History
John Reed, an English designer who lived in California was contracted by Yamaha to design the ultimate custom bike. He designed a muscle cruiser based on the Venture engine.
Upon its release in 1985, the V-Max garnered instant critical acclaim and earned the title "Bike of the Year" from Cycle Guide. Sold both in Japan and abroad, the V-Max has been on the market with only minor modifications since the 1985 model year. The V-Max was noted for its quick acceleration, but was also criticized for its poor cornering ability and soft suspension.
Until 2008, the original V-Max was offered for sale through the Star Motorcycles division of Yamaha Motorcycles. Apart from a minor freshening to the bike's specifications in 1993, when the bike gained a larger-diameter fork to minimize high-speed wobbling and drift, four-piston brake calipers, and other handling and safety related upgrades, the 2008 V-Max was almost the same as the original 1985 version.
Read more about this topic: Yamaha V-Max And VMAX
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“A poet’s object is not to tell what actually happened but what could or would happen either probably or inevitably.... For this reason poetry is something more scientific and serious than history, because poetry tends to give general truths while history gives particular facts.”
—Aristotle (384–323 B.C.)
“The history of the world is the record of the weakness, frailty and death of public opinion.”
—Samuel Butler (1835–1902)
“The history of every country begins in the heart of a man or a woman.”
—Willa Cather (1876–1947)