When did you first realize...

[DC]

From a practical perspective, I'm trying to remember how you coordinate using the hand shifter.  I remember guys on Indians doing the daredevil shows when I was a kid, but I don't remember how they coordinated the throttle and shifter.  So what do you do, let go of the throttle, then clutch with your left hand and hold the bar straight, while quickly shifting with the right, then grabbing the throttle, then releasing the clutch?  Is that how you do it, or is there some other more practical way?

If I did the hand shift mod, I can envision the linkage being steampunk inspired.

[marshalldoll]

The hand shift is a no brainer. After the first few shifts it becomes second nature. Ma Kaw makes lots of nice things you just have to make them fit our drifters. My top rail around the Indian head light is also MaKaw item. I did have the down linkage fabricated for the hand shifter. When you purchase it from Ted it is just a straight bar and I thought it needed something to dress it up. I am not sure what you mean by Salty. I'm an old fart!! LOL
Dan

[David Baker]

Dan, Didn't know Kawi made a hub cap, I picked up an HD cap and enlarged the hole then fit it to the back side of the speedo drive (notched it out at the cable, doesn't show) speedo drive and cap are now one and come off together. Used a sort of super glue that came with some sort of sand beads that you sprinkled on that acted as a hardening agent (bought it at a gun show) really bonded well. I take it you have to let off the throttle to shift, How hard is that to get used to? How salty is the shifter kit and the rotor cover if you don't mind my asking?
Thanks, Bake

[marshalldoll]

Bake to answer a few of your questions. I used a Kawasaki front hub cover. I too had to make it just a bit larger to fit then used grub screws to hold it in place. It also has the cut out for the cable. The other side is the Kawasaki OEM rotor cover ( Chief has them for sale on this site ) you do have to mod it just a bit to fit and then I had it powdercoated black and I aldo powdercoarted the hub cover black. I replacede the front reflectors with antique style bicycle reflectors. I found them on ebay. The shifter is from Ted Struble and is also available through this site. I love the hand shifter and use quite a bit.
Dan

[pcarrell]

The Drifter is truly in a class of its own. If the (new) Indians were half as good they would have been a raging success. (Imho)

Regards and such,
49Reo

You got that right!

[49Reo]

Having long been a fan of the (original) Indian motorcycles, and knowing I could never afford one and not caring for the new Indians, ( the adage about no matter how much perfume you put on a pig comes to mind when I see one), when I first saw a Drifter, the hunt was on. Finally picked my '02 1500 up in January 2008; it was even better than I expected. Much better than any Harley I have ever owned, including  "Frankenstein", the Harley trike I own now. The Drifter is truly in a class of its own. If the (new) Indians were half as good they would have been a raging success. (Imho)

Regards and such,
49Reo

[adeyar]

Three weeks ago. I've been looking at Roadstars for a while; customs, price, cost to trick out, etc... While sitting in the break room at work I was talking to a coworker about the "classic cruiser" type bike I was looking for. He showed me a couple of Drifters and the search was on. I brought it home last Sunday.

[testpilot]

Thanksgiving day 2011 my youngest brother was home from a couple hours away. We were outside enjoying a cigar and got to talking about bikes. He's been riding the last several years including logging over 30,000 miles in 2010! I'd never ridden a motorcycle in my life, although I have about 60,000 miles in my legs on bicycles. Well anyway we were talking about his motorcycle and he told me I should get one and we could ride together. I told him I've always said if I ever got one, it would be an Indian or a Victory. That thought stuck in my mind the rest of the day. That evening after everyone was gone, I sat in front of my computer for several hours looking. I started with Indian but sticker shock convinced me to look further. Victory was my next choice and there were several good one-owner candidates in my price range at dealers in the area. Friday I was off work so I sneaked out of the house to go look. I found two really good Victory candidates in my price range and told the guy I wanted to look around more. After several more stops at Honda and HD dealers, my last stop was to a Victory/Polaris dealer near home. I walked in and around their showroom and there it was! Every thought of owning a Victory vanished and I was in love. The Ebony/Silver 2005 Vulcan Drifter 1500 had 5,020 miles on the clock, a set of leather bags, was pristine in all respects and even had new whitewalls. I was tempted  to buy it on the spot but needed time to settle down and needed to ease my wife into the idea. The next weekend, my brother rode up and I took him out to look at it. He was impressed with my find. After rechecking the other places I had visited earlier we stopped for lunch. He told me if I didn't get the Drifter, he was seriously thinking about going after it. I think I made three more visits to the dealer after that. I finally made an offer and negotiated a deal for $6,000, a new windshield and a modular, full faced helmet. On December 10th, my friend Jim and I went to pick it up. Remember, I had never ridden before. Jim was happy to ride it home for me in spite of the 18F weather that day! We took it to the church parking lot at the end of the road and I drove it around there for about 15 minutes until I could feel my fingers or toes anymore. We then took it back to my house and put it to bed for the winter. I was the first to sign up for the MSF Rider course scheduled at the end of March. I passed with flying colors and have had a wonderful summer. October 13th my brother and I rode from Cleveland, OH to our brother's home in Mebane, NC near Raleigh. Riding though the hills of WV and VA during peak leaf season was awesome. We put 1,100 miles on that weekend. I might be able to grab a few more rides before the rain, snow and ice set in. My Drifter's birthday is coming up soon then it will be bedtime again for my baby. When people show me their baby pictures, I always get mine out. I have a showroom view, a speedometer view, a front view, two side views, a back view and a windshield on view.

