Original Power Cruiser

The iconic Yamaha v-max was first released to the US market in 1985 as an exercise in excessive power, aggressive looks and neck-jarring performance. With Yamaha’s innovative V-Boost technology, the v-max singlehandedly created the Power Cruiser category. Powered by an 1197cc, liquid-cooled, DOHC, 70-degree V-Four engine producing 145bhp, the v-max had the most powerful acceleration ever seen before on a road legal production machine.

Interestingly, the v-max project happened by complete accident, after Yamaha project leader Akira Akari stumbled across a motorbike drag race over the span of a bridge, when visiting the New Orleans. So inspired by the spectacle, he then shut himself away in Yamaha’s Santa Monica design offices for a month to begin creating the legendary beast we know today. Cornering has always been a bit of an Achilles heel for the v-max, but nobody seemed to care — the road always opens up eventually…