A Drifter hate letter to the editor of V-Twin. This oughtta make your blood boil

[Box Call]

My next door neighbor here on the mountain has a 2005 (I think) Indian. Great looking bike. When he saw my new Vulcan 900 LT Classic he said that it was a good bike that would last a long time and "damn that is a good looking bike." I wouldn't dream of making a Vulcan look like an Indian. I think these Vulcans are going to be classics in time.

[GeeMac]

Originally Posted by Cabo

This one of the reasons I will not debadge my bike. When people ask what it is I tell them very proudly,,, It's a Kawasaki Nomad. Don't get much response other than that's a nice bike...

I had no misgivings about debadging my VN 900. However, I did not slap on HD, Indian, or any other manufacturer emblems on it, either. It is a debadged Kawasaki, not a wannabee.

[RichLockyer]

Originally Posted by bloodbarber

anybody explain to this hater that we ride american motorcycles?
maybe even more so then harley

We don't.
Vulcans are NOT, and never have, been made in the US.

Honda made the ACE and the Goldwing here, but the ACE has been gone for a few years, and Goldwing production is being pulled back to Japan.

Originally Posted by Photo1

Btw, let's face it, the japanese make a better product and for less money.

Less money, yes. Better product?
My club is now up to about 75% Harley. Problems with a bike on rides used to run about 50/50 Metric/Harley... but recently the metrics have been having more issues. On our last trip, we had to pull the tank on a VTX in the middle of the Nevada desert because his water pump started dumping coolant and adding water to the overflow wasn't keeping up. The bike SHOULD have been towed, but he managed to get it home.
Last problem that we had with a Harley was a shifter pedal that worked loose and stripped it's splines. Pulled the toe shifter, moved the heel shifter to the front, and he was back on the road. Strip a shifter on a metric and you're screwed... the 900 is 1-piece, and the 1600 and V2K heel shifters won't fit properly flipped to the front.

We've only had ONE case in 2 years where a Harley had to be towed... and the rider was still able to make it nearly 100 miles from when the electrical system died until he was forced to shut it down (had to make a fuel stop, not enough "juice" to even sound the horn, so we knew restarting was NOT an option, and the engine overheated while refueling and stalled).

The fit and finish on Harleys is far above any Metric. More color options, more styling options, hardbags, trunks, fairings, intercoms... dealerships actually have parts in stock (I buy my exhaust gaskets from the Harley dealer... they have them in stock, it's a 4-day wait for the Kawi gaskets), and their techs are not expected to be proficient at working on well over 100 different bikes.
Metric?
Kawi has 5 or 6 cruisers, 5 or 6 sportbikes, 5 or 6 dirtbikes. ATVs, watercraft, snowmobiles.... Now how many lines does the dealer carry? Kawi/Honda/Suzuki/Yamaha/Polaris....
And a minimum-wage tech is supposed to know how to work on ALL of them?
The dealers stock very few parts for the same reason... when nearly all of your bikes share common parts, you can stock a lot of parts. For metrics, it would take a huge warehouse to stock even common maintenance parts for every bike you sell.

I love my Vulcan... there's nothing wrong with the design, and nothing wrong with the way it was built or has performed... but it's no Road King.

My wife's bike will PROBABLY be a Vulcan 900. If not, it will be a Harley Street Bob or Fat Bob. They really aren't THAT much more expensive... my 1600 Classic was $10,500 OTD. I've put over $5k into it.
A Street Bob or Fat Bob can be had OTD for about $15k.

[Photo1]

I love my Vulcan... there's nothing wrong with the design, and nothing wrong with the way it was built or has performed... but it's no Road King.

You are right.
Thank God it's not a Road King.

[Twopoint]

Originally Posted by RichLockyer

We don't.
Vulcans are NOT, and never have, been made in the US.

Can I get a verification on this?
it was my understanding that the vulcan was designed by an american,
based on what an indian would look like today if they followed the trends.

and that they were made in the US

[RichLockyer]

Originally Posted by Twopoint

Can I get a verification on this?
it was my understanding that the vulcan was designed by an american,
based on what an indian would look like today if they followed the trends.

and that they were made in the US

May have been designed by an American, but considering that Honda and Suzuki also offered their own versions of the "Drifter" for a couple of years (the Vulcan 800 ran longest) I find it unlikely, unless they all hired the same consulting firm for the design.

Point of manufacture... look at the VIN.
First digit is the country of manufacture.
JA through JT is Japan, 1A through 10, 4A - 40, and 5A - 50 is US.

eBay Motors: Kawasaki : Vulcan (item 110277961300 end time Aug-17-08 19:00:00 PDT)
1999 Drifter 1500: JKBVNAJ10XA004838

So at least the 1999 1500's were made in Japan. I've got a friend with an 800... I'll see if I can get the first couple of digits of his VIN.

[Fr8Dog]

Originally Posted by uechi kid

I’m not so sure that is accurate. I was just at the Indian Motorcycle website. They have current models available.

