pinks

[Shawn27530]

V65

When I first started my quest for a litre bike, I wanted a V65 Magna but after reading alot on the V65 upper end oil supply not being so great I figured I would stick with a yammie.
There is a mod you can do to the V65 to supply ample oil up there though. Honda kinda pushed the issue under the rug. But in all the V65 is one bad machine you have to give it that. And was/is a bike to respect.



That is till Yamaha answered with the Mighty VMAX!
Suzuki also made the v-4 Madura, I was looking at a couple of those also.

[CruisingRam]

The power cruisers of the 80s are sort of a passion of mine- if I ever become rich enough to be a "collector" I want one from each of the big four-

V65 Magna ( I already have a Sabre)
Madura (considered the weakest of the group, and now the rarest)

Yamaha V-max (best factory supported bike as well- why I think Yamaha is the best Asian bike corp right now- much more influenced by thier actual customer- enough to keep this model going for 20 years and even going so far as to put this engine in thier luxo barge Venture)

Kawi Eliminator (the only non-V-4 of the group)

Lot's of controversy which was faster in bone stock form- because Pee Wee Gleason set the world record on the V65 Magna- and it is well known that the 85 Sabre is the fastest of the V65 line. In fact- when you mod a Magna to go faster- you use alot of the Sabre stuff from 85.

Having ridden and love both- I think it is a wash- the few HP the V-max has over the V65 (highest HP stock year to highest HP stock year) is wasted on the extra wieght of the V-max- like 30 some pounds heavier than the magna- and almost 80 more than the sabre!

I love the extra kick from the V-boost as well- so I am torn- I would love to have all of them! LOL

One biggie + for the Max though- TONS of after markest support!

[bandet01]

so the v65 sabre from 85 and a 85 yamaha v max are the highest powered bikes of the power standards

[CruisingRam]

Ya- it is a great matchup- I was on my 85 Sabre and my buddy on his 85 V max for about 3 years- we are co-workers, I actually found the deal for him LOL- and we used to race them all the time. I always one- on either bike LOL- and he wieghed nearly 50 pounds less than me- but I was a much, much better rider.

You can see the problem with comparing the two bikes really well right there!

[bandet01]

so which bike would you go with the v65 or the vmax i mean i like both and if the compete the same which would be the better one to go too

[CruisingRam]

Oh god- that is like "sophies choice" to me LOL

Now- that being said- I have sentimental attachements to my Sabre- so I won't let it go I think.

Overall- probably the 65 because of the sport touring nature of the bike- whereas the Vmax is a pretty one dimensional bike.

Both the sabre and magna are more comfortable for long rides than the max- and that is a pretty universal comment- and both handle better than the max- the sabre much more so.

So, if I was not rich enough to collect them all, probably the 65 because I like it more for "daily driving" so to speak!

BTW- for those same above reasons is why I would ALSO choose the XS 1100 over the max- you can do more on the XS more comfortably anyway.

But the XS is still a 70s bike in design really- and tech in bikes in general, and all brands made such HUGE jumps in the 80s forward as well.

[bandet01]

ok well i have always like the v65 sabre and the xs1100 but the xs1100 was my first bike i found i could afford and it was my first bike and i really aint much of a fun of the crouch rockets but i am thinking if i can find a v65 sabre for a good price what is the best year sabre to find to buy but i am still keeping my xs1100

[CruisingRam]

sabres are WAY cheaper than magnas- despite being rarer- you can find killer examples for 2K-3K, and really good ones for around 1200 in perfect mechanical condition- check e-bay and the V4 forums and you will see they are really quite inexpensive- not much, if any, more than your XS.

By the way- my brother owned a magna and the XS I own right now- at the same time- the XS being full dress with all the bags and fairings- he liked it more for taking the woman on- but said if he had hard bags and fairings for the magna- he wouldn't have bought the XS- so if you are in to hard bags and fairings- then the sabre full dresser is what you are looking for- and they are usually under 2500 as well.

I hate the looks of the hondaliine fairing- which I sold for big bucks- and have a rooster vetter fairing instead- with no lowers or anything, and am custom adapting a set of Givi hard bags to the Sabre (one of the two sabres I own anyway).

Here is a pic of my "daily driver"



and how the Xs is doing right now?



ready to be stripped down, find out why it is not running, and made into a trike!

[bandet01]

yeah the sabre is the one that i like and thats why i dont like the magna as much since i aint a big cruiser fan so thats why i like the v65 sabre so much and the vmax but my next bike will be the v65 sabre then the vmax

[xs650mike]

Big Sabre, Little Sabre

I always liked the Sabre myself, especially the 750cc V45. I have had chances to ride both the V65 and V45 versions and the V45 is plenty fast and handles much much better that the V65. Admittedly the V65 is really fast though but on the roads I've got around here I wouldn't be able to use that speed anyway so handling would win out for me. I liked very much the sport touring version with the small fairing and hard bags, it really looks good. They did a CBX 6 like that too and it didn't have that ungainly look of the nekkid version.

Interestingly the V65 that I rode belonged to a friend and I used to clean his clock regularly on mountain roads on my old XJ750 Seca. Then we would switch bikes and he'd leave me behind. What good is sheer speed if you can't use it. I suppose I'd feel differently if I lived in the Mojave or the middle of Nevada somewhere.

[bandet01]

well i was going to use it for around town riding and interstate riding and 1/4 mile racing i aint a fun of the twistys but every once in a while it might be fun i mean i thought about a 550 to 750 bike for ride the twistys but i like the big cc bikes for the racing

[xs650mike]

Yeah, definitely the big one if you wanna race it. Maybe an old GPZ550 for a play bike, used to have one myself. Another bike that's really easy to ride fast in the twisties is the old Honda 500 Interceptor. Nice to have an old bike for that stuff so you don't feel too bad in the wallet if you toss it down the road sometime.

[bandet01]

yeah thats what i am looking at something inbetween 550 and 750 for the fun play bike and the v65 or xs1100 and the vmax for my drag and ride around town bikes

[CruisingRam]

I have been to some classes and down some track racing, pure amatuer stuff, done lot's of sanctioned and unsanctioned drag racing- and even some super speedway runs- and the Sabre V65 is a great all around bike- unless your last name is Rossi or something- the Sabre will be as much as you can stand around the corners (twistys) - this summer I absolutley smoked a squid on a Gixxer 750 (which will absolutely kill my bike normally) in the "twisties" but I was on the centerstand brackets and foot pegs- don't try this at home! got some pretty good grind marks on it- with the 140 avons on the rear and 120 up front- she stuck REAL good- and only felt like "low siding" when I started riding on the frame instead of the rubber!

Ya, if you got the skill- and some pretty good balance- the big sabre will fill your needs I think LOL

[bandet01]

ok thats what i wanted to hear about the v65 sabre because that will bne my next bike thank you for all the info on the v65 sabre