Too many used drifter for sale!

[chief]

Kawasaki experts told us years ago that the numbers weren't specific to Drifters... except in 99.

[John Hopkins]

Ok...more confusion about numbers...My R1 was built in July of 2000 and has a serial number  099....The majority of the bikes here at the Drift-In are J models...

That ties in with my theory..

Mine is a J1 with a high number so a lot were made..

The J2 probably started at 0001 again..

Yours is probably the 99th of the R1 models..

And the reason mine has a high number is probably because they did a big run to test the market in 1999 - 2000 before changing to the J2 which must have been a limited run because that is listed as 2001 and shares that year with the R1..of course if your R1 was built in 2000 that means that Haynes has got their facts wrong.

It would be interesting to know who has the highest number of each model..J1, J2, R1, R2, R3, and R4...that should give us a guide line as to which are the rarest..

John.

[Drifter1500]

Ok...more confusion about numbers...My R1 was built in July of 2000 and has a serial number  099....The majority of the bikes here at the Drift-In are J models...

A 2000 model year would a a J2. I find it strange they would build a bike that many months in advance. But I guess anything is possible. It might take three or four months just to get through Customs, maybe that's why.

[Troll]

Ok...more confusion about numbers...My R1 was built in July of 2000 and has a serial number  099....The majority of the bikes here at the Drift-In are J models...

[John Hopkins]

Does your bike have the blackout option? That would mean that it was produced in either 99 or 00, the 99 year had the most produced. Mine is an 00 model and was manufactured in January of 2000 with a low serial number for that year. 2000 being the lowest number production of the years produced. Indian Motorcycle brought a lawsuit against Kawasaki because the bike resemble the Indian Chief to much which halted production in 2000. That is why the following years had more chrome and polished aluminum on them, to make them look more different than the Chief of the 1947 era. Their is no doubt that the Drifter is a collector item, I have been offered good money for mine. But choose to hang on to it because I searched high and low to find the right one.  Some of them out their are total rags, and it would cost you more to bring it back than the bike will ever be worth. I found one that was in pristine condition and really needed nothing, lucky find. Now that Indian is back in production it will be interesting what the value of these will do. I am sure the new Indian will not be an inexpensive bike by far, I heard Victory bought them out. It all has to do with the styling of this fine machine. And the folks at Polaris saw it coming. Harley's are becoming a bike of the past, they no longer have a strong hold on the V twin market.

I'm not too sure that I would agree with you about the Harley becoming a bike of the past..Harleys are a status symbol, many people here are still buying them, even the old ones never get thrown in a barn and forgotton..

As to the age of mine, as I said it is a J1, it was first registered in July 2001 but is the black no chrome model with the 16 litre tank, the engine number is 4527, but the evidence suggests to me that the engine numbers are shared between all the engines across all the models ie: Classic, Nomad/Classic tourer, Vulcan VN1500, and Drifter.. This would make mine the 4527th J1 engine to be made..

9,000 over six years and divided between all the different countries that sold them suggests that if each country sold the same number they would have only sold 200 bikes per year in each country..now obviously you have to allow for the different amount of people in each country, compare Ireland and the USA for instance, and then you have to consider that Europe has many countries in it, France, Germany, Holland, and many others..but it is still a very low number..Now in my case I have a 1999 model that wasn't sold until 2001, this suggests that most of the Drifters were made as J1s so the J2, R1, R2, R3, and R4 may be very rare indeed.

John.

[dakuhosu]

Drifters, no doubt a sound investment.

[Drifter1500]

If your figures are correct, looking at my own 1500 Drifter which was registered on 3rd of July 2001 and counting back on the serial numbers seems to have been manufactured in about June 2000, and is a 1999 model..I have drawn a few unscientific conclusions...

Most of the 9,000 1500s could have been made in the 1999 'J' model..

The time it took for my Drifter to be registered suggests that it sat in a showroom for a long time before selling..maybe others did too..

Therefore maybe Kawasaki overestimated the initial market..or they were late supplying dealers..or because of the POG problem with earlier VN1500s people just did not trust the model..

Whatever the reason it seems to me that there are probably a lot more of the 1999 models with the 16 litre tank than any other model.

(These conclusions are a guess based only on my bike which was sold in Great Britain and the situation may be very different in the USA and Canada and other countries)

9,000 spread all over the world, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Great Britain, Ireland, Canada, the USA, and Japan and any other country then divided by the six years of production means that we had better look after these bikes, because in a few years you won't be able to buy one for love or money..

John.

Does your bike have the blackout option? That would mean that it was produced in either 99 or 00, the 99 year had the most produced. Mine is an 00 model and was manufactured in January of 2000 with a low serial number for that year. 2000 being the lowest number production of the years produced. Indian Motorcycle brought a lawsuit against Kawasaki because the bike resemble the Indian Chief to much which halted production in 2000. That is why the following years had more chrome and polished aluminum on them, to make them look more different than the Chief of the 1947 era. Their is no doubt that the Drifter is a collector item, I have been offered good money for mine. But choose to hang on to it because I searched high and low to find the right one.  Some of them out their are total rags, and it would cost you more to bring it back than the bike will ever be worth. I found one that was in pristine condition and really needed nothing, lucky find. Now that Indian is back in production it will be interesting what the value of these will do. I am sure the new Indian will not be an inexpensive bike by far, I heard Victory bought them out. It all has to do with the styling of this fine machine. And the folks at Polaris saw it coming. Harley's are becoming a bike of the past, they no longer have a strong hold on the V twin market.

[John Hopkins]

I can clear up a couple of questions the OP had.

The USA market never got the 1999 Drifter 800, though Canada did.  The 800cc arrived in the states "officially" for the 2000 model year.

