Been waiting on the fender for a few weeks now... Got it from a guy in Canada... Stupid Canada Post...

I'll keep you all updated when I get the parts hung.

 

I never really agreed with the B.U. part anyway. So far looks good. Keep the updates coming.

 

your improvments so far say you've got a good eye, I would like to see the cylinders, heads,and cases painted black, with highlighted fins, & is there anything that can be done with the air cleaners? Maybe flat black as well to blend in? anyway I think you have all ready improved the bikes looks 1000%, and the fender, and tail light and seat are all big wins! Great Job!

 

IMO, The only thing BU about the BUBF's are the air cleaner pods. Get rid of them!

 

Good idea about the air cleaners! Check this out. My pending purchase:

BLV-60431 - Cobra Kawasaki Vulcan 1500 Airbox Removal Kit

Cobra Kawasaki Vulcan 1500 Airbox Removal Kit

Kawasaki's 1500 Vulcan forced packaging demands upon its engineers that resulted in an air cleaner hung outside the bike, under the forward edge of the tank. None too stylish, if you ask us. Cobra's solution is this Airbox Removal Kit, available for the Vulcan 1500 A/B/C. A set of K&N filter pods attach to a manifold adapter so they fit out of sight and out of mind, and the Cobra Jet Kit makes sure this deep-lung monster carburets better than ever.

Before:

After!!:

I was considering ceramic coating the pipes, and engine / trans covers. I found this website. I gave 'em a call. Check out these prices! Not too shabby!:
Welcome to Performance Coatings

Come spring, I'm going to have a nice ride.

 

Much better!

 

Suscribed!! Dude your bike is gonna turn out awesome! I'm lovin every minute! I have a 1993 VN1500A and your project has breathed new life into my waning thoughts at customizing it!

Good luck and I'm anxiously waitin on the phase 2 photos!!

Ed

 

Sorry for not updating. Haven't been doing much because I'm in the process of moving.

I did get the fender in the mail, finally. Took almost 3 weeks to get it shipped from Canada.

I did a test fit, and was shocked to see the level of customization the previous owner did on the old fender. Seems like he chopped it, and made it sit lower on the fender supports.

I think I might have to shave it down a little. Not sure, yet. I want to get the Corbin seat in to see how it fits to the fender before I make any modifications.

She's got a huge, white butt now...

After I get moved in to my new house, I'll have a lot more workspace in the garage, so I'll likely rebuild the carbs, balance, and jet them for the "Ear Shave".

I found a really cool DIY link for the job that's a lot cheaper than the kit:
FAQ-Ext. Engine Mods

 

Lookin good bro... I agree on wrapping the pipes. I wouldn't have gone for such tall risers on the bar, but I'm a tall guy. All black is always a safe choice, but I like to take chances myself... I'd say come up with a sweet paintjob out of your own mind. Keep the pics comin!! I always love the major mods.

 

Lookin good bro... I agree on wrapping the pipes. I wouldn't have gone for such tall risers on the bar, but I'm a tall guy. All black is always a safe choice, but I like to take chances myself... I'd say come up with a sweet paintjob out of your own mind. Keep the pics comin!! I always love the major mods.

I agree, except these bikes' fuel fill spot really sticks up off the top of the tank. If he'd gone with shorter risers he might have run into problems...like his bars hitting that chrome fairing on top o the tank...

 

Yep, those are OEM bars. I don't like the riding position that it puts me in, though.

If I'd have paid closer attention, I'd have bought different bars instead of replacing the damaged ones with OEM bars.

I was pretty much learning to ride when I bought the bars. Didn't have much of a basis for comparison.

@DevilDogge by comparison to your mod, mine is certainly no "major mod!"

I can't wait to see that thing finished!

//edit - Might be mistaken, but you're doing the frame extension, right?

 

Edit- Can a mod move this to the "Projects" forum?

Update:

I just need to vent. I've been pacing myself with this project, knowing that I've got time. I've decided to scrap the Corbin seat and opted for a custom seat. I was going to do the pan myself. I liked the way DevilDogge's looked.

Every pay period, I allocate about $200 or so for the bike. This pay period, I decided to go with a custom seat pan.

Until now, I've only mounted the fender loosely, just to get a feel for it's looks. I lowered the fender about 1" using spacers and I noticed that the fiberglass is badly warped to the left.

As low as I'd like to mount it, it would rub against the wheel on the right side.
I was pi$$ed!

Remember, it took about 3 weeks to get the fender from the guy in Canada. Now I have to ship it back to him, and wait for him to receive it before he sends a replacement.

Since I already bought the stuff for a seat pan (And a couple of other things) - I have to wait for a few weeks before I can start on the Carbs, or coating the pipes.

Oh well. At least I have time to do a little more research. I've never done carb work before, and I'm a little worried I'm gonna mess it up. -Thankfully, I'm organized, and I do a lot of forward planning.

Schedule:

1. Remove EPA / California Emissions crap.
2. Ear shave / Carb Rebuild.
3. I should have new fender in by this time, so I'll likely do the seat pan, and have it professionally upholstered
4. Ship pipes, Trans / Engine covers, Chrome suspension parts, fender struts for "Satin Black" coating.
5. Paint fenders Fuel Tank, Side Covers flat black.
6. Hope she starts up...

