[Redeye]

I am on my way to buy a new 900 classic some time this week. This red/titanium floozie is screaming "BUY ME" every time I walk into the dealership. What a lady.

I will be riding the bike on northern California freeway's with an occisional trips to Lake Tahoe.

My question is about the high rpm's the engine is spinning at freeway speeds. Has anybody used a tachometer to see how high the rpm's actually are at 65 - 75 mph?

Thank You in advance for you assistance. -Richard

 

[Redeye]

P.S. The dealer just called & offered me a $8O00 OTD price. This offer is good for this weekend only. -Richard

 

[Ruger]

People with tachs report that a bike without the scootworks pulley turns about 3700 at 70/75. With the pulley about 3500. I don't know about prices where you are but mine was 6300 (with the extra 4 year warranty) before TTL. That was for the 900 classic not the LT. Hope that helps.

 

[Redeye]

People with tachs report that a bike without the scootworks pulley turns about 3700 at 70/75. With the pulley about 3500. I don't know about prices where you are but mine was 6300 (with the extra 4 year warranty) before TTL. That was for the 900 classic not the LT. Hope that helps.

3700 rpm for a short stroke (2.9") motor does not seem very high to me at all.
-Richard

 

[rcoolbaugh]

I just ran the numbers through a gearing calculator
(Gearing Commander: Motorcycle Gearing Ratio Sprocket RPM Speed Chain Calculator)
Note the rear ratio should be 32 front 66 rear when you load the 900 custom defaults.

Stock pulleys give 68 MPH @ 3750 RPM
Scootworks 34 tooth front gives 72 MPH @ 3750 RPM
Scootworks 62 tooth rear gives 72 MPH @ 3750 RPM
Both scootworks give 77 MPH @ 3750 RPM

 

[Sierra Vulcan]

I just ran the numbers through a gearing calculator
(Gearing Commander: Motorcycle Gearing Ratio Sprocket RPM Speed Chain Calculator)
Note the rear ratio should be 32 front 66 rear when you load the 900 custom defaults.

Stock pulleys give 68 MPH @ 3750 RPM
Scootworks 34 tooth front gives 72 MPH @ 3750 RPM
Scootworks 62 tooth rear gives 72 MPH @ 3750 RPM
Both scootworks give 77 MPH @ 3750 RPM

Don't know 'bout all that sprocket calculator stuff, but my Cobra tach on my 07 900 classic reads 3800 @ 70 mph. No complaints from me.

PS Redeye stick around the forum and maybe come spring we can ride. I am on the South end of Lake Tahoe. (Had to put 'er away due to snow!)
Keith

 

[Redeye]

Don't know 'bout all that sprocket calculator stuff, but my Cobra tach on my 07 900 classic reads 3800 @ 70 mph. No complaints from me.

PS Redeye stick around the forum and maybe come spring we can ride. I am on the South end of Lake Tahoe. (Had to put 'er away due to snow!)
Keith

I live near Sacramento, I'd like that.

Thank you all for the replies. The Cobra tach was going to be my second purchase, right behind the Cobra light bar. My concern was with some owners complaining about the engine my be over reving on the freeway. That is why I delayed buying the bike last week trying to get the answer. I think that delay may have saved me $500, as the dealer came down today to $8000 OTD.

SOMETIMES IT'S BETTER TO BE LUCKY RATHER THAN GOOD LOOKING​

.

 

[Sierra Vulcan]

the dealer came down today to $8000 OTD.

SOMETIMES IT'S BETTER TO BE LUCKY RATHER THAN GOOD LOOKING​

.

I paid 6700.00 + tax and license for mine in Nevada (Carson City) Kawasaki of Reno had the same price. Might be wise to look to other dealers 8k sounds pricey. Bike sales are slow right now talk 'em down.

Keith

 

[skewterdewd]

Hi Redeye
Welcome to the forum. The 900 is a fun bike!
The 8k price sounds way high. That bike was going in the high 6's here, but we don't have sales tax. There's no need to hurry. Time is on your side, and there's a ton of inventory out there. Don't bite on the "impending doom" close. it's BS. The guy with the money and the options is the one with the power.

good luck

 

[Redeye]

I paid 6700.00 + tax and license for mine in Nevada (Carson City) Kawasaki of Reno had the same price. Might be wise to look to other dealers 8k sounds pricey. Bike sales are slow right now talk 'em down.

Keith

Thank You Keith.

This is for a 2007 LT. Just to compare apples to apples, is yours a LT?

The price the dealer first quoted me was $9450. He then came down to $8500, then yesterday he was down to $8000. All prices were OTD.

There are no dealers I can find will let you test ride any bike they sell, So I am trying to use all resources available to compare Honda, Yamaha , & Kawasaki products in this class. From what I have read, the Vulcan seems to be the best buy. The ONLY draw back seems to be the left floor board.

When I sat on the bike with tennis shoes, my foot was wedged between the two shifter pegs. I could not put my toe under the front shifter without some effort, lifting my heel & then sliding my toe under the shifter. I haven't looked to see if there is an adjustment to lower the floor board some. But this did not seem like a deal buster.

By comparison, in the same shoes, the Honda VTX 1300 floorboard allowed me to place my foot flat on the floor board & slide my toe under the front shifter w/o lifting my heel. But the Honda has not had good reviews from owners, reporting poor gas mileage, bad vibrations, lots of rattles, & over all quality.

