With the help of our local dyno shop Sport Tech Cycles we have compiled a detailed dyno work-up for the 2009 VMax. While we took great care to make it the most objective analysis possible, it is not scientific by any means. It's intention is to give our readers a solid understanding of the performance of the All New Next Generation Yamaha/Star VMax.

In addition to various tests, we compiled the entire archive of Sport Tech Cycles and picked several bikes of other brands for comparison. This is mearly an attempt to show the difference in performance on a single dyno, as results amongst various dynos will always vary. All charts are provided in DIN as well as SAE corrections, with a default smoothing factor of 3 (medium). For comparison we also included one uncorrected chart, but that is only possible for runs on the same day during the same conditions.

A little more background about the dyno data: Unfortunately we currently do not have access to O2 sensor data. Without such any AF ratio analysis is not possible. We are in the process of installing a Dynojet Wideband Commander on our test bike, which will give us access to good AF ratio data from on-street riding.

In addition most modern bikes require a special wire setup to record rpm data and as such torque figures. We have collected that data for our final 2009 VMax runs, but have access to very few comparison bikes as most bikes have been recorded without such for horsepower only figures. It has no impact on the results but is a missing, interesting detail.

With that lets check out the results. The very first chart is a horsepower/speed chart for the 2009 VMax. The first, blue line is the best stock run (out of 6) in 4th gear. The bike produces a maximum of 177.83(DIN)/172.28(SAE) rear wheel horsepower. Further down into the article we will compare these numbers to a few other interesting bikes. In addition we also performed 2 more tests to gauge the potential for modifications. The second, red line represents another 4th gear run, this time with the OEM air filter removed. Not that you would ever do this in real live, but a good measurement how much restriction the stock filter represents and as such how much power a good race filter could theoretically add. During that run the bike produced a maximum of 181.44(DIN)/175.61(SAE) rear wheel horsepower. Approximately 4 hps more over stock. This is without a re-mapped fuel injection. The lack of O2 data does not help either to understand the impact from that change. Next we removed the stock mufflers (left and right) to see how much restriction is being added by them. To our big surprise, the external mufflers did very little to the noise level or the power figures. They are primarily cosmetic straight through mufflers. Without them and the stock filter the bike produced 181.91(DIN)/176.14(SAE) rear wheel horspower. Only 0.5 hps more.

Our conclusion: Replacing the stock air filter should net in some increases, especially in the medium to high rpm range. Slipons will be only a cosmetic change to the bike. Don't expect any sound or power gains from any slipon. Only a full system that replaces the underbelly collector should net power and sound gains.

Next we are comparing the stock 2009 VMax numbers against two other completely stock bikes that have been tested on this very same dyno: a 2006 ZX14 and a 2007 R1.

While both of these bikes represent a very different kind of motorcycle, their power numbers give us a good basis for an initial/non-scientific comparison.

In addition the the 4th gear run for the 2009 VMax we also performed a 5th gear run with the speed governor disabled, to get a better overlap for the charts. As you can see the power delivery in 4th and 5th is virtually identical, just stretched dues to the different gear ratio. In camparison to the 177.83(DIN) rear wheel horsepower of the 2009 VMax, the 2007 R1 made 154.61(DIN) and the 2006 ZX14 ended up pushing 165.14(DIN) rwhps. The second chart shows the same runs in SAE correction. For comparison purposes it does not really matter as we are primarily focused on the the delta, the difference between the different bikes on the very same dyno.

The 2009 VMax pushes over 20 rwhps more than the 2007 R1 and more than 10 rwhps than the 2006 ZX14.

For the 2007 R1 we also have rpm data so a torque comparison with the 2009 Vmax is possible, as well as a normalized chart by rpm vs the previous speed based charts.