Yamaha VMax vs Honda V-65 vs Suzuki Madura....

[Mitchell]

Hey Derek. Good to hear ya got a Vmax. Enjoy!

 

[MAXXMAN93-4301]

both the v65's had high seat heights the sabre was like a dual purpose:rofl_200: it sat so high. the center of grav was also high. the magna had long skinny forks. the max out handled, out ran and looked better [imo] the madura looked good ,dual pipes on both sides spoke wheels[flat spokes i think] they also made a 700 version. i think they only made them 2 yrs?:ummm: unk:the max was a better all around bike, not that i didnt have flaws[seat forks..] the eliminator was close though it just didnt fit with the inline 4.

 

[4gasem]

OK since I didn't know what a Madura looked like I found the site and came up with this...

Yeah... I have NEVER liked the look of the V65 Magna and NOW I can say I don't like the Madura either. Either could have been the fastest bikes of the time and I still wouldn't have bought one...


:barf:

 

[maxcruiser]

OK since I didn't know what a Madura looked like I found the site and came up with this...

Yeah... I have NEVER liked the look of the V65 Magna and NOW I can say I don't like the Madura either. Either could have been the fastest bikes of the time and I still wouldn't have bought one...


:barf:

Agreed, looks too much like an 80-90's Honda Shadow - no like

Seen a 83 Madura 700 this weekend and it is even uglier.

Mike

 

[Rusty McNeil]

My first bike was a 85 V45 Magna, followed up by 3 different V65's over about a 10 year period, I just kept coming back to them for some reason. I loved the Hell out of those bikes and they handled well enoughexcept for the weavewobble etc.... and yes they wheelied really easy.

I never had any of them through the 1/4 but I don't have any doubt the Max is faster, but not by much.

Every V65 I had had MUCH worse high speed weave/wobble/headhsake---tank slapper issues than any Vmax that I know of...One of mine spit me out at 140 with a full blown, lock-to-lock tank slapper and I lived to tell about it...That's why I believe in helmets, I'd a been dead w/o one that day....I wasn't knowledgable enough back then to know how to solve it so just stayed out of the danger zone.......

Setting the valves on them was really easy but had to happen much to frequently, and only one of mine had the oiling problem which destroyed the cams, their's a fix for that now that can be done....

I was looking for yet another V65 when my eye finally strayed and I fell in love with the Vmax....
Plus getting spare parts for a V65 are a whole adventure in itself. I don't think we all realize how lucky we are to be able to go down and buy parts at the dealer for a 23 year old bike........

When I look at the V65 now they don't look nearly as cool as I thought they did years ago, the tank is too high like "almost" every thing else back in the 80's, and the stepped king/queen seat really turns me off now too......... they look dorky to me now but still put a big smile on my face when I see one...Kinda like thinking about that first peice of tail or first kiss......

 

[snowprophet1]

My first vmax was an '89 and less than a year old when I got it. Then I had my first daughter, then a second. Sold the 'max in '97. A third kid later, and now that they are all a little older, I just got back into bikes the other year. Looked for another vmax or v65, and found a deal on an '85 v65 sabre. I just went from the v65 to my new 2000 vmax this year. I will say although the v65 is an 1100cc, it has a 6 speed to help compare to a vmax's 1200 w/a 5 speed. The sabre's rear was a little more plush, the digital fuel gauge, gear indicator, clock,etc were nice, and so was having a normal size tach up where you could see it. I liked the v65 sabre w/it's larger capacity tank also. BUT...when you sit on a vmax w/it's lower center of gravity and the feel of the bars as they pull and pull.... wow. The vmax is the real deal. After dynoing the v65, (just like the factory's graph) it showed a dip around 5,000-5,500 rpms, and wouldn't you know it, that's right when my little brother's R6 would catch up to me and then keep inching away. The vmax doesn't have that "dead" spot, so I can hold him back a lot longer. Stock to stock, my two vmaxes pulled within .1 sec of each other at the strip, and were both about .3 sec quicker than my v65. Launching the vmax is so much more comfortable than the tall sabre. I liked a lot of things about that sabre, but put a set of supertrapps on both (I did) and the vmax sounds so much better at every rpm. Bad a$$! I love the looks of the vmax over any other bike. Its a keeper.unk:

 

[Shuriken]

An old Madura just turned up on eBay. I'd take it for like $300 just to experiment with it.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Suzu...37279QQitemZ290282637279QQptZUSQ5fmotorcycles

Item: 290282637279

 

[naughtyG]

THAT looks like a scary bike. I bet it wobbles worse than a Max lol :rofl_200:

 

[one2dmax]

That is one Fugly machine. I had seen them in person before but I forgot just how ugly they really were.

Sean

 

[Shuriken]

I'm not a "spoked wheels" guy. It is an ugly bike, to me. Would be fun to experiment with. Hydraulic lifters and 6 speeds.

