2009 Star VMax Review

Introduction

2009 Star VMax

Star Motorcycles couldn’t have found a better way to redefine the performance cruiser concept than with the 2009 VMax. They have taken an industry icon and multiply it by ten. The results would normally be overwhelming for anything else out there, but not for the VMax: 200 hp and 167 Nm! It’s all coming from the revolutionary 1,679cc, 65-degree, liquid-cooled, fuel-injected four-valves-per-cylinder, DOHC, V4 engine that now implements supersport bike features such as the Yamaha Chip Controlled Intake and Yamaha Chip Controlled Throttle. Throttle response is instantaneous and no matter at what speed you’re riding, in what gear you’re in, this thing will go like no other ever before it.

Star sticks to the five-speed tranny in order to exploit all of the power and torque coming from the massive engine both on straight portions of road (or should I say on the drag track) and curved ones. The slipper clutch is also a supersport model feature and further deepens our opinion that Star actually saw this as a competition bike during development and built it as such.


It is amazing that the chassis is even capable of dealing with those kinds of performance figures, but it does. The engine and cast aluminum frame were designed as a single unit with the engine mounted as a stressed member of the diamond frame. Also, the engine is positioned as close to that front wheel as possible for good mass centralization resulting in sharp handling and great high speed stability.

The fully adjustable suspension and Brembo brakes with a 320mm wave-style dual front disc and a 298mm rear one are also a good reminder of YZF top-notch performance, but they claim this is actually a cruising motorcycle. But have things always been this way?

History

1985 Yamaha VMAX

Yes. In the 1980s, Yamaha was set to create the ultimate muscle cruiser and their vision came to live together with the launch of the first V-Max in 1984 as a 1985 model year. The bike quickly gained notoriety as being incredibly fast accelerating and, from what we’ve come to realize, it was just the beginning. The engine was a 1,197cc, liquid-cooled, DOHC, V4 delivering a mind blowing 133 hp at 8,000 rpm and 90 ft•lbf at 7,500 rpm while the gearbox was a five-speed unit. With bold looks to match the incredible performance, the V-Max had started his era.

Apart form a fork upgrade in 1993, the Yamaha V-Max carried on without important changes and, to be quite honest, it didn’t even needed any. Top notch built from the very first year of fabrication and managing to maintain that rhythm up until 2007 had to say something. But it did more than that…it turned it into a legend.

The 2009 Star V-Max stands as proof of the fact that history is being rewritten. Hope there won’t be any repercussions for the motorcycle industry.

Exterior

2009 Star VMax

The modern day VMax loses nothing from his ancestor’s charm and exerts that very same magical attraction as that did in the early days. It does it by retaining the general muscle bike design as well as the characteristic styling cues of the original model. The gas tank’s dimensions are enhanced by the presence of the iconic aluminum intake covers which are actually handmade, just to give an example.

The 2009 is a massive and radical approach towards a category which misses competitors, but that’s another story. Measuring 94.3 inches in length has got to say something good about road characteristics. Impressively, only the wheelbase measures 66.9 inches and if we’re still at it, what an aggressive pair of 18-inch wheels!

But most importantly about the VMax is what sits between the wheels, a black covered threatening V4 engine that doesn’t mind giving a clue about the rush that it is capable of providing. The four-into-one-into-two-into-four exhaust system with Exhaust Ultimate Power valve looks more like a pair of rocket launchers, perfectly suitable for the Vmax.

The naked bike-like headlight is very aerodynamic and behind it, riders will be introduced not only to an instrument panel, but also with a luminescence multi-function display that looks pretty fancy.

Wide and nicely curved, that rear fender looks like contrasting with the sharp design of the seat, but maybe that’s just me.

Color available for the 2009 Star VMax is Intense Black. 

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