My 2004 Vulcan 800 hard tail

[83 LTD 440]

Here is a few pics of my second bike, 04 vulcan 800 hard tail with mini ape hanger bars. My digital camera isn't the best.

[trikebubble]

Wow, looks great, really flows from front to rear. I take it you keep a sharp eye out for potholes though?

[83 LTD 440]

Oh yeah, I definitely have to watch out for big pot holes & bumps. I mostly try to ride on roads I know are fairly smooth. Anyhow, I was disappointed in the previous pics & adjusted the lens & snapped some better ones. The exhaust is aftermarket strait pipes which is pretty loud. I purchased the bike this way & got a good deal on it, it was a trade in at a local car dealership. It has a 38 tooth sprocket on the rear, but I still seem to look for 6th gear. I plan on putting a 18 tooth sprocket on the front later on in the spring. Also, anyone has a front fender that will fit an 04 vulcan 800 with a 21" rim, let me know.

[Vulcan900]

Nics second scoot... low, light weight, and clean lines. I bet it's good for cruising around town.

[mumbles]

Nice bike. The exhaust looks like Muzzy's 2in Drag Pipes. They sound good without the stock baffles.

[83 LTD 440]

Nics second scoot... low, light weight, and clean lines. I bet it's good for cruising around town.

Thanks, yeah it's good for cruising around town. Some of my friends call it a "bar hopper". My other bike is for taking my son riding on, he's only 3 & this 800 scares him cause how loud it is.

Nice bike. The exhaust looks like Muzzy's 2in Drag Pipes. They sound good without the stock baffles.

I appreciate it, I wasn't for sure what brand exhaust was on it. The diameter is 2" & there is no baffles, it's straight pipe to the head. My wife says she can hear the bike from blocks away if I get on it.

[mumbles]

I appreciate it, I wasn't for sure what brand exhaust was on it. The diameter is 2" & there is no baffles, it's straight pipe to the head. My wife says she can hear the bike from blocks away if I get on it.

I used to have a bike like yours with the same pipes and even though she's been gone for some time I still get comments on how good she sounded. Dang I miss her.

[Greg in ND]

Deffinately a sweet looking scoot!

[El Skitzo]

Very nice, I like it a lot. I take it you've got a solid strut in place of the rear shock absorber?

[83 LTD 440]

Deffinately a sweet looking scoot!

Thanks

Very nice, I like it a lot. I take it you've got a solid strut in place of the rear shock absorber?

Thanks. The bike was purchased this way from a used car lot who said the owner had it customized. I was curious if it was a solid rigid frame bike at first & I have looked under the bike & did see it does have either a strut or compressed shock absorber w/ some kind of lowering kit. I can't tell which one it is without taking a few things off to get a better look at what was done. Later on in the year when I put another rear tire on I'll find out.

[LowPerformance]

hello, i thought i would post a message about your 800 vulcan. i'm the guy that "customized" that bike. can answer any questions you might have. i sure miss that bike! i hope you enjoy it!

[LowPerformance]

[83 LTD 440]

hello, i thought i would post a message about your 800 vulcan. i'm the guy that "customized" that bike. can answer any questions you might have. i sure miss that bike! i hope you enjoy it!

Cool, that is good pic of it. I take it that was a before pic of the small BB size dent on the tank. I did have a bunch of questions & sent you a p.m.

[jeffs99vulcan]

Cool! That doesn't happen every day, a guy finds the bike he built on the net!

So how DID You make the rear rigid? What did you do for an intake system, I see the cover is open... and most important to me, how did you cut it?

And welcome to the forum!

[LowPerformance]

yes, i made the air cleaner at home. i think it turned out really nice. here is a link to a website that has some good info on different mods for the 800 including the air cleaner. i now ride a 96 harley bad boy (softail springer) but i have always loved that bike. the rear end has a rigid strut bar in it from west-eagle. WEST-EAGLE MOTORCYCLE PRODUCTS i did change a few ways they made their air cleaner. the way i cut the factory cover was to find out where i wanted to make my cut. then i mounted my 4" angle grinder to the work bench a laid the cover flat on the bench. with the grinder running with a cut-off wheel and firmly fixed to the work bench, i slowy moved the cover flat on the table up to the wheel and once it cut through i slowy turned the cover letting the wheel cut through it. i also had a friend their holding the grinder just for saftey sake to make sure that it didnt come loose. the end result was a cut that i felt was straight and smooth enough to not have to use a "molding" on the edge like the website uses. with the portion that was cutoff, i then cut a small ring out of the left over scrap to lay up against the base so their was chrome on both sides of the filter which also really cleans up the look over theirs and really make it looks like a custom air cleaner. i think the tail light was my favorite mod, i picked it up at a swap meet in indianapolis. it was by itself but turns out it is a billet specialties cat eye tailight that come in a pair for custom street rods etc. i really think i fits the fender well. the license plate mount was just a cheap-o from a harley tailight that i also found at the swap meet. if anyone would like to talk to me about the mods, send me a message and i'll go into more detail. Happy Riding! Toby

[LowPerformance]

oh, here is the other website: The Wolf's Bike Shop; just how far do you trust me?

[jeffs99vulcan]

Ya, this is gonna be FUN!!! There are a bunch of us 800-ers on here that I'm sure will love to pic your brain... 83LTD, this is your thread and your bike, so I hope you don't mind if we quiz LowPerf a little!

What you describe about the angle grinder is exactly what I have planned for mine... I was thinking Dremel, but was wondering if the metal is a little too thick and durable for a Dremel's cutting wheel, but I was concerned about the high speed of the grinder "bluing" the metal of the cover... that didn't happen? No burring? No rough edges? I bought an extra cover (from Mercury, he'll be along here I'm sure) that I want to do this to...

I'm familiar with both West Eagle (nice stuff) and Wolf's page... you don't own an 800 for very long before Wolf comes up! He's got great tips, all I've really done so far with regard to the engine is removing the EPA stuff, but as mentioned have an intake mod planned...

Hard tail is a little further than I want to go, but nice to see! I think I'd go with a bobber style fender attached to the swingarm first, but that's got to wait until I'm done with it as a two-up bike.

Great bike, great mods!!!

[NarcAgent]

Hey I'm looking to hardtail my 800 what size was the strut you got ...most likely imma make my own. just need a starting point. and was the ride REALLLLLYY rough or withstandable, i've rode some that weren't that bad and some that were just plain awful.

[83 LTD 440]

Hey I'm looking to hardtail my 800 what size was the strut you got ...most likely imma make my own. just need a starting point. and was the ride REALLLLLYY rough or withstandable, i've rode some that weren't that bad and some that were just plain awful.

It is a rigid strut bar from West Eagle, read a couple of posts up. (I wasn't the one who did the work)

The ride isn't to bad really, it just took me a little bit to get used to. If there is a really big bump in the road, I'll usually either try to avoid it or lift myself up on the pegs a little.

[LocoforJesus]

Hello! I just joined this forum and I myself go a VN800A a few months ago. I had gotten 10" mini apes (the ones from a street bob) and the cables were really tight...how tall are your mini apes? were you able to fit the bars with the original cables?