Last month we told you about the three builders Yamaha chose to modify the new Vmax. Each builder went his own way and this is what Roland Sands came up with. Most impressive, is the extremely short time frame each builder had, only 3 weeks! When you see the results, you have to respect the experience being brought to the task, novice builders would be in the design and mockup stage when these guys were rolling out their finished bike. As Roland explains in the video, he’s got a lot of ideas floating around in his head all the time, so when this challenge came up, it was time to quickly apply what he knew.
The RSD version was quite a redesign, the fuel tank was moved below the swing arm, clip-ons were installed, the exhaust was re-routed, body work massaged and, by Roland’s estimate, about a hundred pounds was removed. It almost makes the big Max seem sporty.
His initial sketch is close to what they built and, to my eye, what he turned out is a lot more pleasing than the stock unit in just about every way.
He accomplished what many builders fail to do when working on the Vmax, he made it look different while still focusing your eyes on the engine, which is what the Vmax is all about. If you go to the original Vmax Hyper Modified link, you’ll also see that the other two builders, Ludovoc Lazareth and Marcus Walz, didn’t redesign the Vmax to the level achieved here. As I said, from start to finish in 3 weeks, wow. Nice job, Roland!
Link: Roland Sands Vmax
Video below:
akaaccount says
Sweet. No, it’s not a supersport or a cruiser but man I love it.
B50 Jim says
Mr. Max has worn the crown for outrageousness for many years, and this exercise adds a few more jewels to the crown while giving it a facelift, buffing and wax job. Good work, but it begs the question, how much is too much? With the V-Max, we might never know the answer to that question, and who cares if we ever do? Crank it up and hold on!
cycledave says
Now that’s a proper VMAX!!!!!! Awesome job RSD!
hoyt says
Cool. I like it more after seeing the video. Where is the gas filler cap?
Kevin says
I highly doubt it was a real 3 week project. They always say ridiculous time frames like that for the chopper shows and Extreme Makeover Home Edition, but they are full of BS. So I bet this is the same and it wasn’t truly only three weeks.
Either way, good work as always by RSD even if it isn’t anything I would ever want or care about. Can’t top that Desmo tracker though.
Paul Crowe - "The Kneeslider" says
Maybe, but both Marcus Walz and Ludovic Lazareth made comments about the time pressure and very short deadline, so, whatever the time frame, it was short.
aTo says
what about the other 2 bikes?
Ludovic Lazareth: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhj0zh_Lmdo
and Marcus Walz: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jwv7oREkjak
Paul Crowe - "The Kneeslider" says
I mentioned both of those builders in the article. The reason I wanted to point out the RSD version is due to the greater actual change to the standard Vmax that he made and how he altered the function into a more sporty and less custom cruiser direction. The other two, though certainly fine work, didn’t push as far in the time available.
GuitarSlinger says
Hate to be the voice of descent here , but Roland’s VMax custom looks an awful lot , in fact too much like a Harley Davidson V-Rod with a couple of tweaks
Come on Roland … you can ( and have ) done a heck of a lot more original and better .
Sid says
What are you looking at? The VRod’s seat is about 5 inches lower and the foot pegs are ~ 15 inches forward of the RSD VMax. Exhaust and hand controls are also totally different as is color and finishes.
Les says
A monstrosity commissioned by the yamaha marketing department.
I’ll have 17 whoppers and a diet coke, please. Hold the ice.
GuitarSlinger says
Marcus Walz’s VMax gets my vote , hands down
Thanks aTo for the links !
Nicolas says
I believe that these 3 guys have taken different approaches : As Mr Lazareth and Waltz said, their intent was to keep the original personality and main design characteristics of the Vmax, while Sand’s one looks more like a Roland Sand bike that happens to be powered by a Vmax engine.
In that perspective, I believe that Sand’s Max lost something in the process, it’s surely a cool design but that could have been done on any big machine, and it kills the Max’s personality imho.
The german and the french Max look to have better proportions too … but hey, who am I to criticize I couldn’t do it myself and I’m not the one who commissioned and financed these cool bikes.
Carolynne says
I actually think that is a pretty nice looking bike, though its not the type I normally like. I am afraid to ask but would that be what you would call a “crotch rocket”? I thought though a lot of you guys did this for the chicks, so how come there is never good seating in the back? or maybe I have got it wrong and the whole idea is the wife/girlfriend cannot ride along?
Rex says
Strait up Roland…..Takes that rowdy bike and adds lightness and looks.
Beef Wellington says
The only thing that looks remotely like a V-Rod is the headlight. RSD did the business on this one. Three different builders with three different styles that anyone can appreciate. But personally I prefer Roland Sands’ formula of less weight and more aggression.