What is the Proper Maintenance Check on bike that has been sitting for some time

[Old Drifter]

They look normal for a bike that has been sitting. Don't overthink this, just clean, re-gap them and put them back in.

[Adventure_Boy]

Hey Everyone,

So it looks like I may have some bad news. I took the spark plugs out and the tips look like there is rust on them. Does this mean there is a leak or broken seal and water may have gotten into the head? What should I do from this point?

[Pilgrim]

I'm happy with this one:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000WJX3R6/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Adventure_Boy]

Thank you for the responses! I actually have my uncles Yuasa battery in my garage but it's no longer holding a charge. Is there a way to repair the battery?

Also I was going to pick up some parts today but got confused when I read a comment about spark plugs. Is there a particular spark plug to use? The bike had NGK's but I read a comment that someone had said that you are supposed to set or make sure of the correct size gap on the spark plug before putting it in? What spark plugs do you guys use?

[drifter-paul]

You want big cranking amps, these are 4" pistons. Cold Cranking Amps (CCA) CCA is a rating used in the battery industry to define a battery's ability to start an engine in cold temperatures. ... The rating refers to the number of amps a 12-volt battery can deliver at 0°F for 30 seconds while maintaining a voltage of at least 7.2 volts.This will be listed in the battery catalogue at your supplier, can't remember the numbers, 320 seems familiar.

Regardless of the numbers, a 12V 14 Ah will be fine for a 4 cylinder 1000cc, for a big twin you need 12V 18Ah.

[Trall]

I'm running a 20 from Yuasa. AGM is acid glass mat....a sealed battery...like this one. You can find them cheaper if you look around. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Yuasa-HP-Maintenance-Free-Battery-1999-2005-Kawasaki-VN1500-Vulcan-Nomad-Drifter-/391296126340?hash=item5b1b110d84:g:yXkAAOSwnDZUBhVl&vxp=mtr

Yusa are my pic for best battery but watch out for fakes and knockoffs online. A original Yusa is going cost at least 70 on up.
My local dealer was $90 for mine.

[Troll]

I'm running a 20 from Yuasa. AGM is acid glass mat....a sealed battery...like this one. You can find them cheaper if you look around. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Yuasa-HP-Maintenance-Free-Battery-1999-2005-Kawasaki-VN1500-Vulcan-Nomad-Drifter-/391296126340?hash=item5b1b110d84:g:yXkAAOSwnDZUBhVl&vxp=mtr

[Adventure_Boy]

Walmart carries a 12V 14Ah is this not powerful enough? The manual says 12v 18ah but when searching for that particular battery the 12v 14ah comes up and says it fits in the 01 Drifter.

What is an AGM battery?

[Bucko]

Get the most powerful one that will fit and make sure it's an AGM battery.

[Adventure_Boy]

Does anyone recommend a certain battery to replace in the Drifter? Do you need a specific 12V 18Ah or will any do?

[Adventure_Boy]

Thanks to everyone continuing this post this is awesome information!

I definitely was not planning on starting with the Drifter as it is a BEAST! I am definitely going to take the MSF course to help me learn to ride as well as to hopefully get a discount on insurance. Getting a Trail Bike was a thought I had considered as my front yard is literally Desert and Mountains and I used to ride my buddy's Honda 600cc Trail Bike but he ended up selling the dang thing to someone else when I told him I would buy it from him.  I had a hard time with his 600cc not because it was a big and very fast bike but the uneven ground was difficult to maneuver in and I kept slipping on the dirt. I'm sure that was my technique though. Again not very experienced. I live in California and am also in the Desert so any off road motorcycles or vehicles are very pricey and hard to find that are still in good shape. Unfortunately I do not have the funds to fix up 2 different motorcycles while also trying to keep up with the maintenance on my current vehicles.

If I could find something cheap then I will definitely give it a go. Any recommendations on any certain trail bikes? What about Dual Sports? or Scramblers?

Thanks for the websites for the parts!

[Old Drifter]

X3 on what JagLite said! The roads are a very dangerous place today with all of the distractions.

[DC]

Welcome to the forum.  Yes, please take the MSF course if you are starting out riding.  They put you on smaller bikes to start with, whhich is the safest way to go.

[JagLite]

What a great uncle!
I encourage you to pick up a very inexpensive used small bike to learn how to ride on.
The Drifter is big and very heavy and is not a good bike to learn on.
A good start is to take the MSF (or other) motorcycle riding schools.
That is only a start though, you need to practice riding so much that it becomes natural, requires no thinking of how to do this or that.
Riding a small, light bike is much easier to get comfortable on and you will learn quicker, without the problems a big bike creates.

