THE ORIGINAL Vmax was motorcycling's equivalent of a V8 muscle car and couldn't have been launched in a better location; Las Vegas, 1984. Yamaha originally intended the the Vmax for the US market only, but after dramatic demand, Yamaha brought the bike over to Europe.
Now, 22 years on, Yamaha have completely rediesnged the Vmax, but kept the original concept and idea at the centre of the new bike's philosophy.
Yamaha's online survey asked bikers just how much horsepower they wanted. Clearly most ticked the top option of 200kW, so even though final capacity has not been revealed, it is likely to be larger than 1200cc. Some speculation in the US reckons the V4 will be over 1400cc, even 1800cc has been rumoured. This is a bike that is purely about engine performance.
If speculation is on the money, the Vmax will be more powerful than any other muscle cruiser currently on the market, possibly even more powerful than Yamaha's flagship sportsbike, the R1.
Yamaha firmly quote that the Vmax is still a concept, but it looks like it has gone past the concept-only stage. Here in the UK, Yamaha UK would not commit to whether or not the Vmax would be produced, but seemed to know where it would fit in the line-up. We expect to see this bike launched in 2007, the question is, would you buy one?
