So cool you mentioned “it drops down to a 2 stroke RD 350 on cocaine
dipped steroids”…Have you ever straddled a Kawi 500 triple 2 stroke…Mach III?
I owned one and oh boy at 5000 rpm there abouts it would beg you to let it rip.
How bout 115 mph wheelies at will!! More even the Mach IV…
There was you tube video of open class road racing would you imagine…
there was a Mach III on the road course…rider pulls over and lets recent hyper bikes
fly bye…he pulls out and very quickly reels em in blows right by them like they were
going in reverse…!!!
I had one of the 750 triples. I did some piston work and put a set of pipes on it. I still love the smell of a two stroke on bean oil. It would wheelie in 5th gear but didn’t stop or turn worth a crap. I traded it straight up for an RM250 Suzuki motocross bike. I could see myself not living to see another birthday if I kept the 750. I think I was 17 or 18 tops when I had the triple.
Back in another lifetime when I was doing service work on snowmobiles a customer had a Yamaha sled with a v-max with a turbocharger and a shot of nitrous oxide to fill in for the turbo lag. It dynoed at 225 hp and sounded like an Indy car. Ah to be young and dumb again - or not.
Ah the Widowmaker. Never sat atop one but they always looked to me like a bike frame designed to withstand all the power of a tiny 49cc putt putt motor… with a nuclear powerplant wedged in it.
Weren’t those notorious for burning out the center cylinders? There’s a fella here in my town here restores & has SEVERAL vintage bikes - including the Kawi 350, 500 and 750 versions.
I’ll say it once again,
Everybody has SOMETHING that they spend WAY too much $$ on that makes everyone else raise an eyebrow & say - “Pfft - you’re an IDIOT”
Yes we do.
Not that I am aware of and there were many Kawi triples in my city and all
were ridden very hard no center cylinder pistons melting…no problems with mine…
Enjoy your V-Max
Agreed, but the questions arises - would you rather a classic 60s corvette with character, lineage, history or an off the showroom new Corvette…? Tough choice. Ideally one certainly neeeeds both…
But my Collector insurance on the 1200cc VMax is about $180 per year. Around here a new 1200cc bike would be around $1800 per year. That part is quite attractive indeed.
Which is fair, the V-Max was one of the most powerful bike of its time. But if the specs of a sport bike are of concern, modern powerful bikes which do not handle all that well include the Hyabusa and other bikes much faster than the 1980’s V-Max.
My 2010 Ducati 1098S Streetfighter is much faster than a 1985 V-Max, at 160 bhp, 88 lb/ft, 368 dry.
The question is “How do they [1980’s V-Max] compare with todays bikes speedwise?” The answer is, not very. The newer V-Max is however very quick.
There is nothing embarrassing about a 35 year-old performance machine not competing with modern machines.
There’s countless ‘fast’ bike out there, I wish I could have sampled them all; I always liked the look of the vmax, that was a majority of the desire. I sure would LIKE a bike with more drive-ability, and ANTILOCK brakes tho… My buddy has a Hyabusa - crazy awesome machine! It matters not what you drive/ride - as long as it provides you enjoyment. My old 71 MG Midget was my favorite car ever. I had the pleasure of doing some wiring repairs on a neighbor’s 62 corvette convertible. Not unlike these vintage bike of which we speak, those vehicles are NOT EASY to drive!!! Glad I got to take it for a short spin tho. Not a relaxing spin mind you…
Had HUGE legroom - 6 feet tall & had the seat forward a bit.
Had 2 Alpine free-air 10" subs, Alpine 6062 6022 mid/tweeter set. 3 3545 amps, (1900 watts total) 7618 TAPE deck, 5959 CD changer, 3321 EQ, 3402 parametric EQ & 3656 electronic dividing network. Sounded great with the hard top on - sounded decent topless. Had to plug the batteries in nightly tho. (poor generator). Had an alarm plus I added a beam of light across the doors with a reflector which if broken would trigger the alarm. It was the 80s & you had to design your own technology…
The front plate was a record category section from an old Sam the Record Man store.
Back then, if you worked for Alpine, once per year you were allowed to do a staff purchase which was 50% off dealer cost. That was a great deal.
That car was on the news (short clip) back in 89 at a Vancouver Sound Off competition. Which was NOT good - as there with a gal in the passenger seat, hiding her face from the camera, who was NOT suppose to be there…
Ah the 80s - Good times…!
