===Jeff,
You will need to 'play' with the headset. The bearing races need the correct tension
on them, just like a
bicycle. This is an art and not a science, so on a cycle like the Max it is a pain in
the ass. There is too
much junk to strip off to constantly be adjusting headset tension. The best you can do
is check the bearings
for perfection and then attempt to tighten up the headset so it is 'firm.' Study past
posts, etc. Most of the
Max headsets in reality are not correct, nor do that stay 'tuned' very long. Of course
this topic is hashed
around constantly and has been from about 1995 when the net really tuned up.
====With that said, the suspension on the Max is terrible. Soft and sloppy on a top
heavy, big powerful bike.
Just terrible. Thus suspension mods are the best bang for the buck starting with new
fork springs, then fork
brace and frame braces. High dollar Works shocks are nice, but last to do. New wheels
also. On and on it
goes. Nothing will solve the wobble for most of us but headset tuning will help. By
the time you get all these
mods you have nearly the price of an FZ1 or R6. Point being one has to decide where to
go, when to stop. For
me, it has been suspension mods, a header system and run it as an old muscle bike,
which it is. I preferred to
put my money into modern bikes and stop the mods.
=====I do try to keep the headset tuned, and if you are going to run to 110-140+ you
will have to find out what
works. That is not always easy. My Max stock would run 130-150, always, without
wobble. I did the headset fix
and coached it down to where between 95-110 it went into literally a death wobble. I
then started adding
things, working on it, and now have it back up to 115-125 before hints of wobble. I
just gave up and do not run
it full out as have other bikes. If not, I probably would have traded, as I got tired
of fighting one of
Yamaha's better ideas that they should have 'fixed' up long ago, IMO.
=====In summary, work on the headset 'health' if you want to improve wobble condition.
The other mods will help
all round handling, and the wobble a bit. Regards, Z