According to Kawasaki Heavy Industries.......
1. ALL Drifters were made at the Akashi plant in Japan.
2. The data I've been given shows approximately 9000 units were made in total for each cc group globally, with a total of approximately 600 units of each cc group sold to the Canadian market during the life cycle of these model.So, the answer is 9000 1500's throughout the world and 9000 800's. Sorry don't know how many were sold in the USA... but likely the bulk were sold in NA.

No real word on the 400cc Japan only model, but that just has to be the rarest one of all.

If your figures are correct, looking at my own 1500 Drifter which was registered on 3rd of July 2001 and counting back on the serial numbers seems to have been manufactured in about June 2000, and is a 1999 model..I have drawn a few unscientific conclusions...

Most of the 9,000 1500s could have been made in the 1999 'J' model..

The time it took for my Drifter to be registered suggests that it sat in a showroom for a long time before selling..maybe others did too..

Therefore maybe Kawasaki overestimated the initial market..or they were late supplying dealers..or because of the POG problem with earlier VN1500s people just did not trust the model..

Whatever the reason it seems to me that there are probably a lot more of the 1999 models with the 16 litre tank than any other model.

(These conclusions are a guess based only on my bike which was sold in Great Britain and the situation may be very different in the USA and Canada and other countries)

9,000 spread all over the world, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Great Britain, Ireland, Canada, the USA, and Japan and any other country then divided by the six years of production means that we had better look after these bikes, because in a few years you won't be able to buy one for love or money..

John.

[pcarrell]

I can clear up a couple of questions the OP had.

The USA market never got the 1999 Drifter 800, though Canada did.  The 800cc arrived in the states "officially" for the 2000 model year.

According to Kawasaki Heavy Industries.......
1. ALL Drifters were made at the Akashi plant in Japan.
2. The data I've been given shows approximately 9000 units were made in total for each cc group globally, with a total of approximately 600 units of each cc group sold to the Canadian market during the life cycle of these model.So, the answer is 9000 1500's throughout the world and 9000 800's. Sorry don't know how many were sold in the USA... but likely the bulk were sold in NA.

No real word on the 400cc Japan only model, but that just has to be the rarest one of all.

[aralph]

  Brought mine up from Cleveland. Pretty simple process, some paper work and give the government some money of course to re-register the bike in Canada.
Couldn't seem to find a 1500 in Ontario, but plenty of 800's to choose from. It was funny to see how many people offered to sell me Nomads and Classics when my ad clearly stated "looking for a 1500 Drifter".

aralph

[49Reo]

Greenbarn, you need to check with both U.S. border control as well as the Canadian border patrol to get the info required. Bringing one to Canada isn't too bad, can't imagine it is too difficult to take one to the U.S. either.

[Nanook]

As you can see in my link an 800 sell from 3 000$ to 5 000$ and 1500 go as far as 6 500$. It's normally around 50/50 800/1500. Importing a motorcycle is simplier than it looks especially between Canada and US since they usually share the same product with same specifications. If you want to learn more go to https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/297/~/permanently-importing-a-motorcycle
If somebody need help in translating an ad from my previous posting your welcome.

Rob

[CDNRatMan]

 well if you give me them green peices of paper with a serial number and Ben Franklin's face on it.....oh like 40 of them it would be a done deal....lol.....

[greenbarn]

Well, that would be AWFULLY nice of you to give me a bike Ratman,  I would surely appreciate that...

[CDNRatMan]

if I remember correctly it is easier to take one of ours into the US then to bring one over here. You should check into what the law is if someone gave you a bike to import to the states.......if I gave you a bike and you wanted to take it home....mmmmmmm
I did a check on each province late last night and QC does seem to have the most Drifters on the market then any others. Never thought to see what the ratio of 1500 vs 800's was though

[greenbarn]

Quebec must be the Drifter Capital - when I bought mine, I went 200 miles North.  My second choice was 200 miles South.  There were actually a couple closer, but nothing I wanted compared to these first two.  Every time I look (frequently), as I've been keeping my eye out for a good deal on a 1500,  there are very few around here.   Hmmm maybe a road trip to Quebec is in order?

Hey, Ratman, what would one need to do to "import" a motorized vehicle into the states?  Any idea??

[Drifter1500]

Not here in the States, these bikes are far and few to be found. and when you do find one, if it is in good shape get your wallet out. You can expect to pay twice blue book value for a good one. I wonder what a 1500 Drifter would bring North of the border? These bikes were produced in limited numbers across the globe compared to most brands and make. I'll bet only 6,000 1500 were produced over a six year period. And you have to ask how many of those are still on the road. The 800 is a different story, I think more of them were made and distributed to Canada, US  and Europe. I would like to get my hands on a 400 for the wife, but they bring ultra big bucks, then you have to pay shipping to the States. I may be wrong on the numbers, but I bet not by much.

[CDNRatMan]

 WOW, Rob there must have been a bunch in QC because I look on ON kijiji almost everyday and there is a few but they are far between and not a lot of them. I have looked as far as BC and west they are not a lot. Unless they are just lucky that a bunch of people listed at the same time. When I bought mine there was like 5 across ON for sale.

[Nanook]

Just wondering about the situation on used drifter for sale. I read somewhere that only 800 drifter were sold in Canada, and i'm still a bit sceptical since I know dealer near me that bought 50 drifter when kawa was liquidating them and sold them quite easily. When I look at the classified around me there are no less then 8 drifter for sale. Of course those canadian price are way up there. But I was wondering if it's the same elsewhere, or are we just drifter freak or just kucky?
http://qc.kijiji.ca/f-kawasaki-drifter-Annonces-W0QQKeywordZkawasakiQ20drifterQQisProvinceSearchZtrueQQisSearchFormZtrue

Thanks.
Rob