One thing I noticed here....

[Pighuntingpuppy]

So, not that its a big deal to me, but I noticed that we dont have a section for "other rides". Cars, bikes, boats, campers and what not. Not that we are a show off bunch anyway, LOL. Anyway, where I am going with this is I like buying cheap evidently busted down nonsense and making them halfway presentable heaps. With the exception of my Vmax, I have never paid more than $1000 for a vehicle. Some vehicles I have gotten for free, others I kinda cap myself at around the $500 mark. With some vehicles, I flip. Others I have kept. And others I have traded out. But I like the cheap diamond in the rough.

Since I know we could create a run away thread with other rides, I will keep my heaps down to just this one diamond in the rough.

Last week, I purchased a 1998 Kawasaki Vulcan 1500. Its not a classic though. Paid $800 for it. The story behind it goes like this....The person I bought it from purchased the bike as a laid down bike. The speed is unknown. But given the slight damage on the engine bars and exhaust, I am gonna say it was reasonably low speed. Therefore the bike was totaled out and on a salvage title. The person I bought the bike from trailers the bike a few hundred miles to a rally event 3 years ago. Puts 30 miles on the bike and decides to get gas. Bike never started after that. It spent nearly 2 years in the area it broke down in. Last year, this person brings the bike home. Decides that the floats are the issue and rebuilds the carburetors. Somehow got it running and goes to get gas. Fills up with gas....bike never started again. So it sat a year and I come across it.

The bike is 100% complete. Dead battery and 1 year old gas and all. I bring the bike home. Toss a new battery in it(went with AGM), and found, yup....not getting gas. This bike has an over the frame tank. But the main fuel feed goes into a fuel pump that then fills the carbs up. Strange set up, but OK, LOL. So I eliminate the entire fuel system and set up my gravity tank. Didnt have fresh fuel, so used the turpentine from the tank. Low and behold.....I get the un-runnable bike running. Now....it doesnt run good....but its running. And that was the goal. To get it running on its own. So, I start back tracking the fuel system. Fuel pump works, fuel lines clear, wait...whats this? Fuel just dribbling from the petcock? Yes, there is minor rust in the tank. No, its not affecting the screens on the petcock. Its got a bum petcock. The bike eventually starves itself. I run a standard drop fuel line from the fuel tank to the fuel pump(just for proof of theory). She runs all on her own from the tank to the carbs with the crap gas. I rode it 10 miles. Most miles it had at one time in the last 3 years.

So now I have a running $800 gem. Now we can work the details out. The main thing...she needs a sync. And badly. The next thing right behind that is the carbs I can guarantee are not jetted properly due to the aftermarket exhaust with no markings or part numbers anywhere. Yes the fuel will affect how it runs too, but this thing backfires so badly on deceleration, that isnt 100% fuel. Thats carb and jetting issues. So, I have been on a quest to find out what exhaust is on the bike so I can see if a jetting is required and what jets I would need. In the end, the bike is not really coveted like some out there. But as a running bike, its respectably a $2000 bike.

But I dont plan on selling this bike. One of my good friends is nearing retirement age. He used to ride 10 years ago until his last machine gave it up. I think this bike will be a great cruiser for him once its up and running 100% again. So not all machines I acquire do I keep or make money on. But all of them I do acquire are long lasting dependable machines.

Now the moment I know you all been waiting for.....PICS!!!

 

[Bullies74]

Nice bike for the price and a little elbow grease.

The exhaust in my opinion look like Super Trapps due to the distinct look of the slash cuts.

 

[Pighuntingpuppy]

Nice bike for the price and a little elbow grease.

The exhaust in my opinion look like Super Trapps due to the distinct look of the slash cuts.

Why thank you. I would disagree with the comment of slash cuts. Here is why, The Vmax Gen 1 Cobras have a slash cut. My Virago has slash cut exhaust as well and they are Jardine as seen below. I scoured pages of exhaust images and yet to find one that wants to take credit for the exhaust. It frustrating to say the least. I would like to know what exhaust is on it so I dont have to purchase multiple jet kits.

Also, you may very well be correct on the exhaust. But I have yet to find a pic with this exhaust and it stating, yes, it is Supertrapp.

Also, for those who read my Signature...this is my 100,000 mile Virago currently in retirement. I need a new carburetor. The Hitachi CV slide rubber is no longer doing its job, LOL. And those rubbers are rarer than hens teeth.

 

[Fire-medic]

Vance & Hines Longshot. Yours are slash-cut, these are straight-cut. Probably an option.

Anyone reading this: if you're trying to use an auxiliary gravity fuel tank, bypassing the stock OEM fuel pump, if you don't have the gravity fuel tank elevated above the rack of carburetors, to a point where the 'head' (tank elevation) provides sufficient pressure for fuel delivery, your bike will still be starved for fuel! On a VMax with superbike bend handlebars, you need to elevate the tank where its lowest-point is one foot above the handlebars.

 

[user 16790]

I like those bikes, nearly bought one when they were newly out but was still too interested in off road style bikes, I had a Z1300 at the time anyway

 

[Pighuntingpuppy]

Vance & Hines Longshot. Yours are slash-cut, these are straight-cut. Probably an option.

Anyone reading this: if you're trying to use an auxiliary gravity fuel tank, bypassing the stock OEM fuel pump, if you don't have the gravity fuel tank elevated above the rack of carburetors, to a point where the 'head' (tank elevation) provides sufficient pressure for fuel delivery, your bike will still be starved for fuel! On a VMax with superbike bend handlebars, you need to elevate the tank where its lowest-point is one foot above the handlebars.

