinion, just like you do no right to tell me what I can post regarding my personal opinions.

You're happy with your mods, I don't like them. Nothing more to say and time to grow up.

 

[Fire-medic]

Oh-oh, let's nip this in the bud, Bud! Aggressive behavior, confrontational, anti-vaxx, ultra-liberal, right-wing, did we suddenly step into the other Sean's broadcast room, or Scarborough someone? I'll award you a Medal of Freedom to stop, right-now. We don't-need to draw any lines in the sand, call-out anyone, or account for our differences in taste and in style. Two guys, like different things, let's not start flame-wars. No-need to take this further.

I do appreciate Vinmax's vinyl block print.

 

[desert_max]

I love that black-and-white print. Already saved it, and plan to use it as a wallpaper if resolution is sufficient.

 

[Fire-medic]

I love that black-and-white print. Already saved it, and plan to use it as a wallpaper if resolution is sufficient.

The lithograph I found doesn't have a very-high resolution, too-bad, as it's a good print. Nonetheless, I saved it too, and sent it to my friend in MI, whose g.f. is a professional print-maker, and he has a degree in fine art too, which he used to design cars for GM until he retired a few years-ago. I asked him if he thought it was a software program rather than a lithograph. He is an expert in Alias design software, and has worked across the world using it.

 

[wood1]

Progressive front springs/lower front end.
Radials on good wheels.
Better seat

 

[gentsvmax]

Location:UK... nuff said

 

[gentsvmax]

Is it possible that the Vmax is the most if not among the most modded, modable bike out there?
looking at mine in the state I got it as a basket case to the one I saw in Vmax images with
the two front wheels that look as if you lean the bike to turn it, seems like a Vmax can look good no matter what its wearing.......EXCEPT this one we saw last fall in Colorado Springs CO., covered in dirty
brown fur LOL.