Newbie with '85 VMAX- What the heck is the Carburetor Switch

VMAXMARK · Post by **VMAXMARK** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 1:14 pm

Hello everyone- I just purchased an '85 VMAX that is in great shape with only 670 miles.
The guy I bought it from inherited it from a relative and said it ran last year for a little while but then started to run bad. He checked compression and it had 145 psi on the clutch side and only 30 on the mag side. He thought he ran it lean due to old gas and dirty carbs and didnt feel like fixing it.

I pulled the jugs and it looks like I can get by with new pistons and rings and a light honing of the cylinders to remove piston residue on the cylinder. No holes in the pistons and no grooves in the cylinders.

Anyways to my question- I removed the carbs to clean them and found two electrical harneses on the carbs that were not connected to anything. I found out these are "carburetor switches" but what do they do and where do they plug in?

thanks for the help

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Post by **Vmax540** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 1:28 pm

Mark, great score wow...... the 85 is one of the rarest (see the sticky at top of forum) and in my opinion the sharpest looking 540 ! T.O.R.S. = Carb switches that shut down engine in case of carburator slide or throttle cable sticking. Welcome to V.V. and please P.M. me your vin # when you get a chance !

VMAXMARK · Post by **VMAXMARK** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 2:03 pm

Thanks for the info.

So will the sled run without the TORS switches connected and if not where do they plug in?

Vmxhunter · Post by **Vmxhunter** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 3:44 am

If I'm not mistaken...those wires plug into a harnes up in the handlebars. You need to remove the gauge pod cover on the handlebars. And look for the wires coming from the throttle. My 86 vmax has the wires bypassed and disconected. And the sled runs just fine. I havn't dug into it much to see how they did it. But the old owner of this sled did it. Or had it done by someone else.

Post by **tyler440** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 8:25 am

what vmax540 (chuck) didnt mention is that you bought those at the right time... a few more hours and we could very well have been heading to MI

nice to see someone new to the site got the vmax outta the deal....

when i saw the auction i thought it was an 83, guess im getting rusty on my decal identification... whats that SS440 like?.... very nice vmax there, your gonna have fun this winter!

lets see some more pictures....

Post by **tyler440** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 8:26 am

OH! welcome to the site BTW, glad you found us!

VMAXMARK · Post by **VMAXMARK** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 11:11 am

The VMAX might be up for sale again if I cant get it running- the pistons and rings are on backorder so I have to wait and see.

Both sleds I bought on ebay are very nice except they were stored outside for the last year uncovered. They did clean up very nicley though.

I've always loved the VMAX and still think it's one of the best lookng sleds of all time.

Here are some more pics:

sxr1000 · Post by **sxr1000** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 8:41 pm

Mark,I have a couple of very nice used OEM pistons with rings and bearing if that will work for you.