Yamaha V-Max Turbo

Note: We have not done any of these for over 25 years....Not anymore.

 

 Not many motorcycles out of Japan end up with a reputation deserved or not, but the V-Max is one of them. It's bark is worse than it's bite however, and is short on horsepower despite claims to the otherwise. Unless your name is Jay Gleason (Who? you ask!...) you won't see 10 second quarter miles no matter what you do. A bunch of torque, a driveshaft and not a lot of hp do not big numbers make.

Our solution was a 250hp @ 15 psi turbo which gave you a 9 second machine that gets 40 mpg, not a small matter considering the small fuel tank the bike has. The twin intercoolers kept the inlet charge cool and we about killed ourselves getting the system to work with blow-through carburetion. RSR Closed-Loop Fuel Injection would have been the trick but we did not start working on that until 1989 and finalized in 1992. At 15 psi the V-Max would leave block-long streaks of rubber and leave spectators swearing you put a big block Chevy in your Max!

Ancient history...the kid went all the way from pre-school to honors graduate from Caltech in Physics...and then on to a PhD. Time flies.

Click on pictures to enlarge

_____

We don't know why we even tried to build these because there are so few of you who bought them...It's probably because we liked the V-Max at the time but certainly not because we liked talking endlessly on the phone about it. The record for phone calls and visits belongs to Kurt M. who bugged and visited us for two to three years and never bought anything. Kurt, don't call...and we aren't going to call you. For the rest of you don't bother to call us because we are "done" with V-Maxes. Look at the pictures and practice phone harassment on some other well meaning establishment that would dearly like to hear about your plans to chain drive your Max and dominate the world. Get real! the V-Max is a great bike, a helluva cruiser, loads of fun ...but it wasn't meant to set drag strip, Bonneville, or road race records.


Click on photos to enlarge

_ _

 ______

The original V-Max turbos were blow through carburetion, a concept we pioneered in 1985 and then phased out, except for the V-Max in 1989. Specifications: 300+ hp capable, 255 hp @ 15psi; twin intercoolers; positive oil scavenge system; twin-interconnected inlet plenum; inlet breather/turbo blow-off valve; full chrome tail pipe with aluminum cannister; ceramic coated turbo; ceramic coated 4 into 1 turbo exhaust header; Boost Master wastegate w/pneumatic handlebar-mounted Dial-A-Boost; lighted glycerin-filled boost gauge; Fuel pump, fuel regulator; fuel hose line and fittings. Stainless steel oil feed and drain lines.

Oil pan modified by RB Racing:

Pricing: Complete Kit : $7500.00 No longer available. The last one we sold...err, sort of sold...The customer showed up one Saturday in the mid 1980's to pick up his bike from our shop accompanied by two cops...He was afraid we were "going to hurt him". He had not paid his bill but wanted his bike . The cops asked us if we wanted to file a false police report as the customer actually owed us money...The cops witnessed that the customer owed us money and we let him take his bike. We got one check later on for $25.00. 30 years later he calls us up...like we don't remember. Get a motherfucking life.

Note

The turbo kit pictured on these pages was our V-Max blow through carbureted kit. As we have patiently explained to people on the phone we no longer will do these blow-through kits. Exactly three semi-serious people have contacted us in the last 20 years. We always patiently explain we would have to redo things for the efi and that we aren't going to go out and buy a V-Max to do it as shop development costs average $1,500.00 per day. In as much as we concentrate on things that are more realistic we ask the callers to prepare a budget and email this to us with their stated goals...We in turn will tell you if and when we can fit this into our schedule. To date, more than 20 years later no one has come up with any proposal whatsoever, preferring to ask endless questions about what we don't do, or wanting to know how we are going to help the diy crowd. You need a lot of patience when dealing with people's hobbies, especially when the sales are non-existant.

RSR Boost Compression Ratio Calculator

Click on the title above to go to our RSR Boost Compression Ratio Calculator. This allows you to run scenarios of how boost affects your effective compression ratio as modified by altitude considerations. It will give you a good idea as to why turbos go so fast and also how to plan your motor for your particular circumstances. Knowledge is power.