New rider from West Palm FL, soon to have a Kawi vulcan 500

[sikatrix500cc]

Hey how is everyone doin? My name is will and im a rider livin in west palm beach Florida! I used to own a nice 2011 Kawi ninja 650R but couldnt afford the payments after i lost my job so i sold it. So now im currently looking for a nice cruiser that i can use to get back and forth to medical school with and my best friend owns a honda shadow 600 and wants me to go on trips with him campin like they did on the movie wild hogs haha! i was lookin at vulcan 500cc cruiser but not sure if it would be good for my weight. im 5'11" 215 lbs. and the bike im looking at is a 2000 Kawasaki Vulcan EN500. and it has a Windshield, sissy bar, new seat cover, Saddle bags, NEW O-ring chain, new rear tire, highway bars/pegs, outlet for GPS, Battery Monitor, New Forks and 36,245 miles. for only $1600. my questions are is that a good deal, would it be ok to drive long distance at 70mph without burnin it up with super hi rpm as i know this engine redlines at 13,000 rpm and what year are these bikes carb and which are fuel injected because if its carbed im going to but a stage 3 jet kit, k&n air filters, and some nice pipes. and if its fuel injected i wanna get a power commander instead and the filters and pipes. can anyone help me lol sry its so long... THANK YOU
Will AKA Sika

[Triangles]

i was lookin at vulcan 500cc cruiser but not sure if it would be good for my weight. im 5'11" 215 lbs.

There is no shortage of power my vulcan 500's handle me, my girlfriend, and our dog just fine and well She'd kill me if I took a guess at our combined weight and put it here, suffice it to say we're not light I'm 5'9" and feel a little cramped so that might be an issue for you. I plan to try some handlebar risers to give me a more comfortable riding position. A company called Protac makes a drivers backrest for this bike if you think that would help you on long distance rides.

.... and 36,245 miles. for only $1600. my questions are is that a good deal,

The mileage is a little high but should be ok if it's been well maintained (it's not unheard of for these engines to go over 100K miles). I would think $1600 is in the ballpark as long as there isn't any additional work the bike needs. (CHECK FOR LEAKING FORK SEALS!!!!) My '94 was a great deal until I realized after the fact that I had to spend about $350 on parts to rebuild the forks. Probably would have cost twice that to have a shop do it for me.

would it be ok to drive long distance at 70mph without burnin it up with super hi rpm as i know this engine redlines at 13,000 rpm

With stock gearing 75mph is approximately 6K rpm. I've changed my sprockets from stock 16/42 to 17/38 (I had to get a rear hub from an early 90's ninja as the smallest rear sprocket for the Vulcan 500 is 40) this drops my freeway RPMs by about 800-900RPM. Click here to download a spreadsheet that will give you an idea of speed vs RPM on this bike. The engine is governed at 10K RPM not 13K. It is tuned that power drops off rapidly after 8K anyway and there is really no point in going over 9K. It's a water cooled engine so you're not going to burn anything up. The longest trip I took was about 370 miles from Northwestern Ohio to Central West Virgina. I'm probably not remembering correctly, somebody correct me here, there was a guy who rode his Vulcan 500 from New Mexico to Alaska, or something like that. I plan to do an Iron Butt Association Bun Burner 2000 challenge by riding from Columbus, OH to Las Vegas, NV in less than 48 hours. So mechanically the bike can easily handle long distance riding. The stock seat sucks and there are no aftermarket options so you'll have to be creative or have one custom made if you don't like the stock seat.

and what year are these bikes carb and which are fuel injected because if its carbed im going to but a stage 3 jet kit, k&n air filters, and some nice pipes. and if its fuel injected i wanna get a power commander instead and the filters and pipes.

there are two versions of the Vulcan 500, The Vulcan 500 (EN500A) from 90-96 and the Vulcan 500 LTD (EN500C) from 96-09. There are differences between the EN500A and EN500C but, within each of these models, there is essentially no difference other than paint color between model years. None of these were ever fuel injected. If you're looking for additional performance save your money and buy a different bike with a more powerful motor! I speak from experience. A stage 3 jet kit will get you ever so slightly increased off the line acceleration and nothing more. You will lose 5 to 10 mpg for this practically negligible added acceleration even when you're being light on the throttle. Also the stock air filter is an oiled sponge filter. In theory, a K&N might stop more dust from entering your engine but other than that it will make ZERO difference. Unless you are talking about ditching the air intake box and going with pod filters which is what would be necessary if you're going to do the stage 3 jet kit. Again you really don't gain anything noticeable except a boatload of annoying intake noise and less consistent throttle response. If you weren't so far away I'd be happy to trade you carbs so I could go back to stock!