I was just at Sturgis this past week and the "new" Indian was there with serial #001 of I believe an Indian Chief model. What a beautiful bike! Every Indian bike there was a work of art and would probably consider getting one someday if the company can stay in business this time and the reviews of the bikes and their quality is positive.

[El Skitzo]

Originally Posted by Fr8Dog

Every Indian bike there was a work of art and would probably consider getting one someday if the company can stay in business this time and the reviews of the bikes and their quality is positive.

Yeah I think they are a magnificent looking bike, but waaaay out of my price league. That being said, the company has deliberately started out with it's top of the line flagship model, and rumour has it the next model they want to release is an Indian Scout with a price point to take on the Harley Sportster. So I'm very keen to see if that eventuates!

[Mercury]

maybe i can find that guy - i live in jersey, and ill let him look at my drifter and see if he even knows it is a drifter

kenny

[Grumbler]

Originally Posted by RichLockyer

May have been designed by an American, but considering that Honda and Suzuki also offered their own versions of the "Drifter" for a couple of years (the Vulcan 800 ran longest) I find it unlikely, unless they all hired the same consulting firm for the design.

Suzuki? All together now ... *brain fart*!

Am sure you meant to type Kawasaki, not Suzuki.

[RichLockyer]

Originally Posted by Grumbler

Suzuki? All together now ... *brain fart*!

Am sure you meant to type Kawasaki, not Suzuki.

I'm about 75% sure that Zuki offered a bike with the Indian style fenders around 2000-2003 or so.
Yes, it probably was a Kawi with a Suzuki badge on it... but my point was that Kawi was not the only Japanese manufacturer to produce Indian copies/tributes.





But they made the best ones

[airforce1]

Originally Posted by RichLockyer

I'm about 75% sure that Zuki offered a bike with the Indian style fenders around 2000-2003 or so.
Yes, it probably was a Kawi with a Suzuki badge on it... but my point was that Kawi was not the only Japanese manufacturer to produce Indian copies/tributes.





But they made the best ones

Well, here we go in Kalleefornia!
Events

[airforce1]

Originally Posted by RichLockyer

I'm about 75% sure that Zuki offered a bike with the Indian style fenders around 2000-2003 or so.
Yes, it probably was a Kawi with a Suzuki badge on it... but my point was that Kawi was not the only Japanese manufacturer to produce Indian copies/tributes.





But they made the best ones

Ya know Rich,
I never owned a bike I didn't like, at least for long.
The ole' BMW'r 600 twin opposed was too heavy for me when I was 20 and it quit on a hot day. I couldn't kick it, so had to walk and go back later.
Just keep on ridin' !

It is sad that motorcycle "techs" (when did that term kick in?) don't get paid better, my local dealer's flat rate is $85/hr, you would think perhaps he could share 1/3 of that with the "tech" without hurting, yes?
the curse of capitalism is that it really abuses folks who just need to work!
Did you ever read "Atlas Shrugged"?
It was pretty interesting to me.
Have a good "un", keep on truckin'
t.

[RichLockyer]

Originally Posted by airforce1

It is sad that motorcycle "techs" (when did that term kick in?)

Because for the most part, they are no longer "mechanics".
That implies the ability to troubleshoot and improvise... not simply follow a script and when they can't figure it out, tell the customer it's normal.

And it's spread to many other industries... Ladies that go around watering plants at businesses are now called Botanical Technicians, ladies working at nail salons are techs, etc....

[airforce1]

Hi Rich,
I did not remove the Kawi badge on my "yellow dawg"!
Nicknamed it "tweety" after the slashers sound.
Put my USMC sticker on the tank (I was AF, my good bud was in the 'Corps)
Haven't heard any whining about the decoration!
Saw a beatifully turned out HD in the mall parking lot today.
Was driving the cage and had my wife along - going in to lunch.
Told her I had seen a nice Sportster at the Kawi shop.
She didn't fly off the ground!
Told her that there might be room in the garage for the HD and the Kawi if I got rid of a bunch of my old computer equipment.
Mixed reaction on that one!
I could just go buy it but it's more tactful to work up to it.

Fortunately my van has a towing package and there is a U-haul not far from my house...

[Keithva99]

More to follow.

[trikebubble]

Huh?
A little thread resurection going on here it seems?

[SilverEagle]

Originally Posted by Keithva99

More to follow.

Yeah, Carlo......and a resurrection with leaving us in limbo? What is up with that? Oh...nevermind I own a Drifter.....I should behave like I'm holier than thee.

[trikebubble]

Originally Posted by SilverEagle

Yeah, Carlo......and a resurrection with leaving us in limbo? What is up with that? Oh...nevermind I own a Drifter.....I should behave like I'm holier than thee.

I thought you behaved like that because you are Scandinavian............so what if you produce great F1 drivers, and some decent hockey players............