 

Sounds cool dude. Unforseen setback are a bummer huh?

 

Bad news for me. Not the fender.

...Seems like either the frame is bent, or the rear wheel is out of alignment. (If that's possible. I'll be posting another "Help me" thread about it.)

Man... I have to say. I'm really getting more. P.O.'ed about this bike as I go. I love it, but I hate the previous owner.

First, I buy it, thinking it was a 98 - only to pay closer attention to the title later to find out it was a 96. ...Then I find evidence that he layed it down a few times. ...Now this.

I'll update when I learn something.


//Edit: Update

Yep. Frame's bent. Son of a ...! Gonna take a 5 pound sledge to the frame extension with the bent fender rail mount. Might be able to rig it to work.

Problem is, it seems that the whole rear wheel is sitting closer to the right side of the bike. Can rear wheels be "Aligned" or is my frame that out of whack?

The difference is not that noticeable, but I'm a perfectionist. The frame at the rear fender rail mount is only about 0.5" off, but it's what's kicking the fender to the left.

 

Dang man that's a bummer. Sorry I can't help on aligning the frame...maybe a custom bike shop or bike repair shop would have a frame straightener? I don't know, do they even make chassis straighteners for bikes?

Hope you can get it worked out, it's gonna be a cool looking bike!

Ed

 

Quick question man...how much rise do you have on your handlebars?

 

Those bars are stock. The rise is needed to get over the hump in the middle of the fuel tank.

I don't like 'em, and I should have bought some aftermarket bars. I ended up getting stock ones from Kawasaki.com to replace the other damaged bars.

 

Man this is so cool! Love this type of thread! The fender looks great , keep the pics coming!!!

 

Came Oh-so-close to selling the bike today. Wouldn't have gotten half of what I paid for it, but I wanted a new Jeep Wrangler, and they wanted a down-payment.

Got the Jeep. Get to keep the bike.

I literally was walking out of the dealership. I wasn't about to give up the bike. Dealer changed his mind in hurry.

Anway - Progress pics:

Started stripping more:

Pictures of my workspace. (Because I've seen some of your guys' garages, and I was like, "How the hell do they work in there...")

 

Frame Alignment Kit:

Frame Alignment Process:

Frame Alignment Results!:

Who Rocks? ...I do.

Let's mount a fender!:
I used 1.25" spacers:

It gives it a more contoured look:

The fender strut is really too long. I might have it cut a bit diagonally:

I'm going to have to shave the fender down an inch or two on the bottom end. It won't hang down in the rear so much when I'm done:

 

Going to pull the carbs today. This weekend I'll prep everything for powder coat.

 

BUBF Weight Loss Program:

Extra Parts:

After (Lot of room for the small K&N's.

Pulled Carbs:

This yellowing has me concerned. It's a fuel stain, for sure. Gonna dissect this thing, check it out:

 

If this old girl has been sitting for a while I'd strip those carbs down and find someone with an ultrasonic parts cleaner and soak them for a while, it will clean them up real nice, inside and out.

Good luck with the bike, looking good...

 

Rouge, this is really cool! Thanks so much for taking these pics and sharing! My son and I worked on a Honda 400 this summer, it was so much fun to work together on rebuilding the carbs and getting the bike running. I really could not even think about taking pics, I was too excited about doing the work! It is just way cool to see your work progress this way. My son wants to buy an 800 Vulcan and do similar things, so this thread will surely be helpful to us.

 

95 Bubf vulcan 1500 mod's

I have a 95 with 18k miles that last year I did some mods to. My seat ripped and instead of buying replacement I got out the leather tools and headed over to Tandy Leather for some supplies. I now have a custom seat using original seat pan. I also changed out the headlight, relocated the speedo, idiot lights, turnsignals and added a Memphis shade and Fire and Ice light bar. The light bar was tricky. I had to fab a bracket to extend the light bar out far enough to clear shade. I also had to trim the light bar again to clear the shade. The idiot lights are now led's also added a turnsignal buzzer.

The led box on the left is the test. The one on the right is the final. It's covered in black leather, led's have chrome bezel and added a little bling with skull and v-twin coucho. Still need to blacken out the screw heads. I have figured out that there is room in the chrome gas tank cover to do the led's. That was after I had already finished the final version.

Left pic shows the mod to extend the rear turnsignals back so that I could install bigger bags. The pic on right is the bike with memphis shield and fire and ice light bar.

Wishful future changes: earshave (I would do it asap, but rejetting the carbs scares me), changing rear fender to look like the classic, sinking tail light into new rear fender, scrap rear turnsignals and get some smaller led's that look cool, getting rid of chrome dash on tank, switching out bars and risers and installing new wheels. So far bike runs and looks good. I had the front valve cover gasket replaced in '06 then the rear one in '07. Problem with rear is the guy that did it had to pull engine. While it was out he did the heads also. The heads use a bonding goo instead of gasket. He didn't get it right so I had to take it back. He pulled the engine again and still it leaked. The leak was really small. Oil would just lay on the top fin and burn off. Never would drip down. I decided to ride it rather then loose the bike for another couple weeks and would give it back to him late winter of '08. Well 2 weeks before I was set to give it to him. He closed his shop. Leak is still there...not getting worse. So looks like I just live with it for now. Learning process...don't wait.