EDIT:
Oh yea there aren't any aftermarket pipes available either. So if you want to make changes here you have to go custom. Do some searching to read about people using Harley mufflers or search google for "Dunstall vulcan 500"

[sikatrix500cc]

sweet thanks. yeah thats good it can hold my weight lol. as my friend with the shadow 600 only weighs like 130 lmao..... and yeah i mean its got the highway pegs too and the windshield so i may see if i cant find a highway handlebar for it.... there is also one other i was looking at, its a 1996 kawi vulcan 500 LTD. And it only comes with a windshield i believe BUT it only has 5000 miles on it lol which i guess its a good thing? but i know i gotta be wary of how long it sat even tho the guy said he had the carbs cleaned....i wonder if they make a hypercharger for this bike or maybe a ram air kit with a cone filter i think its called a tornado kit. i posted some diff ones i like below of the intake kits. and also i found some nice pipes for the vilcan 500 at http://www.scootworks.com/shop.cgi/page ... D_HERE#500 pics are below....... there is also a nice 2004 kawasaki vulcan 750 with 13k miles and its got a windshield, the back seat rest is tall too. and its shaft drive for $2400. not sure if the 750 is any good or if its FI or not, do you know if there FI? thanks for your time

[Triangles]

I've had unpleasant dealings with scootworks so be wary of them. They do make handlebar risers though. Being an "entry" bike the Vulcan 500 has very little aftermarket support. With a few exceptions anything you find will be universal aftermarket or something that you made to fit the Vulcan 500.
My '94 that I bought in "09 had 2900 miles on it. Previous owner said it had set for at least 10 years unused. I did do an oil change when I got it and then after the first tank to make sure I got any crud out of the engine for sitting so long. Unless the carbs are so bad that you can't get the bike to run, usually 3-5 tanks of gas thru the carbs will clean out the gum. Using some carb cleaner in the first tank will help. In my experience a gummed up carb will idle fine and then stumble and practically die when I try to go then suddenly take off like a bat out of Hell! As the carb gets cleaned out the throttle becomes more consistent and the lul upon acceleration slowly goes away.

I would would think the importance of the mileage on the bikes would depend on how long you think you'll keep the bike and how many miles you'll be putting on it. For me I plan to keep mine at least until 100K miles.

I've ridden a friends Vulcan 750. Powerwise it's similar to the 500 but, like the Shadow 600, it's v-twin vs parallel twin where the torque and HP curves are very different. Comparing the two is really apples to oranges. The Vulcan 500 has a valve adjustment interval of 6K miles. It is a pain in the ass I wish the Vulcan 500 did not have. If you're even slightly mechanically inclined you can easily do it yourself with the right tools. The Vulcan 750 has hydraulic self adjusting valve tappets (ie practically never need any maintenance). The shaft drive on the vulcan 750 is also lower maintenance but significantly more expensive to fix if something goes wrong compared to the chain drive. On my 500 I was going to get the belt drive scootworks offers until I had problems with them. Instead I've gone with a cheap loobman chain oiler so keeping my chain properly lubricated is much easier than manually cleaning and loobing every several hundred miles.

Unfortunately no Vulcan 750's were fuel injected either.

[sikatrix500cc]

Did your loobman chain lubrication come from the uk? When I look online for it thats where it shows up lol. And yeah I agree about how you chamged the oil. If I get the 500 that sat then im gonna put cheap oil in for two tanks then switch it with some good high quality mobil one synthetic oil with a k&n filter for best lubrication and best protection. And id run some carb cleaner/octane booster with a tank of 100 octane gas from the track tbrough there. Make it run insanely smooth lol. Do u like belt drive better than chain?

[Leaf]

If you go for a 90s model, try to find a '95 or earlier "A" model rather than the mid-96 and later "C". They have a little more leg-room, tubeless tires, belt drive, adjustable handlebars, and a bit higher compression pistons (same as the ninja 500) but the same cam as the "C", I believe. The engines between all models (A, C, and Ninja 500) all bolt up and share interchangeable parts, except for the A having a bit longer output shaft for the belt pulley.

The Kawi 500 twin engine will have plenty of power to pull you around. I've had mine to 110 mph, gotten scared, and backed off. It is a high-rev engine though, so it sounds like a sportbike, not the usual blat blat blat cruiser. You have to open it up and let it scream to appreciate it. If you try to lug it around at low RPM, it'll ride like a pig (and possibly wear out the top-end bearings a lot faster from the low oil pressure).

You don't need to run anything higher than 87 octane; the engine is not tuned to take advantage of the decreased detonation of higher octane fuels. Indeed, running something higher than 87 will probably just turn your headers blue.

If it affects your decision, the Kawi 500 is carbureted, whereas your 650 was fuel injected. Carbs are a pain in the you-know-what. If you don't ride it very often, the carbs will gum up and it will run badly.

