vulcan 500 hop-up

Engine, exhaust & cooling mods or problems. If it has to do with cooling, anything within the crank case, or exhaust, it goes here.
kawboyCAFE
Posts: 127
Joined: Tue Mar 23, 2010 1:28 am

vulcan 500 hop-up

Postby kawboyCAFE » Sat Jun 05, 2010 1:15 am

i am thinking about turning my vulcan into a cafe racer this next winter. i love cafe racers. the main thing i am thinking about doing, besides the body work, is to hop-up the engine. now here is how i plan to do it. i am going to install some ninja 500 cams, shift kit, ignition advancer, custom 2 into 1 exhaust, carb rejet, K&N filter, e3 plugs, and titanium valve springs. should make it haul ass even more. although, i wonder how much it will kill my gas mileage. what do you guys think? if i do decide to do this, i will start a build thread, and walk you guys through the process. i have rebuilt engines before, so it shouldn't be to hard for me, just time consuming. give me you guys opinions, tell me what you think. even if decide to leave it looking normal, i still think it would be cool to do this to the engine and make it a sleeper.

GeorgiaRider
Posts: 168
Joined: Sat Jan 23, 2010 5:51 am
Location: NW Georgia

Re: vulcan 500 hop-up

Postby GeorgiaRider » Sun Jun 06, 2010 9:46 am

I say don't worry about the gas mileage, go for speed...
GeorgiaRider
2006 Vulcan 500

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Triangles
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I ride: '94 Black Cherry Vulcan 500, '06 Candyfire Red Vulcan 500 LTD
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Re: vulcan 500 hop-up

Postby Triangles » Tue Jun 08, 2010 9:19 pm

You might try the ninja pistons raise the compression from 10.2 to 10.8. Unless you're magical with the carbs, I would expect your mileage to be in the low 40's depending on your ability to keep out of the throttle.
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fastpakr
Posts: 68
Joined: Thu Jan 14, 2010 12:30 pm
Location: Roanoke, VA

Re: vulcan 500 hop-up

Postby fastpakr » Wed Jun 09, 2010 11:14 am

If you're going to run the stock cams for the EX500, why would you need titanium valve springs?
1999 Vulcan 500, 23k miles
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kawboyCAFE
Posts: 127
Joined: Tue Mar 23, 2010 1:28 am

Re: vulcan 500 hop-up

Postby kawboyCAFE » Sun Jun 13, 2010 3:44 pm

well, i just like titanium valve springs. had them in my old mustang. plus, i am not going with the stock cams, i was talking about the stock cams from a ninja. even the stock ninja cams will pep up the vulcan a little. they have a little more duration to them.

fastpakr
Posts: 68
Joined: Thu Jan 14, 2010 12:30 pm
Location: Roanoke, VA

Re: vulcan 500 hop-up

Postby fastpakr » Mon Jun 14, 2010 9:04 am

Right, I know you meant the stock EX500 cams. But if it doesn't require them, then it's a pure waste of money. If you were going to aftermarket EX500 cams, I'd understand.
1999 Vulcan 500, 23k miles
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kawboyCAFE
Posts: 127
Joined: Tue Mar 23, 2010 1:28 am

Re: vulcan 500 hop-up

Postby kawboyCAFE » Mon Jun 14, 2010 1:42 pm

well, it might not require them, i just like the peace of mind. and, by the way, most of the stuff we put on our bikes is not required, we just do it because we want too. right? i might not do any of this anyway, i was just thinking about it.

MyMrMarty
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Oct 05, 2010 9:27 pm

Re: vulcan 500 hop-up

Postby MyMrMarty » Tue Oct 12, 2010 10:27 pm

You can hop up the engine all you want but that frame and fork won't handle like a Cafe Racer. All that Rake and the Trail doesn't lend itself well to turning or going around curves.

DSM
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Mar 01, 2013 5:44 am
I ride: 2007 Vulcan 500

Re: vulcan 500 hop-up

Postby DSM » Fri Mar 01, 2013 6:17 am

I know this is an old post but I stumbled on it while surfing google. I actually turned my Vulcan into a cafe racer of sorts. It seems like most people would say "just get a proper bike to make a cafe racer," but I say there's nothing wrong with taking what you have and turning it into something you love. Sure, it may not handle like a true cafe racer, but i had tons of fun transforming it and it's much more fun to ride now, plus I think it looks much better. It pulls quicker now too after adding pod filters, free flowing mufflers and re–jetting the carbs. I will dig up some pics of my bike, I'd like to see what other Vulcan 500 riders think of what I've done.

DSM
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Mar 01, 2013 5:44 am
I ride: 2007 Vulcan 500

Re: vulcan 500 hop-up

Postby DSM » Fri Mar 01, 2013 6:40 am

Here's a pic of my bike. There's still a few things on my to do list (different tank being at the top). Let me know what you think. Thanks.
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burkbuilds
Posts: 350
Joined: Thu Jan 14, 2010 9:29 pm
Location: Rome, Georgia

Re: vulcan 500 hop-up

Postby burkbuilds » Fri Mar 01, 2013 7:36 pm

Nice Work. You obviously have a lot of talent.

DSM
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Mar 01, 2013 5:44 am
I ride: 2007 Vulcan 500

Re: vulcan 500 hop-up

Postby DSM » Fri Mar 01, 2013 9:19 pm

Thank you burkbuilds.


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