Looking pros and cons of 03-1500 Classic
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I have one and am very pleased with it. I have no issue with having a carburetor and in fact since you only have one carb its easy(and cheap) to dial in to any exhaust and intake mods you may want to make. I have about 20,000 miles on mine and it has been a good reliable bike. Plus if its the red/silver model its the best looking of all the 1500 classics ever made! I guess thats just my opinion!LOL
That's good to hear...thanks.
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I purchased an '04 1500 about 3 months ago. Prior to that I had an 800. I love the bike so far! Mileage is not as good as I would like, usually around 40mpg, but it is a lot more comfortable than the 800 was.
The color is like a maroon and silver. Does look nice I think.
VulcanCowboy, looks like I may be dropping out of the *800 Club* too.
I wouldn't expect to get the same gas mileage, almost twice the the engine, so that's quite logical and acceptable to me. The comfort for two up will be much better now with this bad boy. What did you pay for your 04, and how many miles did it have on it ? (if you don't mind me asking)
Thanks for the responses guys. Keep em' coming lol
VulcanCowboy, looks like I may be dropping out of the *800 Club* too.
I wouldn't expect to get the same gas mileage, almost twice the the engine, so that's quite logical and acceptable to me. The comfort for two up will be much better now with this bad boy. What did you pay for your 04, and how many miles did it have on it ? (if you don't mind me asking)
Thanks for the responses guys. Keep em' coming lol
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2,072 Posts
It is a good bike but the price is very far out of line. If you are patient you should be able to find a 1600, fully equipped for much less. My fully loaded '04 with 6200 miles was was $5,500. It is far superior to the 1500. Either way you won't lose, I just believe the price is very high for an '03.
The color is like a maroon and silver. Does look nice I think.
VulcanCowboy, looks like I may be dropping out of the *800 Club* too.
I wouldn't expect to get the same gas mileage, almost twice the the engine, so that's quite logical and acceptable to me. The comfort for two up will be much better now with this bad boy. What did you pay for your 04, and how many miles did it have on it ? (if you don't mind me asking)
Thanks for the responses guys. Keep em' coming lol
that is the same color as 2wheelfuns old 1500, its absolutely beautiful in the direct sun
I have an 04 1500 classic with almost 29k on the meter, its been a great and reliable bike, i love it!
I'll hate to part with in when the time comes (and its coming)
i think you'd be quite happy with it
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I paid $4600 for mine with 5100 miles including a Mustang seat and passenger floorboards. I think I got a really good deal. This time of year should be a buyer's market.The color is like a maroon and silver. Does look nice I think.
VulcanCowboy, looks like I may be dropping out of the *800 Club* too.
I wouldn't expect to get the same gas mileage, almost twice the the engine, so that's quite logical and acceptable to me. The comfort for two up will be much better now with this bad boy. What did you pay for your 04, and how many miles did it have on it ? (if you don't mind me asking)
Thanks for the responses guys. Keep em' coming lol
I agree the price may be a little high, but the "far superior" part made me laugh. They are two different bikes. If you want mags, fuel injection, two disc up front, and 50 extra pounds get a 1600. But if you like the classic look of spokes(I do) go ahead and get the 1500.
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+1
Wow, I should move to the states. I searched high and low for the last few weeks in just about every Cdn magazine, newspapers, Internet, Bike Trader and dealers, and this was truly the utmost best I could find around here. I found this bike in the province of Quebec, and compared to Ontario prices here, it was incredibly low.
As far as the 1600 goes, didn't look at them at all, cause I didn't want one basically. I love the looks of the 800, 900, and 1500 Classic Vulcans. To each his/her own though.
Those of you who live in the States have to understand something. A new bike here in Canada, cost 3 or 4 thousand more for the same bike than you do. So it only stands to reason, that the trade in value is higher than what you pay for a good used in the States. What is bothering us Canadians right now is that even though our Cdn peso is stronger than yours, cars and bikes are maintaining their high retail and wholesale prices. Someone is making money somewhere, but it certainly isn't the Canadian consumer. So trust me when I say $6000.00 for this 03 with 5400 miles, is a great price according to all of the Canadian friends I've talked to and with the thorough research I did on it.
Spok ~ Are you saying that your 04 with 29k miles is ready do be traded ?? Man, we just break em' in at that mileage lol I often see Vulcans of various size with over 100,000 miles on them (160,000 kilometers) Your 29,000 miles is equal to our 50,000 kilometers here. With kilometers it makes it look worse, cause us older guys remember the Imperial days, until they introduced the **** metric system here. Anyway, unless you have your eye on an even bigger bike, I certainly would not be entertaining the thought of selling or trading a bike like yours with those kind of miles. That, or it's darn nice to have money LOL.
As far as the 1600 goes, didn't look at them at all, cause I didn't want one basically. I love the looks of the 800, 900, and 1500 Classic Vulcans. To each his/her own though.
Those of you who live in the States have to understand something. A new bike here in Canada, cost 3 or 4 thousand more for the same bike than you do. So it only stands to reason, that the trade in value is higher than what you pay for a good used in the States. What is bothering us Canadians right now is that even though our Cdn peso is stronger than yours, cars and bikes are maintaining their high retail and wholesale prices. Someone is making money somewhere, but it certainly isn't the Canadian consumer. So trust me when I say $6000.00 for this 03 with 5400 miles, is a great price according to all of the Canadian friends I've talked to and with the thorough research I did on it.
Spok ~ Are you saying that your 04 with 29k miles is ready do be traded ?? Man, we just break em' in at that mileage lol I often see Vulcans of various size with over 100,000 miles on them (160,000 kilometers) Your 29,000 miles is equal to our 50,000 kilometers here. With kilometers it makes it look worse, cause us older guys remember the Imperial days, until they introduced the **** metric system here. Anyway, unless you have your eye on an even bigger bike, I certainly would not be entertaining the thought of selling or trading a bike like yours with those kind of miles. That, or it's darn nice to have money LOL.
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Sue... I wasn't knocking the 1500. It is certainly a capable bike and nearly identical to the 1600 in many ways. When you see classic looks, I see outdated styling. There is little doublt in my mind that the 5.3 gallon tank, FI and sleeker (?) styling are big pluses for the 1600. The going price for new 1500's makes them an incredible buy. There are a lot of very happy 1500 riders out there... I ride with some of them. For basically the same $$$ I would opt for the 1600, others wouldn't. This is why this is all so much fun. You can do it your way.
Outdate styling? There's very little styling difference between the 1600 and 1500 Classics hence the name "Classic".
Anyway, got over 40,000 totally trouble free miles on my '03 1500 Classic which happens to be the same color scheme as the one you're considering.
Here's a reason I prefer the carb'd 1500's to the 1600's - they have carb's. They're easy to service and not fuel sensitive at all. Mine gets 40 to 42 mpg no matter the fuel grade or if it's 10% or 15% ethanol. Since it's not FI it has less than half the wiring harness under the tank and it's a heck of a lot cheaper to buy a couple of carb jets than an aftermarket FI processor.
My next new bike will probably be FI but only because I won't have a choice.
Anyway, got over 40,000 totally trouble free miles on my '03 1500 Classic which happens to be the same color scheme as the one you're considering.
Here's a reason I prefer the carb'd 1500's to the 1600's - they have carb's. They're easy to service and not fuel sensitive at all. Mine gets 40 to 42 mpg no matter the fuel grade or if it's 10% or 15% ethanol. Since it's not FI it has less than half the wiring harness under the tank and it's a heck of a lot cheaper to buy a couple of carb jets than an aftermarket FI processor.
My next new bike will probably be FI but only because I won't have a choice.
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