Saying goodbye to a Yamaha legend
Yamaha’s VMAX – the descendent of the original V-Max – has been killed off. In August the last one will roll off the production lines and there’s no sign of a replacement waiting in the wings.
With the current 1700cc V4 bike’s demise, we will be witnessing the end of a model that can trace its heritage back almost 33 years to the debut of the original 1200cc version in Las Vegas in October 1984.
The V-Max, and the VMAX that followed, are enigmas. They offered big numbers in terms of power, but achieved only small ones when it came to sales. It didn’t inspire a host of rivals or become famous through racing exploits, and yet the model achieved a mystique and a hard-core following that means its name is up there with Ninja, Katana or Goldwing as a motorcycling touchstone.
Kids in the 1980s who couldn’t tell a C90 from a VF1000 would recognise the V-Max’s name and its distinctive shape, and know that it was the Top Trump of bikes when it came to sheer power and straight-line acceleration.
For a bike that made such a splash when it was launched, the V-Max’s ongoing development was neglected. While American sales were initially strong, they settled down after a couple of years and Yamaha opted to let it bumble along as it was rather than change it to regain interest.
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