First Cruiser | Page 2 | GTAMotorcycle.com

First Cruiser

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JavaFan said:
after 30+ years riding sport or ST bikes
on a whim, bought an old Japanese cruiser, Vulcan 800 Classic

was owned prior, for 15 years, by a CRA lawyer
dude had it stored every winter
and all maintenance done, at the dealer

in the spring he brought it home to the garage
and rode it 3-4 times per summer
a little over 1,000 km per season
total of 21,000 km for an '03 is little use

bike is mint, passed safety with nothing required
maintenance is completely up to date with files provided

so first impressions:
  • only instrumentation is a speedo and 3 idiot lights, this will take some getting used to
  • expected the suspension to be crude, in fact I'm not sure there is actually a rear shock
  • 110 kmh is the happy spot, kinda nice as the last bike wanted to be always >140
  • ergos are fabulous, foot forward is great, bar angle is perfect, stock seat is pretty good
  • fuel consumption is surprisingly good for an old, heavy 550lb, carbureted bike
  • haven't seen the insurance savings yet, but for the type of bike and dropping collision I'm sure it's gonna be cheap
  • all the chrome is going to be some extra work, it's in such shiny new-like condition, I'll have to keep that up
  • it is really refreshing to not be in a hurry, or feel that I should be pushing the bike harder
  • crazy dude from Gatineau that bought the FJ09 can deal with that now
so for $2,500, I'm really happy to have this old cruiser for the summer
don't think it'll be a long term bike, but it's cheap enough to keep if I want something else

the downside: afraid I know what's gonna be next, more chrome, more torque, more America

http://[img]https://i.imgur.com/FOHh9zX.jpg[/img]
Click to expand...

Traitor! :p
 
Re the rear suspension, do some Googling and see if it's a common complaint.

When I bought my VTX it shared a similar story as yours - it was a garage queen, 12 years old and only 10,000KM on it. I noticed the rear suspension was all weird as well - rough, and the biked behaved "weird" in slow speed corners - it was hard to explain.

I got onto some VTX forums and soon discovered that the rear shock grommets were a common issue that resulted in near metal on metal contact between the shock and the frame (explained the rougher ride) and allowed the rear suspension geometry to get out of whack, which explained the weirdness in corners.

Apparently the OEM grommets were known for not aging well. Honda had actually superseded their part number with upgraded ones made of better material. I picked up a set at Clarington Honda for $25 or something like that, installed them, and it made a huge difference - smoother ride, and all the weird feel in corners was instantly gone.
 
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JavaFan said:
well a year later
bike is still shining better than new

looking around again
Click to expand...

For what? It's a nice bike. You'll never wear it out. Great for sitting upright and seeing the scenery. So you send a bit of shrapnel flying in the corners. What price glory? What are you looking around for?
 
Roadghost said:
For what? It's a nice bike. You'll never wear it out. Great for sitting upright and seeing the scenery. So you send a bit of shrapnel flying in the corners. What price glory? What are you looking around for?
Click to expand...

not gonna get rid of the Vulcan
it's a great bike for a sunny afternoon
and I actually enjoy shining it up nice

looking around for a mid-size ST
I usually do at least one big trip/season for 2-3 weeks
the cruiser is not the bike for that
little storage and I'm not up to doing 10 hour days on it
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