SahZooKee

Hey folks, been a long time since I posted here...I've been so busy between the grind & endless activities that I just really haven't had much time. Things should slow down a bit for me December 8th...so we'll see what happens then.

At any rate, I've been doing a lot of riding here in the land of long, straight roads (I really miss curves) with meetup.com riding groups. Meeting some nice people and seeing a lot of Florida!

Things are mostly good but there's one thing I'm not enjoying...I've ridden I-95 a few times for convenience sake and I'm just not enjoying the ride on the Volusia at I-95 speeds. I'm operating at such high RPMs that the ride is white knuckle the whole way. No bueno. So as a result I am having to pass on some longer rides. I don't want to do that anymore, so I'm looking to move up in size & horsepower.

So far I've been browsing Craigslist for used bikes & have seen a fair amount, but I need some input not just on what I'm looking at, but maybe at affordable bikes that I'm leaving out of the equation because I just don't know about them.

I want to stick with a cruiser so I've been looking at Honda VTX 1300s and Honda Shadow 1100s. I've been told by a few folks here that riding on I-95 should be more enjoyable on bikes this size. At this point my budget is $4k max. That leaves HD out of the running.

So what are thoughts on these two bikes, and what other ones, if any, should I be looking at that will move me up in power without exceeding that budget?

And I am only looking at used bikes of course...come on, I've got a budget of $4k!

Thanks in advance everyone!

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'01 Volusia (sold)
'06 Vulcan 1500 Classic (sold)
'00 Yamaha Road Star Silverado 1600
Scenic overlook on The Tail Of The Dragon

BearBait

You might find a used Kawasaki Vulcan Classic with the 1500 cc engine somewhere in your price range, and it would do well for you on the slab.

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BearBait

'11 Vulcan 1700 Vaquero (Ebony)

Polovision

Or Nomad. Cheap and good on the super slab.

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My Rides in the west

472viper

VTX 1300 is not fuel injected and my experience with them is that they require a long warm up period, I'm sure that's not a factor in Florida, but I'm sold on fuel injection. The other thing is, they don't have a fuel gage.

1600 Vulcan Classic. It took me two years to get used to mine (only as far as two up riding, solo it's fine). I Changed handlebars to Flanders HD Ultra Classic with extra rise and extra pull back and I think this bike is about perfect.

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2006 M50/C50/109fender/ SE 50 wheels and HD bags
2007 1600 Kawasaki Classic*SOLD*
2008 FLHX Street Glide 105th Anniversary #1387
USAF 1973-1977
SoDak ANG 1977-2010

Run my fingers across the bars of his cage and make the little monkey dance

SahZooKee

Wow, didn't realize the VTX didn't have a fuel gage. That's just dumb!

Thanks for the input (keep it coming) but I just did a search and found this one right in the town I live in...hopefully I'll get to see it today!

2006 KAWASAKI VN1500 VULCAN 6K MILES FUEL INJECTED

I disagree that it doesn't need anything (windshield, crash bars, highway pegs, saddlebags, pipes, to name a few) but it looks like a good bike at a really good price!

Thoughts?

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'01 Volusia (sold)
'06 Vulcan 1500 Classic (sold)
'00 Yamaha Road Star Silverado 1600
Scenic overlook on The Tail Of The Dragon

BearBait

Looks good to me. I really like those bikes; my wife had a 2008 model, and it was great on the highway.

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BearBait

'11 Vulcan 1700 Vaquero (Ebony)

Duffy

I've got an 05 and I wouldn't sell it for that.................pretty nice looking bike and the OEM seat is pretty comfortable. Get it........get it........

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Lead, or follow, but just stay out of my way.
Heaven is a warm, cozy place to sleep.





Wescalero Charter Member

Woodswoman

Hopefully the seller is right that the bike doesn't need anything like tires, brakes, maintenance, fluid changes, etc., to get you going.

You're looking at a lot of bike for the money, SahZooKee.

There's a boatload of aftermarket out there for the Vulcan 1500 Classic; shopping for your personal bolt-on goodies is no small amount of the fun.

Drop me a PM if you have any specific questions I can answer about this bike. As BearBait said above, I owned one for 2 years.

--Chris
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Woodswoman
(a/k/a Mrs. BearBait)

Dum Vivimus, Vivamus!

2010 Victory Cross Roads, "Doctor Pepper"

King-Pin

For what it's worth to you, I really like the VTX 1300s (I thought the '08s were fuel injected though). There are a ton of VTX 1300s on the market, and I dont think that the caborated ones really that bad. See if you can test ride one.

As for me I got an '07 Kawasaki Nomad. Below is something I wrote up that I think will help you in considering your search for a better HWY bike.

Regarding the Nomad:
1- It's not quite as fun as my C50
2-The ride is WAAAYY better
3-The gas milage stinks (35 avg on Nomad / 47 avg on C50), but I knew this going into it.
4- The weight difference has been more challenging then I expected. The Nomad is approx 200lbs heavier
5- The throttle response on the C50 is quicker, but that's to be expected
6- The hwy riding on the Nomad is FAR superior and the passenger comfort is FAR superior
7- Because of the weight difference and throttle response, the slow speed manouvers have taken a lot of time to get comfortable with
8- The Nomad is a little cold-natured, while the bully has started right up every time, all the time. It will get to around 14 degrees here and I have no trouble with starting it.
9- Maintenance on the Nomad is fairly minimal compared to other bigger displacement bikes


It's been hard for me to decide which bike I like better. I took the bully out the other night and was quickly reminded of why I like it so much. It's a completely fun bike: very responsive and lots of immediate power for an 800cc v-Twin.

At the end of the day, I can ride my Nomad for a couple of hours and not really have an issue with my backside. However, on my bully, even with my Mustang seat, my particular backside likes to take a few more breaks


That said, the V-Star 1300 and the VTX 1300 both provided a lot of second guessing. Ultimately I felt the Nomad (besides being a great deal) provided better comfort and less maintenance.

All in all, I would buy the Nomad again.

CAVEAT! Yo'll need a jack adapter of some sort as the bigger displacement as the Kawasaki Vulcans (Nomad, Classic) have tabs on the bottom of their frames (adapters are easy to use and are available) Also the engine is "proud" of the frame by about 1/2". Therefore if you do your own maintenance, this aspect can be a little discouraging at first.

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'72 750 Four
'86 Virago
'07 C50T
'07 Nomad

bcflyguy

hey. sah zoo kee. how about another saazookee but this time a 1500 cc.. the vl1500 is great bike. i have owned one and now have the 2009 c90 , which is the newer model. if you're looking for lots of power, great handling and avg fuel economy, you should take one for a ride.as any bike, not perfect, including the fuel tank being small but i have had 3 of these and just love them.I also have a c50t that i use in the city and I know what you are going through on the slab.you need 1 more gear.the 1500 will get up to74mph in third gear so guess what its reving in 5th? i highly recommend this bike

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