Welcome to my Motorcycle page! My Kawasaki Vulcan 800 Classic was purchased at CycleMax of Wilson North Carolina. It is a 1999 model Gray and Black in color. This is my second bike in 30 years. My 1st was a Honda CB-175. Boy this is a drastic improvement. I purchased it on June 16 1999. Two good friends Dave "Tweek" and Debbie "LoRidr" Hockaday showed me that I both could handle and afford the Vulcan. I had not unloaded it from the trailer before my son, Tommy, had it cranked and running. He is graduating from Johnston Technical College in July 1999 and wants his own 800 Classic. Well what a difference a couple of weeks can make. We were looking to get him set up and July 9th found him the Red and Black 1999 800 Classic that he wanted. We purchased it at Ron Ayers Motorsports in Greenville, North Carolina.
The Kawasaki Vulcan is a V-cylinder 49.12 cu.in. (805 cc) engine SOHC 2 cylinder 4-stroke water cooled bike. The 800 developes 10 hp less than the 1500 but is much lighter and easier to handle. It is a beautiful maching that I fell for when I saw Dave's and Debbie's. See theirs at:
Dave "Tweek" Hockaday '98 Vulcan 800 Classic
Debbie "LoRidr" Hockaday '99 Vulcan 800 Classic
Well I now have 7000 miles on the bike since June ... Boy has it
been fun!!! I have been adding little items to it since I got my 800.
Most are for safety or protection from the elements. The first was the
Kawasaki short windshield. Makes it much easier riding in the rain,
bugs, or wind. The second item added was the Cobra Highway bars that
I ordered from Sherm's. They are to keep the bike from having damage
should it fall over. I also added some fold down highway pegs to the
highway bar for those long rides. I also installed some DG HardKrome
drag pipes when Dave jetted my carb. They are really loud with the
inserts baffels out. Almost too loud so I am going to build some
short baffels. To add to my presence on the road I added some riding
lights. I have ordered some LeatherLike hard bags for the bike.
They should be in and on in a week or so. I added a vista curise
throttle lock to allow the throttle hand to relax on those lone rides.
I purchased the Jardan tall backrest for my wife Martha. I also added
the fire and steel luggage rack. My most recent purchase was the belt
drive system from Brooks Machine in Zebulon. I am looking forward to
installing this very soon. It will eliminate the need to lub the chain
and has a 4 time longer life span than the chain!!! You can see this
product at Brooks Machine.
Here are some of the first photos of the "Bike" ... only a few add-ons - the wind shield and wind shield bag. Here we see the stock exhaust system before I added the DG HardKrome pipes. We later modified them by removing the baffles for use on Tommys bike. The modification was simple and really makes for a deep mellow sounding exhaust.
Well here we go ... we see the "Improved" bike with all the *NEW* goodies ...
For more information on the Kawasaki Vulcan 800 Classic and all the other wonderful bikes from Kawasaki go to their home page at: Kawasaki Motor Company
Visit our Vulcan Classic modification page at: Pusher's Modification Page
Always ride safe and watch out for the other guy!!!
kd4wiw@ipass.net
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