Softail V-Max – Chopped Big Yam Bruiser

Speaking as a former V-Max owner* myself, I must admit I do have a soft spot for Yamaha’s legendary muscle cruiser so, when I was told by Daniel at Kustom Choppers Ltd that he was just finishing off a chopped one, I and therefore, by extension, the magazine was interested.

*kind of – it was a company work bike

You see, while the venerable VMX1200 was available from 1984 right through to 2007, there’ve been very, few customs, real customs, built from them – a mere handful in fact. Yes, I know that there’ve been a lot (a lot!) built in a streetfighter-stylee, especially if Steve Taylor’s been anywhere near ‘em, and a fair number of (mainly conversion) trikes too, but when it comes to the kind of bikes that gets featured in this ‘ere publication there really aren’t that many at all.

Back during Covid Simon decided he wanted a V-Max chop and he set about stripping the 1999 vintage vee-four bruiser he had. He’d already spoken, at some point, to String at Raw Steel Choppers about making him a softail frame to give him the look of a hardtail, but with the comfort of rear suspension, and, on the arranged date, took a drive from his native Nottingham to Middle-of-Nowhere, Essex (which’s just north of Great Dunmow, as it happens), taking with him the engine and forks, and a pair of FJR1300 wheels – a common modification to V-Maxes as the rear fits, pretty much, onto the stock drive-shaft, and gives access to more modern tyre choices (stock for a ‘Max is 15-inch, with a 150-section tyre, while an FJR uses 17-inchers and allows the fitment of a 180 on the rear). String extended the forks by using slightly longer tubes, and, as usual, hand-crafted a perfect rolling chassis to Simon’s specification.    

Taking the roller away not too long after, Si went back up to the home of Robin Hood, DH Lawrence, and Batman’s home, Wayne Manor*, and set about building the bike back up in the look he wanted. He did a fair bit, but then had to put the project on hold when he was made redundant/ Once back in employment, and with a bit of money behind him, though he had to admit that he didn’t have the tools or the knowhow to finish it to the standard he wanted it finished, and it was at this point he spoke to Daniel at Kustom Choppers Ltd down (from him anyway) in Norfolk. They had a series of very long conversations and, liking what he was hearing, he loaded the ‘Max into his van and set off to the land of the six-fingered.

The bike was, as I said, a roller, but that didn’t mean it didn’t need a lot still doing. There were still a lot of bracketry, for example, that needed making and so Daniel and his oppos set about designing them in CAD, 3D-printing them so that they could offer them up to make sure they were perfect, and then sending the designs off to trusted engineers to be laser-cut or CNC-machined. These included (deep breath) the rear torque arm, the foot-peg and foot- control hangers, the mount for the wiring tidying motogadget mo.unit, the mount for the speedo, the mount for the ignition, the mount for the servo for the V-Boost on the carbs, the rack for the rear mudguard, and more, and they also hand-made the extra under-seat fuel tank that’s linked to the modified King Sporty on the backbone (both with external sight gauges – V-Maxes’re thirsty buggers and no fun whatsoever to push… ex-‘Max owner, remember), the belly-pan (containing the master-cylinder for the rear brake and a few other unsightly components, the shapely rear mudguard, the seat (covered by their trimer of choice, Freya at The Trim Shed), and reshaped a CBR600 front mudguard to suit too. The brake discs are aftermarket wavy ones (Galfers?), and the front calipers’re stock V-Max, while the rear’s from a Triumph Tiger on a(nother) one-off mount.

Those striking exhausts were done up in Nottingham before the bike began its journey downwards and leftwards (again, from Si’s) by Wayne at JAC Exhausts, who specialise in stainless exhausts and manifolds, and have been left raw, rather than polished until they shine like a cokehead’s bestest mirror, as that was the look wanted. Similarly, the oversize radiator, made by Darren at Custom Made Rads, was just painted silver, and the bodywork paint, all done in house at Kustom Choppers, was painted an equally understated silver with a simple black stripe (well, three of them actually).

The finished bike sits, and looks, really well and, thanks to its twin exhausts, still has that iconic off-beat rumble that vee-fours’re known for. It’s not overly loud, just loud enough – something which, I suspect, Simon was quite grateful for on his first ride on it all the way from near Attleborough to Nottingham as, on the day he was due to collect it, his van disgraced itself by failing and he had to get a lift down in a mate’s Landy which, kind o’ obviously, wasn’t big enough to get the yam in the back of. The ride home, he says, turned into a bit of an epic as one of the coils melted not long after the off and he had to limp it home on three but, despite this, he’s very pleased with it, and reports that it rides well, stops well, and is more comfortable than even he hoped it’d be. By the tim you read this, Daniel’ll’ve been up and sorted out the problem, whatever it is/was, but, given that it was a 120 mile first ride, on a newly-finished, one-off, motorcycle, and the other thing that gave any issue was a standard Yamaha part, I think that’s a fair indication of Kustom Choppers (and String’s too) work, don’t you?  

Nik

*no, honestly, Wollaton Hall in the city was chosen by Christopher Nolan to be Wayne Manor in the Batman film ‘The Dark Knight Rises’… and anyway, Gotham’s just 7.6 miles outside Nottingham, isn’t it?

Spec: 1999 Yamaha V-Max 1200 engine (aftermarket pod filters, one-off exhausts, one-off braided oil/radiator hoses, one-off radiator)/front brake calipers/forks (modified), one-off softail frame, one-off forwards, Yamaha FJR1300 wheels (front/rear)/discs, one-off billet yokes, braided brake lines, aftermarket ‘bars/master-cylinders/controls, motogadget switchgear/mo.unit, Acewell 2956 speedo, Vans waffle grips, Honda CBR600 front mudguard (modified), aftermarket Sportster tank (modified), one-off underseat fuel tank, one-off belly-pan, one-off seat, aftermarket rear mudguard (modified), one-off rack, one-off battery box, one-off electrics box, one-off side-mount, Triumph Tiger rear caliper, 180/17 rear tyre, one-off loom, aftermarket headlight/rear light/indicators    

Finish: Silver/black stripes/matt lacquer by Kustom Choppers Limited, powder-coating by Champion Equipment (www.championequipment.co.uk), bright zinc plating by Advatech (www.advatechplating.co.uk)

Engineering: Frame/rear suspension/battery box by Raw Steel Choppers, one-off exhausts by Wayne at JAC Exhausts 01159 635 556 www.jacexhausts.co.uk), radiator by Darren at Custom Made Rads (01773 713031), bike built by Kustom Choppers Ltd (01953 529150 or www.kustomchoppers.co.uk)

Thanks To: “Simon for trusting us to take his project; Freya at The Trim Shed; Champion Equipment; & the guys at the workshop for the hours to get this bike done to deadline…”