Belt drive is a little less efficient than chain, but I much prefer the (vastly) lower maintenance of a belt drive. Belts are pricier than chains, but you don't have to replace them nearly as often. They require no lube. Don't ride a belt-drive bike regularly on dirt roads, though. They're much more susceptible to gravel damage than chains.

[sikatrix500cc]

I may just get the 2000 vulcan 500 even though its got 25,000 more miles that the 96. Its already got the windshield, highway pegs, saddlebags etc. im just gonna put decent air filters , the best oil and those pipesfrom scootworks. Idk about a stage 1 or 3 jet kit yrt. Dont wanna svrew the kick ass gas mileage the 500 grts. But I do want more highway oomph. Maybe ill get the diff sprockets for ftont and rear like I discissed earlier. What site has the good light sptockets for this bike like they use of sport bikes. What insurance do you guys use for ur bikes? As tjis will be my omly behicle ill be using it daily for school and on occasion long ridesvwith my dad and friemds to taste the freedom of the open road and go camping. What ridin is all about. Gotta be able to keep up with my dads vulcan 88 1500cc and my friends shadow 600 and a few harleys. Mostly on tje highway

[Triangles]

don't waste your time with the light weight aluminum sprockets if you can even find any that fit. They wear out way too fast. JT sprockets has a part finder on their web site. google for it. I don't know it off the top of my head. You should be able to find sprockets by searching by bike on bikebandit.com or motorcycle-superstore.com. I searched on hondaeasttoledo.com (my local shop) for vulcan 500 sprockets and waded thru the often confusing results. If I order online it cost me less than walking into the shop. Stock gearing you already have plenty of oomph on the freeway without down shifting. I've only heard of people making the gearing taller (lowering the RPMs) This actually makes the bike less perky on the at highway speeds. Ride it on the freeway before you decide to change anything. It may be already how you want it.

[sikatrix500cc]

Yeah thats true. Its either the vulcan 500, 750 or bigger up to the 1500. Like my father has. Then I can experiment with jardine pipes, and hyperchargers or tornado kits and what not. Do they make better upgrades for the 750? Or other make around 600cc? I like to upgrade my vehicles to peak oerformance lolol. If tbey made one id put a hypercharger or ram air on the vulcan 500

[sikatrix500cc]

I found some nice seats and what not, but idk what I wanna do with the stock seat. I do know I wamt back rests on front and back seat. So me and my passenger if I have one wamna ride comfy lol. Which should I get for my 2000 vucal 500 for long tern riding

[sikatrix500cc]

This guy has done some amazing stuff with his 500 and he is pretty big dude... Hes done a bunch and expkains exactly how, where he got his stuff from and even shows pictures. Maybe ill try to do everything he has haha

[Triangles]

This guy has done some amazing stuff with his 500 and he is pretty big dude... Hes done a bunch and expkains exactly how, where he got his stuff from and even shows pictures. Maybe ill try to do everything he has haha

im assuming you meant en500.us

[sikatrix500cc]

Lol yeah sorry. My back was killing me (got 3 herniated discs in my back, from a car crash) and the pain runs down my left leg ugh. So I took a few hydrocodones and was a little loopy lol. But ya the stuff at the time lokked amazing too me haha. Happy ridin brotha.

[burkbuilds]

Hey I own both the Vulcan 500 (2009 model) and a Vulcan 750 (2005) model and they are both great bikes. The 750 has a lot more low end torque and really handles better in the twisties, but the 500 is a better highway bike in my opinion. It will go faster and ride smoother all day. The 750 used to have accessories for it, but since they haven't made it in several years there isn't much out there for it anymore. I found a set of Jardine pipes on ebay, but I had to improvise to get a windshield the way I wanted it (made my own bracket extensions and used a windshield made for the 500) and same thing with the floorboards, I used a set made for the 500 and made my own mounting brackets in the machine shop at school. I found a guy on line that welded up a luggage rack for it , but there's nothing out there being made that fits the 750 luggage rack mounts any more and they ones on e-bay are often going for over $300 because of fierce competitive bidding. Having said that, the 750 is really fun to ride and if you don't plan on running a lot of long highway trips that might be more fun to ride simply because of the power and handling. I regularly scrape the 500 when I'm leaning to my left and it really freaks me out and makes me reticent to go into any left turns hard, but I've yet to find the bottom on the 750 and I can guarantee you I've leaned it over a lot further than the 500. The 500's engine starts easier and runs smoother, the 750 has a nice growl to it. I really like both bikes, don't ask me to give up either of them. There are a few aftermarket seats still available for the 750 but other than that, you'll be making or modifying almost anything you want to add to it.