 

[eatatjoz]

I spotted one last year at the Toys for Tots ride. Dude was pretty surprised that I knew what it was.

My buddy and business partner owns an 86 V65 Magna.
The forks stretch like crazy when you get in it pretty hard, and it's TALL. Good running bike but the parts are expensive and getting hard to find.
He does get a lot more stop light warriors than I do though. I guess they think it's an old Shadow or something.

And don't blow the Eliminator off. With the right rider, those things can suprise you. Hell, even the 250's were pretty quick for what they were.

 

[ssnsltd]

Always wanted a V65. I had the little brother, a V45 for a few years. I suppose after I win the lottery I will start my stable . . . .

 

[Laxfan]

Back in the day my two best friends were also my riding buddies. One of 'em had a V65 sabre and the other had a Eliminator 900 and I had my FJ1100. Needless to say there was alot of head to head testing going on and I can say that the Eliminator ,for all its hype and its badass name, got embarassed on a pretty regular basis. I mean it was not even close between the FJ and the Kawi, from a dig, any gear roll on, it was shocking how much slower it was. The V65 however was a differant story, it gave me a run for my money every time, nice bike. He beat up on the Eliminator pretty bad too.

Good times!!

 

[chainednitromaxx]

Hello ,new to this site but figured i give it a try.Got some chain drive maxs that are alot of fun. Hoping to figure all the stuff out on this site JOHN

 

[Storloc]

Dont mean to get too far off track here but I always liked the looks of the '87-'88 SuperMagnas. I've never owned one but a friend did and it ran ok. Nothing like a V65 or VMax but it had its own "look".

 

[one2dmax]

Now, I will admit I liked the 4 upswept mufflers.

Sean

 

[naughtyG]

when I was a little kid (I'm a big kid now lol), I used to believe that the more exhausts, the faster/more powerful the bike!!

So those old 70's bikes with four, or even six (!) exhaust cans were the bestest to me! :rofl_200::rofl_200::rofl_200:

 

[shorthair88]

Back in the day when my 85 Max was prowling around, there were also 2 other super cruisers that I am aware of - the Honda V-65 and the Suzuki GV1200GL "Madura". I had never heard of a Madura until 2 years ago when a work buddy of mine began bragging of how fast his old Suzuki was. I looked it up and was surprised.

Of course I knew about the Honda Magna and Sabre. I rode as a passenger on a Magna once and it was extremely powerful and fast. Coming from the XS1100 world, I have the ability to compare power.

What do you guys know about the V-65 and also about the Madura? Anyone owned either? Anyone raced any of these bikes against each other? I think I recall my old work buddy saying that he pinned his Madura at 160 or so.....

I found this page:
http://www.lk3000.com/madura/faq.cfm

On that page is listed the following:
"What are the 1/4 mile and HP specs for my Madura?
V1200 - Per CYCLE MAGAZINE from Jan. 1986: The V1200 BHP is 89.36 max @ 8500 rpm and the torque is 61.41 max. @ 6000 rpm. In a standing start 1/4 mile, it finishes in 11.75 sec @ 115.06 mph.


It was tested at the time against three other cruisers and came in 3rd place in the 1/4 mile (can you believe that garbage???!!). The test included the Yamaha Vmax ([email protected]), Kawasaki Eliminator 900 ([email protected]), Suzuki Madura ([email protected]), and Honda Magna ([email protected])."

And I also found a dyno sheet for the Madura from the same page:

I found a great article on the Magna as well:
http://www.magnaownersoftexas.com/v65/v65article.htm

On that page, they are saying that the Magna could run a 10.84 1/4 at 124.82. Here is the dyno:

No need to post a VMax dyno unless someone has a bone stock 1985 chart.

So, I'm trying to open up a big can of worms here, because of all of these big V4's at the time, which was truly the king? Seems like they were nip and tuck in comparison, mostly rider ability?

Congrads on owning the 85 max..

 

[Mitchell]

Dont mean to get too far off track here but I always liked the looks of the '87-'88 SuperMagnas. I've never owned one but a friend did and it ran ok. Nothing like a V65 or VMax but it had its own "look".

Did someone say Super Magna:ummm: You got taste :biglaugh:

For a 21 year old 700 or 750 V4, they are a damn quick and IMO will always be the sexiest Honda Magna ever madeunk: Here are a few pics of my old 83 V65 that I restored and sold just last year. And one of my Super Magna has been fully restored as well. Hate to sell the Super too, but unfortunately I have no extra time to ride it these days.

 

[Rayvin53]

Mitchell, those are two of the finest examples of Magnas I've seen! The super is especially nice--is that a VTX headlight you have on there? My other bike is a '95 gen 3, and it's always a nice change of pace to hop on when I'm giving the VMax a rest. However, the supers are without a doubt the sweetest looking version of the Magna ever made. Now that I think of it, it's the best looking bike Honda has ever made...