BE WARNED....! !
John van Nieuwenhuizen had a frightening experience when he returned home from the WHALES RALLY in PLETT.............
Read his story.....
and check your Max.......

----- Original Message -----

From: John van Nieuwenhuizen

To: Hans Sent: Tuesday, June 17, 2008 12:25 PM

Subject: Rally mishap

Hi Hans,

How are you? 

You will see from the picture that I did not have a good run back from the Whales Rally in Pletternbergbay on Sunday. A bracket on my frame that the sissy bar is attached to that I used to attach my top box carrier snapped under the seat collapsing the whole rear end of my bike. The mudguard and number plate gouged into my brand new tyre with less than 400k's on it. I had it fitted last Monday. Nice hey!!

Any way I will have to stay at home a bit before I can fit another. I will have to modify the frame a bit and strengthen it. I will take pictures of the bracket so that you can warn other members about the dangers of using these brackets to mount carriers. It actually a very weak point once you see what has happened.
 

This happened while travelling a detour because of road works on an old stretch of road. Kevin found that his was also a bit loose after checking his as he used the same bracket that I did. He was just lucky he had not been to as many rallies with his that I have been.

All I can say is that is a small price to pay as it could have been worse. We limped home with bags and top box strapped to me like an overloaded taxi. Kristine, my wife met us along the road and took the bags etc home. I had to use all tie downs I could to lift the rear end off the tyre.

Here is the culprit. These are the brackets that Yamaha put on the frame as an after thought. Upon inspection you will find that these brackets are attached to the tubular frame with a mere tack weld or two. The sissy bar is attached to these. I recommend that all owners who have relative older VMAXes check the condition of the weld.
Cheers
John