The story of Pianne's 'MAX
In the spring of 1998 the balance of my bankaccount was checked and it was decided that if I parted with my Virago, the purchase of a second-hand V-Max became possible. A childhood dream come true !
The search began ...
Here in Belgium, two versions of the 'MAX are availiable. There's the 100hp version, made for the French market (100hp limit!) wich doesn't have the Yamaha V-Boost system. And the very sought-after 140hp version. No competition there, it was going to be a 140hp monster. I went to look at several 'MAXes but only a few were both affordable and V-Boost-equipped. Finally, one fine day in May (cool, that even rhymes!) I came upon a 1989 American imported 'MAX with 15000 miles on the clock. The asking price was 195.000 bef, a lot of money for a 9-year old bike, but that was the best deal I could find without traveling to the states myself. The guy refused to shave a little off the price but agreed to mount a new rear tyre and gave the bike a complete service. I hassled him for a 6-month warranty and he finally agreed.
THE DEAL WAS MADE ... THE STORY BEGAN.
I left the bike in it's original state for the summer (stock, except for SuperTrapp slip-on mufflers) .
In August I toured France together with a couple of friends. Great weather, open country roads, beautiful beaches, beatiful women ... paradise !
From left to right : Balle (800 Intruder), myself (on my 'MAX), Bart (FZR 1000) and Pieter (Kawa Z1000).
We rode about 2500 km (1500 mls) in that week. Started in Bruges, rode to Epernay - St-Rémy de Blot - Naussac - La Grande Motte - (forgot this one) - Verdun and then returned to Bruges.
When the summer ended, the time had come to take my beloved companion apart for some restyling. Nothing very drastic, just a new colour scheme and some esthetic changes.
The bodywork was sprayed in a combination similar to the 1998 original color scheme, silver and black.
Thanx to my friend Jeroen D'Huysser for the excellent craftmanship at a friendly price !
I got a 'cat-eye' taillight from Cobra wich was mounted above the mudguard, behind the passenger-seat. The licence-plate was moved up and to the rear a little Thanx to Balle for the mount, needed two trys though (seems that stainless steel is the way to go, not aluminium). A small car-interior light was mounted above the plate. It lasted about 4 hours before expiring due to moisture and vibration (hehe, who needs licence-plate illumination anyway).
To improve brake-reaction I fitted steel-braided lines to the front brakes. I found the effect was minimal, but it sure looks great ! I might do the same with the clutch and the rear brake later but time and money were running short.
The rest was detailing : Filling in the lettering on the air-scoops, repainting bits, bolts and pieces, polishing all the aluminium parts, touching-up damaged paint and fitting new grips and mirrors.
To my own surprise, I was able to polish away most of the baked-in dirt and discolouring on the SuperTrapps. Also, a set of new bolts for the end-plates was needed as some of them had snapped. Man, SuperTrapp parts are hard to come by overhere. I finally obtained a kit from Knokke Motors, a local Harley shop but had to wait four weeks for delivery.
Early 2000, winter has set in once again. Time for some more mods and improvements...
First off, I sent my seat pan to John Furbur of Rocky Mountain SportMax in CO, USA to be converted to a 'SportMax seat'. The increase in comfort is surprising. The seat also puts you a little lower in the bike, which results in better control. I already hear you think : My legs will be cramped. Well... I have an inseam of 36" and have no problem with this. I chose the SportMax because it keeps the original look of the bike and it's really good value for money at US$110 (minus 10% VMOA discount). Turnaround time was 2 weeks.
I got some shims from Rob from Florida and took to the carbs ... only to find out that the needles had been shimmed already!
Finally I took all the covers from the crankcase and had them powdercoated at S&T Hardley Davidson. Turned out that the gaskets are more expensive than the powdercoating itself. I paid 3000 bef and didn't have to prep anything, nice !
The first outing in the new Millenium was " het 2de Mettentreffen", afterwards Balle recorded us fooling around a bit ...
Burnouts are hard on your tire, but sooo much fun!
Quiet road (NOT!) (MPEG 603 kB)
Visit the 'tGeadoaver website for more antics.
Some more pics :
(Click the thumbs for a larger picture)
