Kawasaki Vulcans

[Lord Derosso]

Well I have had a few rides on the 800 now and everytime cant get over the fact that it reminds me of why I never got a car licence in the first place after all these years of riding. In other words, I feel like I have refound my riding roots. It is such a pleasure just to cruise along without worrying about speed or getting anywhere in any hurry and without groin or back injury pain.
Its being many years between cruisers for me.

I am already planning to pay the 800 off, keep her as the everyday bike and look at one of the others, perhaps the 1400, to adapt for the longer trips. I was surprised how easy the Vulcan is to ride, sure not a cornerer like the Katana but then I am not in any great rush so the handling isnt so important. Just getting use to that wonderful low low sense of gravity and 'weight'. Its taken a while to remember where the footpegs are when taking off from the lights but I think I have sorted that now.

I would be interested in how other Vulcan owners feel about their bikes and if theres a good local website on them or that sells additonals etc. Is there any Wellington clubs?Anyone interested in starting one perhaps? Ta.

[GrayWolf]

Well I dont own a Vulcan now, but I had a VN1500C for a fair while.
Great engines, low revving and torquey as heck. The 4 speed box was great. It really didnt need 5th gear adding, as done for the later models. It was very cumfy for distances for the rider, however the pillion HD style 'squab' was a little bit of an issue for 'her'. Good fuel consumption for a coupler of big jugs. They can use a little oil, seems it was expected and some VN's had a noticable oil usage. Think some of the early Drifter/Nomads had a plastic oil pump cog that wasnt the greatest thing to rely on.
My major beef with the Vulcun was the crap suspension, it handled as bad as a pre Evo Hardly Rideitson. Mind you I did own a Guzzi California directly beforehand, so maybe I am really, really biased?
If you dont want sprot bike handling, and a really lazy motor? The VN is a good look...... So are the early 1400cc Intruder/Invader? Suzuki's. I knew one lady with over 130,000 on a 700cc model.

[banditrider]

Congrats on finding "your" bike. My old man had a 1500 and it was a hoot to ride. He ended up putting slightly longer shocks on the rear which helped the handling department a bit (don't ask me for any info on them - no idea). Damn heavy to lift up on blocks to pull the rear wheel & drive shaft though...

[Rockbuddy]

I concur :woohoo: go thevulcans

[The Lone Rider]

Vulcan parts @ www.cruisercustomizing.com

[<G>]

I have got a baby Vulcan i.e. the EN500 - he's a cutie pie!

[Jerry74]

They are nice looking bikes and have an added bonus of being assembled in USA.

[fLaThEaD FreD]

I learned to ride on my 800 and found it so easy. Well balanced and a bit lazy. Just what I needed. ..........did I hear someone say"should've got a 250 first!".......Well I didnt,simple as that. :Punk:

[Lord Derosso]

Congrats on finding "your" bike. My old man had a 1500 and it was a hoot to ride. He ended up putting slightly longer shocks on the rear which helped the handling department a bit (don't ask me for any info on them - no idea). Damn heavy to lift up on blocks to pull the rear wheel & drive shaft though...

Love that photo ...it looks like the rimatakas but..?

Yes, I think taking a 1500 Vulcan for a spin would be the next step one day though I am amazed how much grunt the 'little' 800 has. Though it is chain drive of course which counts a bit. And I havent even really got around to checking out its mono shock yet. Why bother when everything feels OK ?

But I hadn't really wanted to muck around a lot after fuc*king around with the Katana last time and losing a bloody tank mounting rubber down inside the engine with the full fairing on, resulting in driveway shakes to dislocate it from under the full fairing.....bloody sports bike !!!!

[Lord Derosso]

I learned to ride on my 800 and found it so easy. Well balanced and a bit lazy. Just what I needed. ..........did I hear someone say"should've got a 250 first!".......Well I didnt,simple as that. :Punk:

I would not class the VN800 as a begginers bike at all BUT definitely as the sort of bike for the sort of person that drives everywhere but wants a bike in the back of the workshop to ride from time to time or maybe as their second bike. Recommended for ladies with a bit of experience for sure as they are nice to ride and low. I have had a few fours more recently before going to this my second V twin. The last was a brand new Yamaha VS500 many years ago.

