Laxfan
Well-Known Member
:rofl_200:
Okay, I found it, Kjshover has covered the basics. since cut and paste is not possible I will type up word for word the important parts which apply to the Vmax.
"After the extravagance of modifications that went into the turbo Eliminator, we resolve to make the next bike- a 1986 V-Max - simpler. Engineers at Yamaha have told us that the V-Max responds readily to exhaust- and intake - system changes , so we turn the bike over to Steve Johnson, head of R&D for Kerker, and tell him to find more power without touching the inside of the engine.
Johnson and his staff remove the V-max's airbox and V-boost system, rejet the carbs, and make a very special 4- into-2- into - 1 pipe, perhaps the most complicated exhaust system Kerker has ever built. The result is a substantial power increase and, with the competition baffle installed, exhaust music unlike that of any other motorcycle. At idle, the Max has the same lumpy, nasty sound of trapped power as a full-race american v-eight car engine. Accelerating , sometimes it sounds like a Chevy pro-stocker, sometimes like something else, but never like a motorcycle. Johnson is so enraptured with the V-max's song that, during the week that the completed V-Max is awaiting its return to CYCLE WORLD, he often wanders out of his office to the Kerker shop, starts the V-Max and plays the throttle. He always returns to his office smiling.
As important to making the V-Max quick is a new wheel and tire combination. Despite the bike having been on the market for two years, no truly sticky tires are available for its 15 inch rear wheel. So again we turn to those master fabricators of the drag racing world, Kosman specialties, for an 18-inch spoked wheel and wheelie bar. In his enthusiasm for our 9-second project, Sandy Kosman exceeds what is absolutely necessary and installs a spoked front wheel ,too, along with his lightweight brake discs and calipers. The end result , wearing pro-stock slick at both ends, is perhaps the ultimate fantasy stoplight-racer, the machine on which you could best imagine pulling alongside the nastiest , snarliest car on the streets, blipping the throttle once and asking, "wanna race?" - knowing full well, of course, there is no way you're going to lose.
December 1986:
First up is the V-max. Gleason runs down the track twice to familiarize himself with the bike and to warm it up, and then backs it into the shallow water trough at the beginning of the strip. A quick second gear burnout, with surprisingly little smoke or tire noise, brings the big Goodyear slick up to operating temperature. Then Gleason rolls the Max forward and stages for his first run.
He launches at only 5000 rpm, causing the bike to bog slightly off the line, but the time is still excellent: 10.03 seconds at 133.92 mph. For the first time we're sure that the V-Max will make it into the nines. For the next run, Jay holds the engine speed at 5800 rpm before dropping the clutch, and the bike fairly leaps away, back hard on the wheelie bar all the way through first gear. When the time pops up on the display board down the strip, everyone at the track is stunned: 9.74 seconds at 135.13 mph. Terry Vance can hardly believe it; he figured the V-Max might run 10 second-flat times at best. Don't forget, this is a heavy motorcycle that's never had it's valve covers off, and has it's tank full of pump gas, yet it's running fast enough to have whipped a Pro-Stock field 12 years ago.
Mark Dobeck of dynojet thinks the V-Max might run faster yet, so he and Wymer yank its carbs and drop the main jets two sizes. Dobeck feels this will help change the blackish buildup on the silencer's exit to a more pleasing gray, and boost top-end power. Gleason tries again, and on his second run with the new jetting, turns, 9.69 seconds at 135.74 mph. The V-max is retired, Having thoroughly and easily proven it's point: of the five runs it has made today, all except the first were well into the Nines." - CYCLE WORLD 1987
there are the most important parts pertaining to the V-Max. I left out some parts pertaining to Gleason but that is all. I am glad to know that my memory is not completly shot after all these years and all that beer.
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unk: There's just something about these bikes, the way they sound, everything. I love it.