[jmbo]

I alway love the Drifter from the first time I saw them back in '99. I liked the idea of a totally modern machine with a retro look.  Bur no way could I afford one.  My hobbies leave me with a lot of hungry mouths to feed.  Too many to spend upwards of ten grand for a bike.

Like many my age I road Brit bikes as a kid.  My son went through a number of bikes before one finally stuck.  He started with enduros then a couple of ugly street bikes, a crotch rocket, a vintage Triumph then finally a Triumph Speedmaster.  I caught the bug from him and bought a '95 Triumph Thunderbird.  It was a great bike and what I could afford.  Burned up the back roads for six years and put 15K on the clock.

Then the boy jumped ship. He picked up an '04 Harley Davidson FLHPT Ex-Police Cruiser.  Last summer five of us took a road trip to northern Wisconsin. I decided then and there that my needs changed and I wanted a cruiser.  I wanted a Drifter.  For the next four months I cruised Yazak collecting every Drifter ad from all over the country until one popped up near by. I put the Bird on Craig's List and only one guy answered my ad.....and he bought it. Paid me $300 less than I paid back in '06. Three days later I was on the car ferry heading to Michigan to buy my 1500 Drifter.  $3200 and she was finally mine.  The rest will be history in the making.

[DC]

I started riding in the late 70s with a Honda 650.  By the early 80s, I was having a rough patch and had to sell a lot of stuff including my bike (rebuilt after being hit head on by a van . . . long story).

Fast forward to late 1999/2000 timeframe and I started seeing the Drifter commercials.  What a radical looking bike!  I really was gripped by it's looks.  I said to myself, if I ever ride again, that would be the bike I'd get.

The past 3 years, I've looked mostly at Victory bikes, but was never drawn to pull the trigger.  Then this year at the end of the summer, a guy near where I work had a 99 Drifter for sale on his front lawn.  Just seeing it, triggered that visceral response to be drawn to it.  I went over the guy's house and checked it out a few times, took lots of pics, and thought I might be buying it.  But the guy was way too high (in price) and would not come down to reality.  There were a few other things about it that logic caused me to pass on it.  So the hunt was on.  I did detailed searches all over the country and, as it turned out, my new bike was only 5 hours away.  I picked up my 2001 1500 last month, and I'm just ecstatic to call this machine my own.   

[David Baker]

Dan, That's some serious transformation brother! Tons of questions for you... Did you epoxy the HD hub cap to the speedo? That's what I wound up doing to mine, After using a Dremel to enlarge the hole. Where did you get the front disc cover/was it chrome? Do you use the suicide shift/functional? I noticed the badges where the front side reflectors were, They almost look like Pontiac emblems, What are they? I must say that look is full blown retro! Great job! I dig it!
"Bake"

[marshalldoll]

If you go over to members pictures on this site I have pictures posted of how my 1500 looked when I first purchased her and the transformation. The pictures are under Marshalldoll
Dan

[pcarrell]

I'm not sure if that's been done before, but I don't remember one.  Why don't we give you the honors of starting it......it is your idea!

[David Baker]

Has anybody here ever started a thread with the before and after of their Drifters? I think that would be interesting to see how everybody made the transformation to personalizing their rides and how they got where they are now.

[marshalldoll]

I had sold my 48 Harley and had not ridden in 10 years and decided that I wanted to purchase an Indian but wanted a modern ride instead of the kidney breaker rigid this time. I started looking at the 2000 05 2001 Indian with the S&S but was having a hard time forking over the money especially after all the bad publicity they were getting. One day I was on Craig's List and up Popped the Drifter. The picture really knocked me out so I made the appointment to see her and bought her on the spot. It was bone stock when I purchased her and over the past few years have dressed her to my liking and I call her my Pretendian. In my opinion it is the best motorcycle I have ever owned and I have been on two wheels since I was 15 and I am now 63. I will go to the grave with this bike.
Dan

[pcarrell]

My wife has Muscular Dystrophy, and it's degenerative, so as the last of our children grow up and move out we wanted to find something that we could be active doing until that time when she can no longer do those sorts of things.  We were looking at sports cars at first (an old MGA and a perfectly restored and mildly modified Porsche 914 were almost the winners), though we had kicked around the idea of a bike.  Then my wife found a Craigslist ad for a black 2001 Drifter 1500 that was a few hours away.  The next day we rented a trailer (it was snowing outside) and drove to Chicago to pick it up.  The guy fired it up and I knew it had to be ours!