To be VERY very frank, I find the VN800 to be what they call 'unforgiving' in that you dont have the amount of steerway and moveabitity as most bikes. For example. its a bit of a 'pig' around city traffic unless you get the balance just right and because of the one front disc brake, can be a handful to control at low speeds and I am a big man. I am used to just touching the brake lever with one finger as with twin front discs and the VN has serious engine braking so you cant rely on that in slow traffic speeds. I rarely get out of 2nd gear below 60 kms ph though the owners guide says 5th gear after 60 km per ph! Yeh right.

I have found to just stop the bike short of traffic in front and F anyone behind me . I simply make up the gap when I get to take off. Funny also how noone wants to try and dent you when they think you are on actually on a HD costing five times the cost of the VN....The Katana was much better in slow traffic but had excellent front brakes and was so much lighter and could be balanced to a stop stand feet up unlike the VN. But once on the open road..well nothing esle needs saying. GO V twins for sure . F speed. V gives you wings.

[zuk]

I must agree with all,just got back from a very quick trip down south,those roads were made for this bike.If you wont a crack on a bigger vulcan pm me, the 2 litre is a dream to ride,and sure no probs 2 up. cheers

[Lord Derosso]

I must agree with all,just got back from a very quick trip down south,those roads were made for this bike.If you wont a crack on a bigger vulcan pm me, the 2 litre is a dream to ride,and sure no probs 2 up. cheers


Thanks for the offer but I get nervous riding other peoples bikes and I have a feeling the 800 might do me for a while so long as I keep her well serviced and look after her. I might keep the thought in mind a couple years down the track to take one for a blast but I am not doing much travelling at present so cant justify putting myself in debt for a larger Vulcan just to have it sitting around. I might start using mine the odd day instead of the bus, once the get the new bike parks in around Wellington - I cant see anything going on in that regard and the current ones are packed with scooters. Not that they dont have the right to be there of course, just sometimes people dont use their brains and ride them in on bloody windy days and I see them on the ground and wonder what damage they have done to their neighbours bikes. Cheers.

[MotoGirl]

I would be interested in how other Vulcan owners feel about their bikes and if theres a good local website on them or that sells additonals etc. Is there any Wellington clubs?Anyone interested in starting one perhaps? Ta.

You could try VROC (http://vroc.org/), too. It's full of Americans but I hear it's a useful resource for everything Vulcan. My father owned a '97 VN1500D and was a member for a few years.

Although the Vulcan didn't go round corners that well (compared to our other bike, a 600 Bandit), I always enjoyed riding it and never found it too much of a handful.

[Lord Derosso]

That had an interesting website attached:

http://www.ipass.net/wb4iuy/index1.html

QUOTE: from the above site by 'Tweek'


The Vulcan was actually designed by John Hoover when he worked for Kawasaki, in a computer simulation that morphed a 1941 Indian Motorcycle image to see what it _might have_ looked like today, if Indian had stayed in business throughout the evolution of Cruisers as we know them.

If you are looking for ideas on customising your VN check out this site.

I did wonder where they got the 'classic' from though I have to admit I did think it was designed to be a poor mans HD. Still, many many bike makers have used the V twin motor and I am certainly not complaining about my bike not being a HD.

[banditrider]

I am certainly not complaining about my bike not being a HD.

Who would?

[Lord Derosso]

Who would?

I was trying not to offend some people.

I need some advice on the front crashbars that came with the bike. Please review my profile picture. I suspect they wont be much help in a laydown but would be excellent for highway bar mounts. I do feel that the extra few inches these footbars allow would help with long trips. Where can I score some e cheapos to clamp onto the crash bars without all the big $$ for adjustment blots, clamps, chrome this and that please? Gee, extras, some of these things are grossly overpriced. I mean $100 for a tank protector stick on! Sure art is art but stupid is stupid too.


I am also tempted to get the seat remade or even look at a riders backrest. Didnt know they existed until web surfing last night. I got a King and Queen seat put on a older bike once and it made a huge difference and wasnt that expensive. I have seen proper full size crash bars but they dont look great. Even found 'Easy Rider' Sissy back bars for the Vulcan on one site but I dont think thats really me.

