I don't want to step on the middle of this situation and create more confussion, but, the way this issue of the front end wobble is being addressed, brings more questions that answers to the problem. There are different situations, that the wobble is noticed: 1) at low speed, when accelerating, between 45 & 60 mph. 2) when cutting the trottle at 60 to 45 mph 3) when on the trottle at about 115 to 120 mph 4) when cutting the trottle from 120 to 115 mph Now, those are the situations, usually addressed by V-Max owners with the front end problem. Since everybody sees it in a different way, I've have reached my own conclusions, about similarities that occur comparing cases and riders, it is not meant to be a solution, but at least may show some pointers, and a place to start, for answers. 1) One of my best buddies had a 1990 Max, that wobbled uncontrollably hard, when cutting the trottle at 125 mph, (I've seen it happen, it is not a pretty sight) This guy went as far as having the bike totally stripped, sent his frame to Georgia, for a company to "laser check" for proper neck and frame alignment, tried the PCW lowering kit, tried Works Perf. springs, Progress, springs, diff. weight fork oil, and still, the wobble was there. I rode his bike at 125mph, 135mph, 100mph chopping the trottle shut abruptly at all those speeds, and NOTHING HAPPENED (?) My answer? He weights 145Lbs (with wet clothes) and I'm a 220 pounder. Altough, is not always the case, most lightweight riders encounter some case,(sometimes, severe) of front end shake. I had 2 V-Maxes so far, and none of them shaked, I also rode many others at high & low speeds, and never found that problem. Both of my Maxes, were treated to Progressive springs, 20w fork oil, no air, lowering blocks of 1 1/4, and I run my steering bearings on the snug side, NOT AS THE YAMAHA MANUAL INDICATES, I've removed the rubber washer, and have top and bottom locking nuts, butted against each other, I run 34psi on the front tire( K591), and have a Superbrace. The Max, in stock form, is way to high on the front, the high rise handlebars will make a sail out of you at high-speed, my first approach on this problem, will be, tighten steering bearings snug, get rid of the rubber washer, and lower the front end, AT LEAST 1 1/4, try heavier fork oil, and use no air. Hope that helps somebody, BTW my buddy sold that woobling Max, now he got another, and this ones wobbles too, we are now working on it, I'll post all the details, of what was done, when we get it fixed. Mario --------------------- From: oldmanvmaxd@webtv.net (donald smith) Subject: Vmax Front end setup Mario, some of the things which you spoke of I agree with, but to carry it farther unless someone understands the proper way to dial in a suspension, front and rear, there will always be misunderstandings. I believe Jim Furbur races in WERA and will agree with this. the vmax ,front and rear, are decades old in design.Even the new racer rep's need to have their suspensions reworked, either Race Tech , Ohlins ,for the high dollar group. But without the knowledge to know how to tune them, all the knobs in the worid won't do them any good. i have a friend with a YZF 750 one of the most stable bikes compared to a ZXR or RR that is still having problems getting it sorted. he doesn't understand the difference road conditions, bumpy versus smooth , can have. You spoke of cutting the throttle at 125. Rolling off or sudden chop and slam the brakes? This will upset it on any bike. The lighter the bike though the less of a problem with it. Still it all gets back to having the suspension dialed in correctly, compression and rebound, low and high speed of the suspension not the speed of the bike Kevin Cameron Tech Editor has wrote a well explained article on this. I suggest everyone read this article as it will explain in great detail the workings of the suspensions on a motorcycles and how small changes make a big difference. Did you know that Carl Fogerty's Ducati swingarm was lengthed to help make it more stable? It was a little to nervous even for him. Don "Old Man" Smith ------------- Nice theory guys but I dont buy it. My bike has only ever gotten squirrely on me one time and that was when I was riding the centerline trying to pass OG Ross. Wheels got confused about which side of the hump they wanted to be on. Product of the terrain not the bike. I only weigh about 160. My bike never gives me any of the headshake I have heard about. Never did even when it was stock. In a related story: I spoke with Jim Younghusband tonight who has been fighting a bad wobble on his for a long time. (He is not a lightweight either). He had the bike put on a chassis machine and straightened. Says it has completely eliminated the problem. Says his back wheel was pointing 6 MM to the left prior to the correction. Fellow who did it claims he has done several Maxes and found them all to be out of wack. Anybody else ever experimented with this? Roy ------------------------ UFO Performance Cycle, John Cornell (216) 631-3883. $79 + shipping. Donna ------------------------ Subject: Re: Vmax steering head adjustment Headshake on Max has been around as long as he has been rolling off of the assemble line. Some do it. Some dont. Seems to depend on a lot of factors. What the Furbur fix does is solidify the adjustment on the steering head bearings. If you adjust them wrong and then you