Yamaha V Max - Pub Talk

Upstairs at J&J Streetfighters, among the normal parts and the paraphernalia of running a custom bike business, there's a bar of sorts where the customers can partake of coffee and polite conversation during the workday. On an evening, however, it's not unknown for a couple bottles of sippin' whiskey to appear along with a pickled herring or two (must be a Dutch thing-Ed). And that's when the serious talk about streetfightin' motorcycles begins and where the plans for this V-Max were born.

After stripping the tired looking 1986 V-Max down completely, Jos and Evert Smit were left with two piles of parts, one labeled crap and one labeled keep. On the keep pile was the big old V-Max engine and the sad, rusting frame, while on the crap pile was everything else.

As the big Max motor was running perfectly, it was left alone and merely cleaned externally and converted to chain drive before getting a serious once-over with a Scotchbrite pad and painted with a big-rattle can of barbecue black for a nonstick, long-lasting finish.

The next step was major frame surgery to get rid of the under-seat gas tank and make a swoopy new conventional fuel receptacle and a seat unit to match-a lot easier said than done admittedly.

A twin tube swingarm was fabbed to fit in the Max frame at one end and to host a Honda VFR800 hub assembly at the other, complete with a new Braking disc and a Buell shock in its natural habitat under the engine.

A set of J&J's in-house big black billet yokes were mated to a pair of Yamaha R1 fork legs suitably lengthened, revalved and fitted with stronger springs; and a chance purchase of what is probably the last of Braking's 17-inch, 3-spoke, cast aluminum wheels with twin peripheral brake discs to be had (as the Italian company has stopped making them) gave the all-black front end the desired Buell-esque appearance. Trouble was that the brake calipers didn't come with the wheel. But the stopping scenario was solved by fitting a four-piston JB caliper at either side with the help of a couple of alloy conversion brackets.

Flat bars on short risers finished the front end along with what have to be the horniest looking brake and clutch master cylinders in the world made by ISR-I'd run over puppies and kittens to get a set just like them.

With the bike now rolling, the need for noise was catered to with a set of ultrashort 4-2 pipes that make it sound like half of a NASCAR engine. Other necessities, such as headlights and oil coolers, came from proprietary sources and juxtaposed nicely with other Jos-made parts like the footpeg assemblies and frame bracing bars.

At present the aforementioned B.S. bar at the top of the stairs has been abuzz with references to the mad Max that's freshly finished downstairs. Whether there's any fighting for the last piece of fish is another matter

Buyer's Box
1986 Yamaha V-Max
Front end: R1 forks, J&J triple trees, ABN bars, Braking wheel and rotors, Goodridge brake lines

Rear end: Custom swingarm with VFR wheel and hub, Buell shock

Motor: Chain drive conversion, Honda VTR coolant radiator mounted in seat unit, custom exhaust

Paint: Motopaints Assen

Polish/chrome: n/a

Bodywork: Custom tank and seat unit

Owner: Evert Smit, Holland

Builder: www.jj-streetfighters.nl