What do people think about the Vulcan 900?

[RandyR]

I've been tire kicking new and used bikes for several months now. I do like Yamaha, but found a sweet deal nearby on a 2014 new-old-stock Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Classic. Its water cooled which I do like, vs the 900 Yamaha is air cooled. Its about 150 lbs lighter than my RSTD with a lower seat. Its a vtwin, but in reading the Vulcan forums, it seems to be almost as reliable of an engine as the V4 with several people near 100,000 miles and one report of a 200,000 mile bike. And gas mileage a little better at 45-50mpg.

 

Like FlyingFool, I need to downsize. But this is not a drastic downsize, and some of the smaller bikes were, well, too small, after riding a Venture and a RSTD.

 

What do think? experience/recommendations with this bike before I pull the trigger?

 

[BlueSky]

I like them. One reason is besides water cooling, that they have a disc brake in the rear when other brands that size have drum brakes. And if I remember correctly, it vibrates less than the comparable Yamaha.

[Kretz]

My Vulcan 900 is a 2006 LT version with 12,000 miles. (Import from the US) Leather Bags, Screen, backrest, floorboards etc... I love it! It's the bike I passed my test on. Bought used from a local dealer (who brought it up from the States) about 6 years ago

Much lighter than my RSTD the Vulcan feels so "chuckable" really it's amazing how much lighter & more nimble it feels. Yet can still tour with both me & my wife on board & we are not small people!

I too am in the "downsizing" category & though I really like my 2009 RSTD (20k km) it is a big heavy bike so that is the one that will go & I'll keep the Vulcan. For the type of riding & distances we are able to do now, the Vulcan is ideal. I got the RSTD as we'd planned to do longer multi day trips but that didn't happen due to various health problems. One thing I would like to change on the Vulcan however is the seat (no surprise there) though not in the awful category after 1-2 hours I/ we do need to take a "numb bum" break!

General Maintenance is pretty simple, Disc brakes, belt drive, water cooled, nothing is too difficult to get at, diy Oil changes are easy, injection not carbs so a benefit there imho & has never failed to start first time even after standing a while. Changed out the stator that went bad a year or two ago, easy swap, I run it on Rotella T6 & no problems at all.

Very easy to maneuver around parking lots, low speed but very willing to pull away when needed.

My personal opinion it's one of the most underrated bikes out there. If you have a deal I say go for it you won't regret the decision I don't think.

Hope that helps. Let us know what you decide.

Edited April 30, 2018 by Kretz

[cowpuc]

Have heard great things about them :thumbsup:and nothing really bad that I can think of... Being an old geezer I have had numerous spoke wheeled scoots for both street and dirt and personally,, if I had my rathers at this point in my life - I would steer clear of them for both maintenance and tire changing purposes.. I also feel the same way about belt drive vs shaft though (I really appreciate the low maintenance shaft drive bikes cause I am tired of working on stuff) so take that for what its worth considering the source..

Dollar wise, not knowing what kind of money your talking but just an FYI - the Honda CTX1300 has been a very hard sell around here and last time I was in the Honda shop (David Allen Racing - Fremont MI) up North they still had NOS CTX's and I believe they were stickered at 9800... I also know for fact they would REALLY like to see them gone so a guy could probably do even better than that by walking in with a pocket full of cash and telling em what you would pay...

[djh3]

It was the bike I got back on after a hiatus of 15yr or something. I liked the looks and mine was an 07 so one of the first years after they redesigned it. No major problems other than stator went out around 25k or so. I put 40k on the bike before traded for the RSV. It went from Fla to NC twice 2 up with gear, 2 or 3 solo trips from Fla to Cincinnati Ohio and all over fla. Best mpg was 52 average was mid to high 40's say 46-48. I bought a classic and had large soft bags, mustang seat (you WILL have to get a better seat) and first a memphis shades windshield and later I mounted a bat wing fairing. Rotella t-6 or mobil 1 a couple tires and I put an over drive pulley on the engine to lower highway rpms. Over all a good experience I would say.

[slowrollwv]

I had one that my son road for a few years until I got the V Star 1300 for him and his wife to ride. I never had a problem with it at all.

[Du-Rron]

I like my CUSTOM cause like PUC said, cast wheels and tubeless tires are a lot easier to deal with. Get a VN900C "Custom" if you can.

[RandyR]

Thanks for all the input. Mostly positive things said about it.

 

The stator failing at 30,000 miles seems to be something I heard on Vulcan forum also as well as here. I can live with that, as it doesn't seem to be too difficult or expensive to replace if I do the work. Ha ha, it happens enough that how to replace it is well documented.

 

The biggest negative is the spoked wheels, I'd much rather have tubeless tires and be able to plug a tire on the side of a road than wrestle with an inner tube. Been there, and done that, before; but not recently. All things equal, or close to equal, I'd choose tubeless tires.

 

I never had a MC with a belt drive before, and the Yamaha and BMW shaft drives I've had the last 20 years have done well by me, but I'm led to believe the belts are much better now than the old ones, and I'm willing to give one a try. The plus for a belt seems to be lower inertia and less gearing than a heavy shaft. I think I recall Puc recently recommending carrying a spare belt with the tool kit if straying too far from home.

 

re: Honda VTX 1300. Was high on my look-see list, but the price for them was much higher than what I found this Vulcan for. I had a couple of used VTX's nearby on Craig's List I was thinking about.

 

Custom. Thats a good looking ride, I'll admit.

Edited May 1, 2018 by RandyR

[videoarizona]

I had the Yamaha VStar 950 Tourer. Loved that Vtwin. Never had a problem and changing out the rear tire at 11K miles was a breeze with the belt drive.

Seriously wish I had kept that bike...

 

 

[RandyR]

Since I have to show pictures here before anyone will believe anything....

 

Here is the Vulcan 900 Classic arriving at my domain. By the time I got the tie downs off and the Vulcan off the trailer it was too dark for more pictures, so those will come later.

 

 

 

I'll also mention that the dealer I bought the Vulcan from, Mid State Motorsport at Cookesville TN has both a 2018 Venture Touring and Eluder sitting in his shop, as well a very nice used 2006 Midnight RSV. I got a good deal from them.

[djh3]

Yea the tube type tire where a suck point. But I bet now a pair of the cast alum can be had fairly cheap. I did change the stator, it is a fairly easy job. Ricks makes a good replacement. You would think by now Kawasaki would have sorted that out.

[RandyR]

And the rest of the pics. Waiting to get thru to my insurance company so I can get it properly licensed and on the road.

 

Edited May 2, 2018 by RandyR

[RandyR]

I made a 70 mile lunch run over to Helen, GA for some wienerschnitzel this afternoon after getting my insurance this morning, and then registration and plates, and donating to the Georgia Governor's Donut Fund.

 

I'm happy. Very smooth shifting, reasonably comfortable seat, certainly not in the same class as an RSV but I've ridden a thousand miles or more on smaller, less capable machines.

 

btw, ediddy58@gmail.com who used to be an active VR member is still my insurance agent and will help members here out. He said he's stopped riding.

[djh3]

Like the Champaign color. Different