Yea Matt I am sure there is some form of regulation or an unspoken bond amongst the major brands
cause you and I know the 1700 CC Engine in the Max is no where near the limit just Cams and a good Port and polish and you would be well on the way to some evil mark on the Horsepower meter
Now if someone would just start grinding Cams! Look at the New RR BMW a 1000cc putting out 190 ponies and we have 700 more CC'S now granted it's a horsepower bike not a torque bike like ours
and pulls lots of RPM'S we are limited to installing $300 trinkets to pick up 1 hp .

Power & Torque are good things, no doubt about it! But...too much is no good either. Capt Bob you reminded me about a post I did recently on my buddy's BMW 1000RR, we raced & I absolutely stomped the guts out his Beemer up to 140mph. Why? He couldn't keep the front end down. So Mattness, IMHO I'm glad Yamaha didn't produce the Max with 250hp...it would have ended up being an awesome looking tire shredder (I know...smoking tire tires is definitely cool). I mean, even as the bike is right now, it's on the ragged edge of keeping traction. If you were able to pound out 250hp & make it stick somehow, then you'd up like the Beemer...an endless wheelie machine. Personally, I think Yamaha did an absolutely fine job with the hp balancing act!

I agree Jetman that's why we spend so much time on this forum trying to make what Yamaha gave us FASTER , Even with the 240 rear I can still burn 3 rd gear but I would really love to see what just a set of cams would do for the max , Someday someone will be grinding some I am sure until then
we will be limited to bolt on accessories for HORSEPOWER I am out of mods at this point.

Jetman wrote:
taller rear end would sure help with big hp i would think. i am sure someone will be making a chain drive conversion at some point. what the heck it's only money! with cams,high comp pistons, headwork, and tuning,250 reliable hp should not be a problem for the big V4 but putting it to the ground with stock gearing would be a challange to say the least.

Capt Bob, I don't think you're out of bolt on mods yet! Nitrous can be adapted to any vehicle...I'm not sure if anyone has fitted a Gen II with one. A 50-75Hp shot would bring a serious grin factor!!