I strongly encourage ALL who want to learn to ride, start with a small, light DIRT BIKE.
A trail bike, not an MX (motocross) bike. MX bikes are too tall, and not good to learn on.
Not on the street, not around cars, trucks, buses, traffic, and intersections...
Riding on the street is very dangerous and requires constant and total concentration.

Buy a little pit bike, one with a clutch and gears, and head off to an empty field or trails and have fun.
A 70cc to 175cc trail bike makes an excellent and very fun bike to learn on and ride.
My wife used to ride and decided she wanted to ride again so she took the MSF course and got her license.
I bought her a Yamaha TW200 and she rode that for a while but said it was just too big and heavy for her to be comfortable on.
I bought her a Honda XR80 and she loves it!
So do I actually. I ride it a lot when we go riding.
Small and light and just plain fun to ride!
I'm 6'-4" and 190 lbs so I don't really fit on the little XR80 but it is so much fun to ride that I am building a slightly bigger version with the same small wheels.
We have let many friends ride our little XR80 and everyone loves it, including the very experienced mx riders.
Small bikes are BIG fun.

The Drifter will be there for you when you are ready for it.

Far too many new riders scare themselves and give up because they tried to learn riding on the street.
Some get seriously injured or killed too.

Learn how to ride, off road, then when riding is second nature, learn how to ride on the street.

Then you sell your little dirt bike to one of your new friends who want to learn how to ride...

[Trall]

Another question: Are there particular fluids I should be sticking to such as engine oil, coolant, clutch fluid etc...?

I've heard that for engine oil "Mobil 1's V-Twin 20w-50" is what I should be sticking with and coolant use Prestone 50/50?

If you have a Walmart close check the oil and boat fluids section.
Quicksilver V twin motorcycle  gallon Full syn 20w-50 is the best price here at $22

Quicksilver same company for Mercury boat stuff. High end company.

For brake and clutch fluids use any Dot 4 brake fluid.  All three are Dot 4 brake fluid.

Radiator fluid its old fashioned green 50/50 mix. Any brand.

[CDNRatMan]

For those missing bolts if you want to keep it original check out these two places for your parts.

http://shop.ronayersmotorcycles.com/fiche_select.asp

http://www.partzilla.com/

Metz 888 WWW front and rear...lol....looks awesome

I personally use Kawasaki Synthetic oil in my 800.

[Adventure_Boy]

Bonus points you got the seat off.....and I can see that those tires will need to be replaced. You need to put on Metz 888 WWW. it This change will improve your riding at least  65% if not 75% alone........

The seat wasn't too hard to remove as the bolts were missing haha I think they must have gotten lost after my uncle took the battery out of the bike. Thanks for the info! I will definitely be adding the Metz 888 to the list. Is that only for the rear tire? They're on sale right now too haha

Another question: Are there particular fluids I should be sticking to such as engine oil, coolant, clutch fluid etc...?

I've heard that for engine oil "Mobil 1's V-Twin 20w-50" is what I should be sticking with and coolant use Prestone 50/50?

[CDNRatMan]

  Bonus points you got the seat off.....and I can see that those tires will need to be replaced. You need to put on Metz 888 WWW. it This change will improve your riding at least  65% if not 75% alone........

[Adventure_Boy]

Thank you all so much for all the info! I will definitely be documenting the whole process and will post more pictures of the bike for you guys. I'm really excited to start this project and I can't wait! You will most likely be hearing from me again in another post in the future as this was extremely helpful! If anyone else wants to keep posting more information to this thread that would be great! The more the better!

[Old Drifter]

Hi, and welcome to the forum! As Trall said, get a Kawasaki service manual that covers your year Drifter. It's an invaluable source of info with torque values, fluid capacities and much more. It's a must have for Drifter owners. Also...did anyone mention pics? We love pics of Drifters. 

[Trall]

Is there a particular website that is popular for Drifter parts?

EBay. Generally used and sometimes new parts.   Kawasaki parts go to Partzilla.  You can type in your exact bike and look through all the parts and diagrams of it from the drop down menu.