I also researched Yamaha's V Star 1100 & 1300. These bike owners are reporting the MPG in the low 30's & no fuel gague on either. The Star 1100 has a shaft drive & is a carburated engine, so my thinking is, the belt drive & fuel injection on the Vulcan over comes its smaller 900cc engine. The 1300 is a new model & may not have the new model bugs worked out of it. I didn't like the placement of the speedometer on the 1300 either. It looks like an aftermarket unit mounted on the handle bars.

All of these bikes were priced within $1000 of each other, so I did not allow price to be a factor in my research. I am 99% sure I will buy the Kawasaki. Maybe waiting til after the first of the year.

Sorry if I got long winded here. I want to say thank you for all have read this post & replied. And A BIG thank you for the folks who own this message board. Thanks -Richard

 

[rod2625]

Thank You Keith.


There are no dealers I can find will let you test ride any bike they sell, So I am trying to use all resources available to compare Honda, Yamaha , & Kawasaki products in this class. From what I have read, the Vulcan seems to be the best buy. The ONLY draw back seems to be the left floor board.

When I sat on the bike with tennis shoes, my foot was wedged between the two shifter pegs. I could not put my toe under the front shifter without some effort, lifting my heel & then sliding my toe under the shifter. I haven't looked to see if there is an adjustment to lower the floor board some. But this did not seem like a deal buster.

Thanks -Richard

Richard, you will never be putting the toe of your shoe under the front shifter. It is always pressing down with the toe or down with the heal.

 

[Redeye]

At $8,000 OTD for a 900 I'd take a long look at a 1500/1600 Classic.

Tom, This is going to be my first bike after 40 years out of the saddle, old fart you know. I took the motorcycle rider's course last summer, & have been waiting for the end of the year to buy the new bike.

I want to start out on a mid sized bike. Thanks -Richard

 

[RichLockyer]

At $8,000 OTD for a 900 I'd take a long look at a 1500/1600 Classic.

$8,000 for an '07 LT is a good price.
Dealer I got my 1600 from (10,500 OTD) just quoted $8,299 for the LT.
The 900 Custom is a tad over $6k.

Ya, it seems like a lot, but consider that the shield alone is going to be between $300 and $400 aftermarket, another $120 for the backrest, another $200+ for bags... it adds up over the Classic (same dealer quotes $7,500 for an '08 Classic).

They don't make a 1500/1600LT, so the only option in the bigger bike with bags/shield (short of the V2K) is the Nomad... at $11,800.

 

[RichLockyer]

When I sat on the bike with tennis shoes, my foot was wedged between the two shifter pegs. I could not put my toe under the front shifter without some effort, lifting my heel & then sliding my toe under the shifter. I haven't looked to see if there is an adjustment to lower the floor board some. But this did not seem like a deal buster.

One of the disadvantages of the 900 is that it's shifter is like the Harley heel-toe. They are not individually adjustable like they are on the 1600/Nomad/V2K... it's one casting. Adjusting the toe up brings the heel down. If the heel peg is above the floorboard, then you can only move it down so far before you will be unable to upshift.
The 1600 is nice because the heel shifter is beyond the rear edge of the floorboard, I don't recall where it is placed on the 900.

There is no adjustment to raise/lower the boards, but honestly, ground clearance on the Vulcans is so poor that you really don't want to lower them if you do any kind of "spirited" riding in the canyons. My rear tire has about a 1/2" "chicken strip", and it'll never get any smaller because I'm dragging the boards already.

If/when I buy a Harley bagger, one of my first mods will be cutting and lengthening the heel shifter because my foot will not fit between the pegs.

 

[RichLockyer]

Don't know 'bout all that sprocket calculator stuff, but my Cobra tach on my 07 900 classic reads 3800 @ 70 mph. No complaints from me.

Unless you've corrected it, keep in mind that 70 on the speedo is closer to 62-65 actual.

My 1600 runs a touch above 3k at 75, speedo corrected AND a slightly larger rear tire. Stock I think it ran about 3k at 70.

But the 900 certainly is not overrevving on the highway, it just doesn't go "thump thump" like other big twins. The 800 was a revver too... neither bike hits the rev limiter until a touch over 100mph.

 

[Redeye]

I did a Google search today on the Vulcan 1500 Classic to read some reviews & get an idea on pricing. Nobody had anything bad to say about the bike. Every magazine & owners review I read raved about it.

I found a posted OTD price for the 2007 classic at $9699 from a L.A. dealer. Money is not the issue here, I just think the 1500 will be TOO much of a good thing for a newbie like me. -Richard

 

[Redeye]

P.S. The 900 is RED, so as I've been told, they are faster than black anyway. LOL

 

[THRILLA]

shifter

I never use the rear shifter on my 900. the front shifter is adjusted high enough for my toe to fit under. lift up to up shift, press down to down shift. simple and quick, no moving foot back and forth.

 

[mkelley]

I just think the 1500 will be TOO much of a good thing for a newbie like me.

Depends upon your confidence and ability to trust your instincts. My starter bike last year was my 1600 Mean Streak. Got a 1999 Drifter 1500 for my wife (that I ride a lot!) and it almost drives itself -- much different ride than the Mean Streak. I haven't ridden a 1500/1600 Classic, but I'd guess they're like the Drifter.

 

[therogue]

My first street bike was a 500 virago way back in the 80's. Stuck with 750's till the last few years. IMHO a smaller bike is the right one to make your "rookie" mistakes on. A 900 sounds fine for a more "mature\careful" rider.
As for the shifter, it sounds like maybe just an adjustment issue but I shift like thrilla, even on my last 1500 the heel shifter just got used to kick it into neutral (love that positive neutral finder).