Anybody own a Kaw. 800 Drifter..opinions

[cb1313]

Thinking of buying one.... something to ride and leave the Venture at home.

 

Thanks Cb

[Kregerdoodle]

I have rode a 1500 that was bored out to a 1600... very nice bike.....love the looks

[RoadKill]

I always liked the looks of the Drifter. Researched it pretty heavily. Big problem is there is hardly any accessories made. Still wouldn't mind having one for a 2nd bike.

[atlm]

I owned a Kaw 800 Vulcan for a short while. I believe it's the same as the Drifter, only without the large valanced fenders. I sold it after about 6 months. Here's my take:

 

Pros:

super light weight

decent gas mileage

sounded nice at with the Cobra exhaust and carbs rejetted.

comfy stock driver's seat

looks (I liked the way it looked)

 

Cons:

no power. I pulled out into traffic the first week I owned it, with plenty of room (I thought), and nearly got rear ended because of lack of acceleration. And I was used to sportbikes, so I was winding it right up. After that, I got used to waiting for a HUGE gap in traffic before trying to merge.

lack of ground clearance. I scraped floorboards frequently. In gas stations, in my driveway, on any kind of twisty road.

chain drive. This severely limits your ability to do long trips without roadside or parking lot maintenance included. On the subsequent model, the 900 Vulcan, they switched to a belt. Much better.

 

The riding position and lack of wind protection became tedious after about 20 minutes, so a windshield would have been the next accesory. Unfortunately, with the lack of power, a windshield would slow the bike down even more.

 

If you're used to decent power, acceleration, and ground clearance, you might be a bit disappointed. For just bopping around town, it could be a fun bike, though.

 

Just my 2 cents.

 

[DragonRider]

Have you tried a V Star 1300 Tour, thats what I have, Snarley Bill has one also, great bike and they can be had very reasonable prices used. I think there are some others here that have one also. If I had it to do over again, no question, same bike.

 

Thinking of buying one.... something to ride and leave the Venture at home.

 

Thanks Cb