View attachment 72169

It may be an option for sure, but every pic I see of those exhaust, are of the ones you posted. I do wish there was some marking on the exhaust to give me a direction, but it is what it is.

To the second part of your post, I know its the petcock cause the tank was off the bike and I was monitoring flow. With this particular tank, there are 2 lines that flow from the fuel tank to the petcock. Each of these lines can be separately removed from the tank and inspected. Hence why I know there are screens in there. When I hook a line directly to the fuel pump and by pass the petcock, fuel flow is restored normally. Go through the petcock, and its an old man with an enlarged prostate, LOL. But you are correct, position of lines, pump, fuel tank and all that are extremely critical. Thats why when I started to remedy the fuel delivery, I went with the shortest path possible. I eliminated over 1 foot of fuel line from both ends.

For this bike, what I am gonna try doing first before going out and getting jet kits is I am gonna sync the carb and adjust the mixture screws a bit to see if I can at least get the back firing to go away. I am not building the bike for super power. I want a 68HP cruiser that tops out at 105mph for a 67 year old man, LOL.

 

[Pighuntingpuppy]

What I really like about this site for the Vmax is that you will get a ton of responses and ideas. There are folks here that will tell you things you never wanted to know about a Vmax. It comes in handy for those who have bikes being brought back from the dead without having to put too much guesswork into it.

Because of the new Vulcan I got, I signed up for the Vulcan forum site. No gurus there, no one even wanting to attempt to name that exhaust. No one really stepped forward to tell me what jets the bike came with stock. One person gave me a page off some site that sells parts for the bike. But never answered the question.

I yanked the carbs, cleaned and rebuilt them with the rebuild kits that came with the bike. 5 hours painstakingly cleaning them. So, like I have told everyone here before, I am not green when it comes to tinkering and rebuilding. Like so many here, I got years and mileage under my belt and I had to get my hands dirty on more than one occasion. The rebuild was an absolute success. Even with the bench settings, fresh fuel and such, she fired up 1 1/2 revolutions in with no choke(it was 95 degrees out, so not that impressive really, Lol. Idle was a touch low, but was quickly remedied. Did a quick cold sync on it and let it idle up to temp. Minor tweak after, she has power from low to mid. Top end, she falls flat and....it still backfires on deceleration only. So....the person on the Vulcan site who said, I dont need to swap jets....was wrong. The exhaust is leaning out those mains something fierce. I ordered 2 main jets. OE jets are 112 for the front and 115 for the rear. I bought 118 and 120. Plan is, I dont think I am too far off given how she runs, is to move the 115 to the front and the 118 in the rear. Rinse and repeat the adjustment. Maybe try shimming the needle a touch. If its better but still there, the 118 in front and the 120 in the rear. I think with that, I should eliminate the backfiring. The pilot jet comes in 20 and 24. I am running the 24 already. She seems to run up very smooth with the 24. After the main jet replacement, we will see if the pilot jet needs fiddling with.

This Vulcan is a cruiser. In top form, a 68HP cruiser with a top speed of 105mph with a 4 speed gearbox. This bike is going to by buddy who is 67 years old and hasnt been riding in the last decade(consistently). He has been on the Max but never opened her up. This bike will be plenty for him. After she is running 100%, a thorough detail to get alot of this beautiful bike back to shining.

 

[Fire-medic]

AARP had an article about motorcycle morbidity/mortality (fatality) statistics. Evidently one of the causes of the issues are older 're-entry' riders. Yes, 'people who haven't ridden for 10 years, or 30 years... .' The suggestion was made to take the MSF courses. I haven't been to their site in years. I know they had an 'Experienced Rider Course,' which was after you had time riding, you would take it to learn countersteering, panic stops using both brakes (you would be surprised to discover how-many 'experienced' riders use primarily the rear brake, because you-know, "using the front brakes, the bike will flip over on-top of you and crush you!" Not-to mention using only the rear brake probably triples your stopping distance, and 'rear brake only' is useless in a panic stop. What do you want for your gravestone epitaph?

They also do emergency lane changes, left and right circles, etc. and they cover basic motorcycle maintenance, like every-time checking for inflated (on underinflated) tires, functional brakes, working headlight taillight, brake light, and turn signals. Don't forget the horn! meep-meep!

https://www.aarp.org/home-family/friends-family/info-2017/motorcycle-fatalities-rise-fd.html

 

[Pighuntingpuppy]

I agree with you 100%. My buddy, before I knew him, was on nothing but a motorcycle. In fact, I still have his original bike. If you look back up to the Yamaha Virago pic, the Kawasaki KZ1000 was his. He was on a motorcycle exclusively for 15 years prior to me meeting him. The KZ was giving him problems so he was able to find a cheap car. I kept his cheap car running for 15 years. Finally that cheap car gave it up and I moved him up into an old man Buick, LOL. During the last 15 years though, he has taken small rides on all my machines. The VMax though, he hasnt been comfortable enough to get it out of my neighborhood and out onto the streets. One thing he does while on the VMax is his figure 8s, left and right hand circles. His braking though....you may be right. But I cannot speak for him whether that muscle memory comes back to him or not. I am not giving him this bike as a sole vehicle bike. Thats what his Buick is for. This is so that he can get a few more years of leisure riding in. Hes mentioned on more than one occasion that if he was more confident of the Max, he would ride it home. But he lives 60 miles away and not being sure of a machine is scary. And he at least knows his limitations with that machine.

In the end, Its not really him I am worried about doing something stupid. Its the cagers out here. These people cannot drive on the best of days and when its something other than the best of days, its straight chaos. Not only for him or me, but I fear for every biker out there getting clipped by some inattentive moron. Cause there are alot more of them than us.