Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1999 16:05:06 -0500
From: "dave brilliandt" <dbrilliandt@prodigy.net>
Subject: Re: Vmax Andre's thoughts ...and DaveZilla's response

Andre, for what it's worth

It's true...I can take my R6 to levels undreamed. You want to pitch it, it
goes. You want to wind it...it'll go to 15,500RPM (though I've not done
it...still breaking it in). You look through the turn to where you want to
go, and you are there. Dare I say it...it is almost appliance like in its
excellence. I am a better rider on this bike, without question, I am faster
with much less effort. I've ridden an R1. Yes it is faster point A-B, but
give me a jet kit, exhaust, steering damper, let me fiddle with the fork
settings and that is about all you'd ever need to have simply all the bike
you'd ever need...to slice and dice, and in the real world, I may be faster
on the R6 than the R1. LIGHT, fast, nimble...AND...to most eyes blends in
with almost every other sportbike on the planet, although I personally think
it is a beautiful sportbike. I'm not a mechanic either, and the R6 off the
showroom floor is the picture of ease. Not temperamental, always there. No
worries. I've refrained from talking about the R6 as afterall this is a
V-Max list, and we are V-Max faithful.

MaxZilla sits in the garage, awaiting my arrival home. The R6 was ridden to
work. With a little troubleshooting and everyone's helpful input to sort out
the charging problem, Zilla will be turned loose. Short trips for now. When
I ride it, it is all muscle and gristle and sinewy gobs of torque that snaps
my head back. The pleasant vibration through the solid motor mounts, the
absolute power on demand, ANYWHERE< ANYTIME<ANY GEAR!, The front end, so
much heavier feeling than the R6, requires a little thought in setting up
the turns for now, but tracks true and will be easy to get used to. I FEEL
the sound of it. The exhaust notes are simply orgasmic. At speed the air
hits my chest, not as much as on the stock Max, the clip-ons and tiny
instrument cowl, dedicated in their effort for my body to cheat the wind a
bit, but still the air and I collide, unlike the stiletto R6 that pierces
the atmosphere in its high winding crescendo. In contrast MaxZilla explodes,
tears away at the atoms and molecules that dare stand in the way. It is a
neutron collider. It is an animal that allows one to share his spirit. His
huge headlight is a spotlight, illuminating chunks of earth, trees, highways
that stand before it, as opposed to the technically efficient lasers that
adorn the R6. The Keihin's slide, rattle, the 1500cc snorts. I ride a
rampaging rhinoceros, while the R6 is relaxed, then frenzied at high rpm,
like a sprinting cheetah.

MaxZilla, your Bike Andre, and their stock cousins are guttural. They make
us feel a part of the world we ride, rather than a passenger in a the
speeding Bullet Train R6. I love my R6. I love the Zilla. But if push came
to shove, it'd be the wonderfully perfect R6 finding a new home, not the
pacing animal waiting home in the garage.

It is not about numbers. Numbers are always bested. It is about character.
It is about what stirs the soul. It is about what makes our heart glad that
it beats so hard. It is about being wonderful, unique, daring enough to
stand up on its own strengths, and not a damn bit afraid to show a tear in
its armor. The V-Max is the V-Max. The legions have been true for almost 15
years. For a reason.


Dave Brilliandt,
VMOA #208