Had the day off today and yesterday only because I f'ed one of my toes so the day off plan to go fishing around the coast was cancelled on a bloody nice day due to a swollen 'member'.

Are any of you Wellington and other local guys and girls interested in organising a fishing trip to Castlepoint at some stage and booking motels overnight?

[heyjoe]

Well I have had a few rides on the 800 now and everytime cant get over the fact that it reminds me of why I never got a car licence in the first place after all these years of riding. In other words, I feel like I have refound my riding roots. It is such a pleasure just to cruise along without worrying about speed or getting anywhere in any hurry and without groin or back injury pain.
Its being many years between cruisers for me.

I am already planning to pay the 800 off, keep her as the everyday bike and look at one of the others, perhaps the 1400, to adapt for the longer trips. I was surprised how easy the Vulcan is to ride, sure not a cornerer like the Katana but then I am not in any great rush so the handling isnt so important. Just getting use to that wonderful low low sense of gravity and 'weight'. Its taken a while to remember where the footpegs are when taking off from the lights but I think I have sorted that now.

I would be interested in how other Vulcan owners feel about their bikes and if theres a good local website on them or that sells additonals etc. Is there any Wellington clubs?Anyone interested in starting one perhaps? Ta.

Hi there,
I am the happy owner of a VN1500 Vulcan Mean Streak. It is a great bike and comfortable to ride. Made for relaxing cruising. I am not aware of specific Kawasaki cruiser clubs in NZ. There are a number of forums in USA that cater for the Vulcan enthusiast regardless of the model. Two that you I have found to be very friendly and full of Vulcan owners that I chat with are from time to time are as follows:

http://www.kawasakimotorcycle.org/forum/

http://www.riderforums.com/index.php

Enjoy

[Lord Derosso]

Nice bike Joe. I do miss having three disc brakes as just the one front disc brake makes it a bit more effort than just the little pinky on the front lever to stop and get hurdled 50 metres like the old Katana. That bike had very good brakes. The advantage of a back drum I was always told, was that it helps avoid lock up in the wet and or discs not working immediately in the wet. But I have got so used to drying discs by perdiodially using them that they always seemed to work OK for me. Do check out those websites quoted earlier as theres some really little touches like a horn cover which covers up the basic Kawie stock standard and can be brought for $9US. They go to such a lot of design trouble just to have basic ugly rusty horns..

[Rudra]

I've been the happy owner of my VN800 for a year now. I've made a few modifications along the way. Vance & Hines Cruzers, Kuryakyn Hi-Five air intake system & rejetted carb, Mustand seat & replaced the tail light & indicators with LEDs. All in all, I'm really enjoying the cruiser style of riding.

[Lord Derosso]

I've been the happy owner of my VN800 for a year now. I've made a few modifications along the way. Vance & Hines Cruzers, Kuryakyn Hi-Five air intake system & rejetted carb, Mustand seat & replaced the tail light & indicators with LEDs. All in all, I'm really enjoying the cruiser style of riding.

I agree totally with the cruiser remark. Its being years since I could just relax and ride without haste and my nuts being flatten, like with sports bikes - someone posted a report yesterday about flatten nuts etc reducing child bearing %... surprise surprise.

My bike was owned from new by a serious biker based on what I have being told and I think hes done a lot to the bike from basic. A lot of this is clear but I have had many bikes and I suspect hes also rejeted it with the power pipes and done some other things as I only got 170kms before my first ever reserve but mainly due to city use. But its got great pull and take off for just "56' Horse power. As these VN's are USA built I have checked out a lot of USA sites and you should expect 250 kms B4 reserve?

How do yu do. I keep to 95-110 on the highway and soooooooo looking foreward to geting her out on the long trip for several weeks after May. Ta Ross

[hunter]

i have a 1600 meanstreak ltd edition,its an awesome bike,have owned sports bikes,this is my first cruiser,i enjoy a ride now instead of trying to there at light speed,and who wants to be clocked at 230 km's????,nearly did once,but thats another story,i would be very interested in starting a metric cruiser club,hondas,yammys,suzukis etc for day rides and rallys if anyones interested,cheers

[AllanB]

I popped into my local Kawa dealer this evening - they have a spanking new deep red VN900 in there. - Yummy ;)