Yeah, I recall the debut. I was into literbikes, owned 3 KZ1000's, when the VMax was released. Had a friend working for the Ft. Laud area dealer, never crossed my mind to own one of those. Then, in '88, I bought my friend's '87 FZR1000, which coming-off the KZ1000's, was like a world of difference in handling, speed, and looks, still have it. Five years after I bought the FZR1K, I decided to look for another ride, looked at a Moto Guzzi Daytona 1000, a Ducati 851 (owned by the Ft. Lauderdale Ferrari dealer) and then stopped-in to visit my salesman friend at the Yamaha dealer. They had just taken in on trade a barely one-yr. old '92 VMax, < 2K mi. I brought it home the next day-off I had & still have it.
My two favorite pieces of advertising/road tests/ articles are the Clint Eastwood vs. the 'highboy' yellow hotrod article, and the 'Taking It to the Nines' article. I have subscriber copies of both of those in the library.