[ChilliDrift]

I first saw an advertisement for one in 99. I've always been a bit different in my life. As soon as I saw it I knew I wanted one. I decided to take some money out of my savings, pay off some lingering little bills and buy a bike. I looked at several across the country on cycle trader but only had about 5 k to play with.  I eventually found my bike listed online and after several not returned emails, I decided to look up the shops address and stop in. The bike wasn't in the showroom so I chalked it up as sold and their sales staff not keeping up with the online ads. I asked the one sales guy after he got off the phone about it, and it was in the back being worked on. He took me back in the shop and it was back against the wall, dirty,seat off and according to the mechanic wouldn't stay running. The PO had put a set of long shots on it and didn't upgrade the control module. These guys were salvage place that did rebuilds and took the Drifter in on trade for a HD.  They said they were going to order a power cmdr and would call me when it came in. They wanted 6k for it with no extras and missing the grab rail. Anyway, after a week I called them back, they said come up and ride it. So I did. They had the idle set very low like some do with HDs. It wouldn't stay running. Anyway I adjusted the idle up and took it for a ride. Idnt really care that it was running crappy. Its 13 yrs old and hadn't been taken all that good of care of . I told them I Offered 4750 out the door and they took it. I should of offered 3500.. oh well. After riding it, I knew it was going home with me. It progressively got to running better and better, with an oil,air,plug and tire change. It was well on its way. I started running premium and put in some Lucas fuel injector cleaner which did wonders for it. Adjusted the idle back down after a short time of riding it  was running better by cleaning the injectors I guessed. And 11000 mi later I'm extremely happy and looking forward to next summer. I hadn't rode in 6 yrs so it was great for my mental health to get back on a bike.  I'm really trying to decide if I want to keep the original paint or not.  Time will tell. I have fallen for the Kawasaki engineering so much, I am thinking of getting a Voyager or a Vaquero as well. Keeping the Drifter to ride solo. We do mostly 2 up riding. So I think I should have one of the other two for 2up. Probably an 09 Voyager. The price is right. Those new vaqueros are basicly the same bike with different style. That style isn't worth another 5 grand. My Drifter has style.  I'll be happy with that for now.

[chief]

I was looking for a replacement/addition for my 98 HD RK... I had searched for a while and found NOTHING that tripped my trigger. I had a bike mag that listed all the new 2001 models. That was the first time I saw a Drifter. I was looking for modern tech, FI and non-chain drive. I searched Kaw dealers in the State and found the one I wanted... by now it was 2002. Drove the 100 miles in Feb... bought it and rode it home. The RK disappeared soon thereafter,

[CDNRatMan]

Decided about 3 ears ago I needed to buy a bike again to make my life full once more. Was looking at a FXS Low rider Harley or something like that, could not find one in the price range or the years I was interested in, then was actually looking at a sporty that had the fatbob look, and I was close to getting it, but then it was sold out from under me, good thing. I then was interested in the Ural's, and happened to see a pic  of a 99 Drifter 800, and was smitten, so called the guy and it was sold, darn it...not the words I used. So for three years I kept looking and hunting, honestly I can not remember seeing any 1500's for sale in ON while I was looking, and I was looking province wide. Then last summer there seemed to be a few 99's for sale, and a hockey sock of 200?'ings for sale so I found the 99 that I bought and it has been really nice. Of course bought it at the Kelly blue book price of $2,500.00 had to replace the front and rear sprockets and chain as they were original ...so not a big lose on it...and found this site with some really cool people and then the others.....lol....

[David Baker]

Since this site is dedicated to Drifter owners and lovers, I'm curious to know when and where everyone realized that a Drifter was the bike you wanted or had to have?

For me it was the Summer of 2008 while on a group ride from Central PA to Dragons Tail in NC. Twelve Bikes and fifteen people on a 12 hr straight run from York, Pa to Stecoah, NC to meet up with two locals for a weekend of riding in some of the most majestic and windy mountain roads in the area. John, One of our local guides pulls up on a '99 1500, I had never seen or heard of them before, I was hooked! I spent the better part of the four day trip with questions to John about this vision of stylized beauty before me, Like a little kid with a grade school crush. John was very gracious and patient with going over everything about the Drifter, Features, History, How they rode and handled, Cost etc. I could see how much he truly appreciated this magnificent work of art. Prior to this encounter I had what most uniformed guys have... My "Harley Fund"  this was soon scrapped for the search of a Drifter, One year later I found her and was able to buy it outright (No Payments) I now have the pleasure of explaining to others about the qualities and joy of owning a Drifter just as John did... With grace and patience.