Comments on: New Yamaha Vmax – June 4th

By: todd

todd — Tue, 27 May 2008 03:10:20 +0000

Well, since they are choosing to promote the bike under the “Star” brand that would suggest to me they are going to soften it up a little. Shaft drive would be a likely fit on a Star bike.

Maybe they are going to use the Max to spice up the staid image of the brand.?.

-todd

By: aaron

aaron — Sun, 25 May 2008 19:19:59 +0000

I would think that a chain drive is a must, given the popularity of extended swingarms and wide tire kits on hayabusa’s – suzuki likely would have lost more sales to the zx-12 and zx-14 if the busa wasn’t such a customizers dream.

ditto a strong engine – the gsx/gsxr 1100, bandit 1200 and ‘busa all got street cred for the high levels of tuning they could take. for any bike with a close link to the drag strip, this is a required feature.

By: highspeedhamish

highspeedhamish — Sun, 25 May 2008 00:07:06 +0000

I wonder if they fixed /upgraded the pathetic walnut sized gas tank? The brakes were horrible on the 80’s models so hopefully that was addressed also.

Maybe it will a total redesign. Those engines were known to drop valves into heads and also the infamous shaft drive spline that broke causing the cases to be split in order to repair.

A chain drive would also be a plus…

Good Luck Yamaha

PS: Dont hire Pee Wee Gleason to do the 1/4 mile tests either.. no one weighs 110 pounds with leathers on.

By: aaron

aaron — Sat, 24 May 2008 18:22:33 +0000

It’s nowhere my current shopping shortlist (street triple, shiver, f800gs, 695) but I really want to see how this thing looks/rides after all this time – the most recent update of a modern classic went horribly wrong (ducati 696 monster – maybe seeing it in the flesh will change my mind?) hopefully they will only change what needs changing, and not go too wild with overstyling the thing….

By: OTTO MANN

OTTO MANN — Fri, 23 May 2008 23:36:41 +0000

THE ONLY BIKE FROM JAPAN THAT I HAVE EVER LOVED, I CAN”T WAIT.