lock it down that way all you have done in solidify the adjustment wrong. With the rubber washer between the two nuts and the top triple tree locked solid against the top nut the lower adjusting nut has pressure against it from the rubber washer. As the bearings wear the lower nut can give against this pressure slightly in either direction thereby keeping a reasonable amount of pressure against the bearings. When you take the rubber washer out of the equation there is no more forgiveness in the adjustment. Therefore you have to get it right and you also must check it more often in order to compensate for wear on the bearings. Roy ---------------------- Tom, Front Fender & Fork Brace: 6.5 ft lbs (9 Nm) according to service manual. I called Links today, they shipped my Superbrace yesterday. Ray Thornton VMOA #132 Thomas R. Utesch wrote: > Finally got my Superbrace and will install it this weekend. The instructions > said to torque the bolts according to the shop manual. Can anyone tell me > the appropriate foot pounds (or newton meters) for a '93 VMax? Thanks. > > Tom ---------------- > prices: > Race tech gold valve emulators...139.95 You can get them for $129,95..(hey! 10 bucks you can spend on gas) ----------------- Subject: Vmax Progressive Fork Spring Installation in the V-Max Hi Dave R., I got a copy of your letter about our fork springs from Dale Walker ( Holeshot Performance) and thought I would give some input. We may be slightly long on our spacer length (9.37") because with the fork fully extended it should be about .25" above the edge of the tube. Try shortening your spacer to get .25" above your tube if you have not already done it. The " Calculating pre-load" section of our instructions tells you more about pre-load. If you set your oil level at 5.0" you have your oil too high. Our instructions tell you to set your oil level/volume according to your shop manual unless your manual specifies a level higher than 5.5". Remember a higher level is a lower number because it is closer to the top so 5.0" would always be too high. I think the stock oil amount for the V-Max is quite a bit below the 5.5" max. level. Too much oil will cause your forks to be stiff and is hard on your fork seals also. I would be interested to know what spacer length you end up with for your weight and riding style. You can email or call me at 760-948-4012. Regards, Mike Henderson --------------- Subject: Forks\anodizing\Works Message-ID: <36EA948F.3D738219@sayegh.org> I have been fine tuning my front suspension. Those with emulators (or not)and not minding a little time should try adjusting the volume of fork oil in the forks as well as viscosity. I had .85kg Race Tech springs with 15 wt. oil. After I did the frame mods the bike just seemed to ride too firm. I reduced the oil viscosity to 10 wt. Big improvement. I still wasn't happy with the fact that when on the lower end of the travel it seemed too firm. I dropped the oil volume by about 2"....PERFECT!! On a hot and heavy ride I use about 4 3\4 inches of travel. It is smooth as silk driving down the road. You feel almost nothing in the bars. I compared the stiffness with Jim Riorden's bike who has progressive springs and emulators and it is definitely softer When your forks compress and there is very little volume of air in them, the pressure really builds when they compress. Add air volume (not pressure) and the firmness on compression drops. Those that feel that their springs are too stiff, try dropping the oil level. As long as your emulators are covered with oil you are safe, but you would have to drop oil level a long way to go that far. If you are adding oil to firm it up, make sure that at full collapse you still have a little air left or you will "hydraulic" the front end I was also concerned about the oil looking so black after such a short amount of time. Race Tech tells me that you can send the lower forks in and have the insides hard anodized to reduce the aluminum wear. It is about $100-$125 to have it done and a few week turn around. Be aware that the outside gets anodized too. I also sent my Works shocks in 6 weeks ago to get the rebound dampning reduced and have not received them back yet despite 3 phone calls.....I'm getting pissed. If you are in a hurry right now, confirm with Works the delivery date before ordering anything. -- ................................................................ Paul Sayegh V-Max Technical List Administrator VMOA Northwest Director V-Max web page http://www.sayegh.org/tips.htm ------------------------- Hot setup: Date: Wed, 21 Jul 1999 21:53:56 -0400 From: "Andre Avigdor" Subject: Re: Vmax Front Forks My friend Pierre did it for me , he's a pro a doing the conversion . I have recommended many people to him and everyone is satisified . He can provide all the required parts so it's a 'turn key' sollution . It would be wise to install the matching 17" rear wheel at the same time .You can see some closeup snapshots on my webpage . Front end 1) Buy a complete sportbike front end (forks,fender,17" wheel,brakes) 2) Machine a set of tripple trees 3) Install forks with new tripple trees 4) Reinstall all the original mountings Total price $1500 US (including all parts and machining) Rear end 1) Sportbike 17" rim 2) Modify VMax rear end to accept 17" 190 tire Total price $700 US (including all parts and machining) Both front & rear for $2100 US (save $100)