8th place: Yamaha Vmax

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8th place: Yamaha Vmax
Markus Jahn

8th place: Yamaha Vmax

8th place: Yamaha Vmax

8th place: Yamaha Vmax

8th place: Yamaha Vmax

10 photos

8th place: Yamaha Vmax
Markus Jahn

1/10
The actual tank of the Yamaha Vmax is hidden under the seat.

8th place: Yamaha Vmax
Markus Jahn

2/10
The Yamaha Vmax presented here belongs to Thomas Heim from Stuttgart.

8th place: Yamaha Vmax
Markus Jahn

3/10
Because of the performance, the Yamaha Vmax got a cardan drive. The sturdy rear axle drive also has aesthetic qualities.

8th place: Yamaha Vmax
Markus Jahn

4/10
In 1985 the Yamaha Vmax came on the market. Sales price at the time: approx. 16,500 German marks.

8th place: Yamaha Vmax
Markus Jahn

5/10
The Yamaha Vmax made it to 8th place in the 2014 dream bike election and thus secured a place at INTERMOT in Cologne.

8th place: Yamaha Vmax
Markus Jahn

6/10
The 1200 V4 is not only a force in terms of performance, it also dominates the side view of the machine. The four carburettors with the four membrane housings are characteristic.

8th place: Yamaha Vmax
Markus Jahn

7/10
The water-cooled, four-cylinder, 70-degree V engine generates an impressive 145 hp at 9,000 rpm.

8th place: Yamaha Vmax
Markus Jahn

8/10
It sits in there somewhere, the little devil called V-Boost, which shoots up the power output from 6000 rpm.

8th place: Yamaha Vmax
Markus Jahn

9/10
The tachometer and other displays are more discreet. There is space for them in a small console on the dummy fuel tank.

8th place: Yamaha Vmax
Markus Jahn

10/10
The Yamaha Vmax still has great provocation potential today. Well, let’s just let bad guys do bad things to the bad girl with the rear tire.

Yamaha Vmax

Dream bike election 2014: 8th place

Who sows the wind, will reap boost. With the Yamaha Vmax, this does not mean the boost pressure of a turbo, but the temporary activation of a second carburetor for each cylinder through a flap in the intake system. And like a turbo, this has a stormy effect.

It’s actually a completely innocent pleasure: just cruising in third gear, at around 4000 rpm, and then pulling up the gas. The crackling exhaust sound of the 70-degree V4 melts into a hoarse roar with increasing frequency, from 6000 rpm the flaps in the intake tracts of the two cylinder banks ensure that each cylinder is supplied with a mixture during the intake phase by two carburettors. Then it breaks Yamaha Vmax suddenly pulled forward as if by an – there is simply no better comparison – an overly strong rubber band. The engine now gives off a hard, dry sound.

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8th place: Yamaha Vmax

Yamaha Vmax
Dream bike election 2014: 8th place

Vmax is not designed so that the driver can constantly brace himself against the raging wind. He therefore caused most of the much-criticized suspension unrest at high speeds himself. Time to turn off the gas and plop down again with 130 things. Until the next time you feel like doing the V-Boost.

Slightly over-proportioned V-engine in the center of the chassis

One would like to enjoy it all to oneself; an audience does not need it. But when are you alone on the autobahn? And when can you indulge in the innocent pleasure described above without someone feeling provoked? In the phase of slackening, someone who was left standing before always runs into from behind and gets upset, scolds, gesticulates. It’s good that the flasher of such a contemporary doesn’t shoot sharply. There is probably a lot of envy of the great acceleration of the Vmax in the game. But that was probably exactly what was intended when the Yamaha Vmax was introduced in 1984 and came onto the market the following year: as an extremely powerful provocation object, made for bad boys – and bad girls. So that the bad guys can do it with it: often maltreat the rear tire on the quarter mile in order to be pulled over it as quickly as possible.

This naturally makes those angry who cannot act out this grandiose kind of malice with an inferior device. Squat, dark, with its slightly disproportionate V-motor in the center of the chassis, but above all with the air scoops that stand out from the dark surroundings, the Yamaha Vmax unabashedly signals its status as an acceleration powerhouse. The air scoops are just dummies, and the provocative exterior distracts from how valuable and dignified it is. For example the cardan drive. At the time, the engineers opted for it because they didn’t want to let go of the enormous 145 hp on a chain. And as sturdy as it presents itself, you can easily believe the drive train that it would also bring 290 hp onto the road without any problems.

V4 as a symbol of motor power

The surface treatment on the whole motorcycle is a poem, and the V4, the symbol of engine power, runs very cultivated. Not purring and smooth like a well-balanced small in-line four-cylinder, but always pleasantly pulsating, like a massage. The Yamaha Vmax presented here belongs to Thomas Heim from Stuttgart. It is a US import, built in 1996, which, in contrast to the reduced-power European version, is equipped with the V-Boost and already has the revised chassis with a stronger fork and the braking system of the FZR 1000. This version was built from 1993. With a steering head bearing from Emil Schwarz and a delicate conversion of the fork, it keeps largely still even at high speeds on the motorway.

The otherwise well-maintained Yamaha Vmax has a good 38,000 kilometers on the clock, and it looks as fresh as on its first day. However, Thomas Heim has rarely driven them in recent years. The reason for this is a new Vmax, the 1800s, with which he also competes in sprint races. “In contrast, my old one accelerates like a moped,” says the owner. He understates a little. When asked about his preference for these types of motorcycles, he replies: “I like piles of iron; my dream motorcycle is a Munch. And in contrast to many motorcyclists who emphasize that there is a curve after every straight, I say that every curve is followed by a straight. “

Fresh tires are needed

His “old” Yamaha Vmax swings nimbly through every left-right combination on the country road, and vice versa. The prerequisite, however, is that your driver lets it run, makes nice, wide turns, respects its not too abundant lean angle and does not force any hard braking or turning maneuvers on it. It is also important that the tires are fresh and that the rear one in particular has not accelerated halfway flat. But that was exactly the case with Thomas Heim’s Yamaha Vmax. What’s more, the tires were seven and ten years old and the front tire showed cracks in the flanks.

While the Yamaha Vmax, its owner and the MOTORRAD editor were waiting for the replacement to be delivered by Bridgestone, the lead photo was taken: a smoke offering for the god of acceleration and provocation. How does it not exist? Then it was invented especially for the Vmax. Stuntman Jo Bauer acted as high priest who made the sacrifice. Many thanks!

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