[Adventure_Boy]

Wow! Thank you so much for all the info! That information wasn't as bad as what I was thinking and is very due-able. I will definitely be doing all the work myself. I've watched countless videos on Youtube of different things such as oil and filter changes, radiator flushes and cleaning the gas tank etc... the real problem will be finding the time to do all the work haha I'm sure if I do little by little it will be done in no time.

Is there a particular website that is popular for Drifter parts?

[Trall]

Welcome. Sounds like a really cool Uncle to have and great taste in motorcycles.  Drifters are old school cool too.

For starters if your planning on doing the work yourself change the oil and oil filter,  change the shaft drive gear oil, buy a mighty pro mini bleeder and change out your front, rear, and clutch fluids. The mighty pro makes it super easy for the first timer. Check YouTube for video on it.  Drain and replace gas.
New battery of course, I always add a Battery Tender Jr to it.
Change your spark plugs, check gap and add a dab or anti-seize to the threads.
Check that your coolant is topped off for now.
Now that should be a good starting point before you try and start the bike.
The more advanced mechanics might have some more tips before that point.

After you get the bike running -

trace down the radiator leak to fix, then do a flush and new radiator fluid. Probably a good time to change the thermostat. When I did mine it was a pain. Add a skim coat of blue or red RTV to the gasket to hold it in place. Be real careful with the four mounting screws so you don't lose them and don't  over tighten or you'll crack the plastic housing and have to replace like I did. Place some rags strategically under the housing when you remove the four screws just in case. I used a 2 foot long Phillips screw driver for screw removal and found it the best. Also added painters tape around screw and Phillips screwdriver to keep on place when installing again.

Before you add the new radiator fluid, I would change out the radiator senors for the temputure sensor and I think fan switch.  I think their is two sensors.  One for sure. They fail overtime and new ones mean you got that covered.
You'll prob need new tires and possible brake pads as well.

It sounds overwhelming but get a manual and all of it can be done.

Good luck. 

[CDNRatMan]

 Hang tight and our wealth of knowledgeable people will be here shortly to let you know what you have to plan for or what to do.

[Adventure_Boy]

Hello Everyone,

This is my first post and I tried searching for a forum on this topic but could not find one.

I recently was given a 2001 Drifter 1500 from my Uncle that passed away last year. This is the first motorcycle I've owned and I consider myself extremely lucky as the Drifter is awesome and it has a lot of sentimental value as it was something I bonded with my uncle over.

A little history of what the motorcycle has been through. My uncle was a firefighter in California and on his off times he would travel. He's told me stories of traveling cross country from the ocean of California through the middle of the US to the ocean of Maine. He then went South and went through Florida and Georgia and head back that way to California. He has also gone through Canada and went to Montreal and even ridden to Alaska. The bike only had a windshield attached with some saddlebags. He wanted to prove he was a Hardcore rider that did not need to have a touring motorcycle or having the luxury most people require to do cross country trips. He also wanted to accomplish these tasks and say that he did it all on a Kawi and NOT A HARLEY! He said Harley riders would always give him crap for having a Kawasaki until my uncle told them the trips he has taken on that Drifter. He said they shut up after he told them haha My uncle would camp in tents on the side of the road. So the bike has definitely seen some adventure and has miles on it.

From my understanding its all the same parts as he had when he road. The only aftermarket thing he added was Vance and Hines straight pipes and chrome grips. I think he purchased it new so there has only been 1 owner. My uncle became very busy and could not find the time to ride. He was actually going to take me on a trip and teach me how to ride when I got my first motorcycle. Interesting that after he passed his motorcycle was given to me as my first motorcycle and I plan on fixing it up and taking it on a trip myself. My uncle had stated that the bike needed some work but I don't know how much work he was thinking. Its been sitting for at least 1.5 - 2 years as he passed away this time last year. My uncle removed the battery and I'm not sure if it was because it wouldn't hold a charge or because the bike was sitting too long. I have it in my garage but I do not know if it will hold a charge. I have not attempted to start it as its been sitting for too long with fluids left inside so I'm guessing that would end horribly. Also there seems to be a small green coolant leak dripping from the "engine vent hose?" not sure what its called but it hangs freely on the right side of the radiator. I was told it was the mechanical seal for the water pump that needs to be changed however when researching the parts for the water pump no mechanical seal shows up unless there is another name for it. The only seal I've found was a 9mm O-Ring.

I don't know much about motorcycles so the BIG question I have is: What are the steps I need to take before trying to start the bike? Is there a check list of things I need to look for first? Any info is appreciated! Thank you fellow Drifters!