Yamaha TMax 500 Scooter '09

[PanJammi]

Tmax 500

Man you sportbike enthusiast may have to look at what us Scooter dudes have known for sometime. My TMax is an awesome sportbike/scooter! Now before you say that is an oxymoron let me tell you my experience in contrast to the Majesty 400. I work at Motorcycle-Superstore dot com in Medford, OR - USA. Sometimes with the Majesty in the summer I would try to enter into traffic and it would sometimes lug and spit trying to get off the line while entering into traffic. A few times I thought I was toast with oncoming traffic which I barely escaped the friendly grills of trucks. I got news for you!!! The Yamaha TMax 500 is all about responsiveness and I have to thank the fuel injection system for that because when I want to giddyup I have nothing to fear...especially the grill of Mac Trucks. Go up and Google the TMax for the 1st and 2nd time and consider owning one. This scooter is a keeper for sure. Why not buy a Real Man's Sportbike? It is priced like a sportbike you say? It always goes back to the practicality of owning a scooter. You can shove tons of things from the store under your seat unlike a sportbike unless you buy side cargo bags. But hey, when my hand was recovering from surgery, I was still able to drive because it is an automatic so there is no need to clutch. And lastly, babes love it because they actually can sit on something you can really call a seat! So girls, if you are looking for a practical guy with a soft ride and comfortable at that...then lose the zero and gain this hero. It looks like a sportbike; stylishly decorated and handsomely carved around tight corners with plenty of power to pull out of a knee sliding parking lot...lol. Enjoy! --Greg

[Motorcycle Forum]

[artistic_gore]

Huh? Welcome? Interesting first post to say the least...

[Easy Rider]

Man you sportbike enthusiast may have to look at what us Scooter dudes have known for sometime.

Hey, DUDE.....if you really want to help us "see the light" you could have posted some links.

Only thing worse than a spammer is a lame, inept spammer!

Lots of lazy SOBs on here, me included.

[Animal]

PanJammi,, I also own the Yamaha TMAX and I LOVE it!
shhhhhh! don't tell anybody, its the best kept secret out there!
Only owned it for 2 weeks but the one big surprize is the excellent sportsbike handling and balance, I can take hairpin curves faster and more confident than my Yamaha FZ6
I find myself when stopped at a red light balancing the TMAX without my feet on the ground.
I understand I won't win any races with it, but it will out accelerate any cruiser bike from a stop ( they may be faster in a longer distance), but any legal speed limits and more is no problem for the TMAX.
The people that make fun of and cut down the TMAX never rode one.
Its the future of motorcycles, its just we got there before anybody else, in less than 5 years you will see Harley Davidson scooters

[artistic_gore]

Why are scooter riders so defensive? I have nothing against scooters and in fact drove a honda elite 50 for two years but it feels like a lot of scooter folks have something to prove. If you like your scooter, great. If you don't, try something else. It just comes off as harpy to me, "Look at me, I ride a scooter and I'm damn proud! What!?! you want to say something? I thought not!" Maybe I'm reading too much into things.

[Harry'O]

I went from scooter to scooter to scooter. I then decided to go motorcycle. I wanted a sport tourer but my wife was after a cruiser. Compromise... Well, I sold the cruiser. It took away ALL the fun.
Now I have an '09 Tmax. This thing is great. I can break any speed limit in America, I can turn on a dime and I can put stuff under the seat. All at over 50 mpg. Glad to be back scooting again.

[Gman951]

Hello. I just got a Tmax 2weeks ago, and i already reached the 600 mile mark. I kno its time to change the oil according to the manual, but the change oil light has not come on. Do you kno if it just comes on once then dissapears, or does it stay on untill it is reseted? I would apreciate some info on this matter.

[Easy Rider]

I kno its time to change the oil according to the manual, but the change oil light has not come on.

The "change oil light" is programmed for your future "normal" change intervals.
It doesn't "know" about the first 600 mile change.
Follow the manual and don't worry about the light.

I suspect it stays on until reset. The book should tell you that too.

[Gman951]

The "change oil light" is programmed for your future "normal" change intervals.It doesn't "know" about the first 600 mile change.Follow the manual and don't worry about the light.I suspect it stays on until reset. The book should tell you that too.

Thanks Easy Rider. I will change the oil & filter then reset the oil change counter.

[Gman951]

Question for all you proud Tmax owners. I have now put 750 miles on my new Tmax. The owners manual says not to rev the engine beyond 6000 rpm's, and for the most part I have, but its dam hard to restrain myself! Now, is going a bit above 6000rpm's really harmfull? Or is it a precautionary mesure from yamaha? The amount of rpm's that I went over was 500, so i reved it to 6500rpm's for a verry short time, and it felt great, but I will restrain myself. I dont want to hert the engine. I just wana kno how dangereous it is to go above the said rpm at this millage.

[artistic_gore]

You should follow the manual during the break in period. I don't remember all of the issues associated with not but it has something to do with the rings not seating right and problems with the cylinder walls, it basically ends up causing blow by later in the bikes life. You can get lower compression, gas in the oil and other stuff. Then again, there are many different opinions on break in, some people think you should do it hard by high reving the engine really early on. My only opinion is that oil changes are highly important during this period. I changed my oil when I first got my new bike home at 50 miles. Then again at 500 miles and then 1500 then 3000 and did 1500 mile changes after that though that is usually overkill.

[Gman951]

Thanks man. I have kept my Max below the 6000rpm range, and i will follow your lead in changing the oil sooner than what the manual indicates. It mite be over kill, but im sure it will extend the longetivity of the engine, and the Tmax is worth the extra pampering. Qwick question, would replacing the air filter with a K&N unit worth it?

[Easy Rider]

. Qwick question, would replacing the air filter with a K&N unit worth it?

No, don't mess with it.

The effect it will have on engine performance is likely to NOT be good........without a bunch of other tinkering.
You probably don't want to start that snowball rolling.

[Camp21178]

Interesting posts about the scooters. I did test drive a Yamaha Majesty for my wife. It was a fun ride. She changed her mind. Oh well. I agree with Easy on the K&N, check out this link. ROGUE RC51 Airfilter questions page This will give you some info on aftermarket air filters.

[Gman951]

Thanks Easy, and Taster. I will follow your advice and not mess with the air filter. It does make scence that if I mess with the air filter im gona have to mess with the exhaust, and then with the fuel maping and so on, and like you stated, I do not whant to get that snowball roling. Thanks for the advice guys. By the way I cant believe the cornering capabitlity of the Tmax! It leans and takes sharp corners with eas & confidence something one would expect from a street bike, but not from a scooter! But then again the Tmax is much more than just a scooter, and havent yet pushed it to its limits! I kno it sounds like im braging, but I am so content with this scoot I just cant help it.