Star Motorcycles unveils 2009 VMax power cruiser

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By Susan Carpenter, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

The 2009 Star Motorcycles’ VMax was unveiled in a cloud of smoking rubber Tuesday night, which was appropriate considering the many burnouts this 197.4-horsepower machine will inspire when it hits the market in October. Powered with four cylinders configured into a 65-degree V, the new VMax is also likely to flatten a few eyeballs -- not just from its 123 pound-feet of torque, but its brooding and masculine profile. The new VMax is black, but if it were green, it would be the Incredible Hulk of motorcycles. A 1,679 cc beast of a machine, it gulps air through the huge scoops protruding from its sides, then forces it down the engine’s 16-valve throat and out the catalyzed, 4-1-2-4 titanium exhaust jutting from its haunches.

The VMax first came on the market in 1985. It’s received only minor updates and color changes in the years since. But for 2009, Star has gone all out, outfitting the bike with fuel injection, anti-lock brakes and many of the same MotoGP-derived technologies it uses on its supersport models, i.e. a slipper clutch and computer-controlled throttle and intake systems to deliver power more responsively. The chassis has also been updated with an all-aluminum frame that uses the engine as a stressed member and jacked-up components that can handle some major thrashing, i.e. 52 mm titanium-coated fork tubes and 6-piston-caliper, 320 mm wave rotor brakes on the front.

The concept for the next-generation VMax has been kicking around since 2005, well before the U.S. economy began to sour and gas prices started going through the roof. The current economic climate may be the reason Star is making a maximum of 2,500 VMax bikes for the U.S. market this year. The company appears to be testing the waters to see if obscene power in a brooding and somehwat expensive package has traction. Dealers are currently taking $1,000 down payments for the $17,990 bikes, which will be built to order.

2009 Star Motorcycles VMax

Base price: $17,990

Powertrain: Liquid-cooled, fuel-injected, DOHC, four-stroke, 65-degree V4, 4 valves per cylinder, 5-speed

Displacement: 1,679 cc

Maximum horsepower: 197.4

Maximum torque: 123 pound-feet

Seat height: 30.5 inches

Wet weight: 683 pounds