The 1980s was a decade of high fashion and this was certainly true of the motorcycling world where a handful of stunning new designs proved to have enduring significance. The first of these was Suzuki’s radical Katana for season 1981, another was the Kawasaki GPZ900R Ninja three years later, but arguably the most lastingly memorable of the breakthrough models of the power-dressing eighties was Yamaha’s astonishing V-Max (1985).
The V-Max was really a new kind of motorcycle melding sports bike performance and cruiser design.
It just may be the most memorable motorcycle ever made. ‘V-max’ is a term well known to athletes. This is the maximum speed of the flow of blood in the aorta of the heart. Has any bike ever carried a more fitting name?
