What would you pay for a 1985...

[Eugene Brad]

Thanks. The non-running bike I only paid $500 for. The other one which is running great, has cleaned carbs, good tires, brakes, owned by motorcycle mechanic for over 20 years, sounds great and is in really good shape "looks wise" w/29k... the guy wants $2k. However, after asking here and and everyone pointing out the 2nd gear issue I am now on the fence. I am going to call him today and discuss again. He owned a Yamaha dealership in in the day so maybe I misunderstood what he was saying when I asked about the tranny.

Ride it, there may not be much to discuss. Get on it through second and see what happens.
But i highly advise against buying before riding.

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[Traumahawk]

Thanks. The non-running bike I only paid $500 for. The other one which is running great, has cleaned carbs, good tires, brakes, owned by motorcycle mechanic for over 20 years, sounds great and is in really good shape "looks wise" w/29k... the guy wants $2k. However, after asking here and and everyone pointing out the 2nd gear issue I am now on the fence. I am going to call him today and discuss again. He owned a Yamaha dealership in in the day so maybe I misunderstood what he was saying when I asked about the tranny.

Ride the bike, and get on it in 2nd gear. If it doesnt pop out, 2nd gear is in good shape. As stated earlier there have been upgrades in the transmission over the years, but any Vmax can have a 2nd gear issue (IE popping out under acceleration) which means that 2nd gear will need to be replaced.

 

[KRBishop]

Thanks for all the info. Much appreciated. I'll be test riding in a few days.

 

[Fire-medic]

I forget if you've been riding for years, and if you have liter sportbike riding experience? When everyone is telling you, "heck yeah, whip on it in second gear, and see if it jumps out of engagement," if you aren't an experienced rider, you probably need to bring someone who can do this for you. It's not uncommon for a power wheelie to result from winding it towards redline in first, slamming it into second, and next thing you know, the front wheel is off the pavement, and for an inexperienced rider, you can be in-danger of losing control.

 

[KRBishop]

I forget if you've been riding for years, and if you have liter sportbike riding experience? When everyone is telling you, "heck yeah, whip on it in second gear, and see if it jumps out of engagement," if you aren't an experienced rider, you probably need to bring someone who can do this for you. It's not uncommon for a power wheelie to result from winding it towards redline in first, slamming it into second, and next thing you know, the front wheel is off the pavement, and for an inexperienced rider, you can be in-danger of losing control.

HA HA HA! Yes... thank you. I have not ridden in a while and not something like this beast. Thank you for the heads up!!

 

[Fire-medic]

A co-worker on fire-rescue had a cousin who was in one of the south Florida police depts. He was a 'motorman,' yes, a professional motorcycle rider, a cop. When the VMax first came-out, the local shop where he was on good terms with the staff invited him to ride a VMax. He was a Harley rider, though he had Japanese bikes before. When he got on, he went to take-off, and the bike wasn't really doing much of anything to accelerate it seemed. He said to himself, "what's the hype?", and then the cloud of tire smoke started to engulf him. He'd launched so-hard, the rear tire was just spinning merrily-away, causing a blue cloud to eventually catch-up to him as he was doing an impromptu burn-out.

He shut the throttle, and with the rear weenie well-barbecued, he didn't use as-much throttle to take-off, and the bike lunged forward, and he was now a believer, as he took a short trip. The guys at the shop all were laughing and wanted to know what he thought about Mr Max. It made him a believer, but he went back to his Harley.

 

[Jan Bee]

I forget if you've been riding for years, and if you have liter sportbike riding experience? When everyone is telling you, "heck yeah, whip on it in second gear, and see if it jumps out of engagement," if you aren't an experienced rider, you probably need to bring someone who can do this for you. It's not uncommon for a power wheelie to result from winding it towards redline in first, slamming it into second, and next thing you know, the front wheel is off the pavement, and for an inexperienced rider, you can be in-danger of losing control.

Great advice.