Vulcan 800 Bobber Project

[cike]

72 and sunny yesterday here in Texas. Took my bike for a 180 mile ride without having to wear a jacket and it was really nice.

Just wanted to make you guys up north jealous (although its probably the last time I'll get to do that this year).

Cike, that bike is lowered, if you look close at that pic you can see that the fork tubes extend past the top tree. I don't know if the springs were cut too but the forks are dang low. I like it.

Dang it Mike, that aint fair. Haha! It's 16 dgrees here right now with about 3" snow. Hope you had a great ride. I'm jealous. i'll be lucky if I get to go for another ride until about march. on the good side though, i would never tear down the bike if the weather was always nice.

[MikeGoodwin]

Cike, I got the tips you sent me today. I think they'll work just fine.

Hey mumbles, if you're still down to help I'll probably give you a call tomorrow so we can get them welded up.

[cike]

Glad to hear the tips made it. can't wait to see what you do with them. If you use them that bike is gonna sound alot different than it does now. I'm sure Mumbles will get you hooked up, and dont forget to post pics.
kinda jealous that you will get new pipes and get to try them out. I got new pipes and got to ride home (2 miles) now it's sitting till spring.
when you cut off the mufflers start the bike, while it's running hold the tips up to them and hear the difference in the way it sounds. (at least I thought it was pretty cool to do)

[mumbles]

Yeah Mike, gimme a call tomorrow anytime after 12:00 and we'll get the tips welded on.

Cike: It suppose to be cold (in the 60's degrees here in Houston) so we can use the exhaust pipes to keep our hands warm. bwahahahaha

[MikeGoodwin]

Cike, I'm pretty pumped on a new sound. With the stock pipes debaffled it kind of sounds like my bike is screaming trough a megaphone.
Sounds good mumbles, I'll give you a call as soon as we get home from church.

[MikeGoodwin]

Me and mumbles got the pipes welded up today. Turned out better than I expected. They are quite a bit louder and I like the sound a lot better than the debaffled stockers. We actually ended up using the mounting tabs that were on the pipes. We just had to make a short bracket for the rear pipe and mounted both of them to the stock mounting holes. I still need to get some tan wrap on them. Here's some pics:


Cut

Tacked

Welded

Bracket

Thanks again cike for the tips and thanks mumbles for the welding skills.

[goddarddr]

those look real good. That so cool that you forum guys actually got to meet up.

[cike]

Ok, changed my mind. I want my tips back..Just kidding. Man those turned out looking great. Being able to use the tabs was a nice plus. glad they worked out for you..that was really nice of Mumbles to weld those up for you. looks like he did a great job.

[mumbles]

Say Mike, it was a good learning experiance. No more sneaking in the house late with them pipes.

Goddarddr= How you feeling man? Hope you're doing better.

Cike= We even got a short ride in to hear them pipes. hahaha

[MikeGoodwin]

Got my pipes wrapped today.

Took it for a ride to smoke them out and got a lot of strange looks.

[goddarddr]

Lookin Good

[cike]

wow mike, it's looking like a whole new bike. Kinda like riding a new one with your new sound i bet..are you getting popping, or backfires on decel? You gonna leave them stright pipes or add the small baffles? Guess you don't need the horn no more, just a little twist of the throttle will do.
Hey Mumbles, glad you guys got to go for a ride. Take one for me when you get a chance. Were getting ready for another round of snow here, no riding for me. i always said I was gonna buy a cheap bike that I culd take out in the snow and rain. i bought this bike cheap, pulled off the front fender, then started tearing it down when the weather started getting cold. Guess I need to go buy another one to ride in the rain and snow.

[jennifersmith00]

awesome bike man !!!

[MikeGoodwin]

Thanks jennifer, welcome to the forum!

Cike, it does feel like I'm riding a new bike. It's loud enough to wake the dead. I'm going to try and leave it just straight pipes for now but I'll probably end up getting some short baffles for my neighbors' sake. I couldn't imagine riding in the snow. I had to make an 80 mile trip one night a week or two ago and it was 34 degrees and I thought I was going to die (not really, but it was dang uncomfortable).

[cike]

Thanks jennifer, welcome to the forum!

Cike, it does feel like I'm riding a new bike. It's loud enough to wake the dead. I'm going to try and leave it just straight pipes for now but I'll probably end up getting some short baffles for my neighbors' sake. I couldn't imagine riding in the snow. I had to make an 80 mile trip one night a week or two ago and it was 34 degrees and I thought I was going to die (not really, but it was dang uncomfortable).

A bike like these get really cold when the temp drops. I have my harley set up with a fairing and crash bars that I have covers for (only use them when its cold though) here in Ohio it seems like we have more riding time in colder weather then we do in hot weather. you miss out on alot of riding if you only have a bare bones bike. My Outcast will be alot of fun when summer comes back around though.
I usually don't ride if it is below 30. One time about 15 years ago I bought a bike in Dec. (suzuki 550 w/windshield, had to go ride it) It was 9 degress out with a windchill of around -9. I layered up really well and had a snowmobil helmet. I rode to the next town (about 8 miles) close behind a semi trailer (dangerous) and was very cold. I stopped at a WaffleHouse and had breakfast. everyone comes over and talks to you when your are out on a bike in that type of weather. On the way home I didn't have a trailer to get behind and thought i would freeze to death before I made it back..Haven't / nor will I ever try that again. But it is something I'll always remember.
TIP: It will wake you up real quick when hit a patch of ice on the road.

[Castironmeyer]

Nice Bikes, I've been lookin for a bike to "BOB" and I think I found it great thread! Is there a better year vulcan to look for?

[cike]

Nice Bikes, I've been lookin for a bike to "BOB" and I think I found it great thread! Is there a better year vulcan to look for?

Castironmeyer : welcome to the site. I was doing the same thing when I found these bikes. I was looking for a VTX, but loved the look of these when I saw them. They have plenty of power for an 800 too.
I've only had mine for a few months and am still learning about them, so someone correct me if im wrong. these bike were made from 1995 - 2006 (not sure on last year) but I don't think they make them anymore. As far as I know there is not much difference throughout the years other than the sproket changes. Earlier ones were faster from take off but had higher rpm's faster speeds..there are 3 models 800A- skinny front tire and wide glide style front end. 800B or classic. fatter front tire telescopic front end (probably a smoother ride also) and the drifter- made to look like an older Indian style.
Of course the 800A is the best onebe cause that is what I have.
Don't hold back, go out and buy one this week and start posting pics on here so we can watch the changes. Just kidding, there is a great group of people on here to help you out if you decide to get one. Glad to see someone a little closer to my home on
here.
Go to youtube or do a google search for vulcan 800 bobber you'll get plenty to look at.

[HookEmToro]

Bike is looking awesome. Really impressed with the pipes.

[MikeGoodwin]

Hey Castironmeyer, like cike said, the 800 is a great bike for a bobber. But I think we are a little biased. The mine is the classic or B model so it has the 16" front wheel (as opposed to the 21" on the custom A model) and chrome covers on the forks. Those are the only differences between the two besides fenders.

What I liked about the 800 was that it was chain driven and had a hidden monoshock rear suspension. It just doesn't look right with those 2 big shocks sticking out the sides like on some other bikes.

All years and models of the vulcan are essentially the same base bike you just need to decide if you want the 21" front wheel (vn800A) or 16" front wheel (vn800b).

Get an 800. Do it. And post up a build thread. Do it. And welcome to the forum.

Mike

[MikeGoodwin]

Thanks Toro, just wait til you hear them.