Buying first Drifter 800, what to look out for

[CDNRatMan]

  Suzie:
Did you pick up that 800 in St Kitts? Or what did you pick and where?

[Suzie]

Suzie:
Is that the 02 on St. Catherines? It looks to be in decent shape. It does have a few of the items you will be hard pressed to find, engine guard, saddle bags and windscreen. I would at least go and look at it. If you check the prices of Drifter 800's across Canada at the present time you will see that they are running from the lowest price $4,500.00 to the high of $6,000.00. That particular 800 has been on Kijiji for awhile, so you should be able to talk them down a bit. I would call and offer $4,000.00 and see what the reaction is. Perhaps some of our Ontario member when they wake up can weigh in what they think is a fair price in Ontario for a Drifter. When I bought mine the start price the seller was asking for was $5,000.00.
If or rather once you buy your Drifter, you will be so happy you will be on cloud nine all the time. Also don't forget I am going to be hosting a Drifter event here in North Bay 28th July till Aug 1st, you are invited no matter what bike you ride. Check it out on the forum.....

http://www.vulcandrifterriders.com/forum/index.php?topic=44427.0

Thank you

[Old Drifter]

Well sorry if some of us "drifted" away onto other stuff but it was all in the name of how marvelous our bikes are and why everybody should own one, and in my case why I decided not to sell

Not complaining, no apologies needed...Drifting off topic is OK.     Thought I missed the new Drifter...just sayin'.

[Zoar]

Well sorry if some of us "drifted" away onto other stuff but it was all in the name of how marvelous our bikes are and why everybody should own one, and in my case why I decided not to sell

Yes, it is quite understandable and I often drift away either when riding or when contemplating or writing about my 800 Drifter of discussing Drifters as a whole, any part of them and any flavor of them.

Drift A Way.

[Tfrank59]

Is there a new owner of an 800 Drifter yet? This thread seems to go on and off topic...I lost track. Did I miss it??? 

Well sorry if some of us "drifted" away onto other stuff but it was all in the name of how marvelous our bikes are and why everybody should own one, and in my case why I decided not to sell

[Zoar]

Is there a new owner of an 800 Drifter yet? This thread seems to go on and off topic...I lost track. Did I miss it??? 

'Last I heard the topic was scheduled inspections, paint, etc. It does not seem to me that there is a new 800 Drifter owner.

I can tell the almost 800 Drifter owner that I started mine and let it run and I listened to the music of its deep voice and admired it lines all with the garage door open and snow on the ground outside and not for a minute have I ever regretted buying my 800 Drifter.

It is enjoyable art and music even when it is winter in NY State.

[Old Drifter]

Is there a new owner of an 800 Drifter yet? This thread seems to go on and off topic...I lost track. Did I miss it??? 

[Tfrank59]

Well a little feedback on the header wrap painting... The stuff I used underneath the wraps, which was supposed to be some sort of ceramic high heat paint, didn't really do the job and cracked away up near the flanges.  And of course with the many heat cycles from riding a few times the white wraps are now more like tan/brown, but they look OK and stopped stinking once everything got fully cured. All in all I'm pretty happy with the job, but if/when I do it again I won't put more than one coat of header paint underneath the wraps.

[Tfrank59]

turned out nice....   What do you use to paint the wraps with??

Yeah there are basically two choices one is to try and seal them from water and stuff with high heat silicone and the other is just to give the wraps longer life with high heat paint I'm going to go with the latter.

[CDNRatMan]

  duh paint of course....lol......heat resistant......

[greenbarn]

turned out nice....   What do you use to paint the wraps with??

[Tfrank59]

Okay, here's the skinny girl with the new custom exhaust.  budget for this project: $200.  Actual cost (so far): $180.  Thank you ebay.  Just need to paint the thermal wraps. 

[Zoar]

Once you break the seal, you then lift and move it to the right and it slides right out, if you have three hands it can make it really easy................

Wow, I always wondered what that third hand was for!

[CDNRatMan]

 Once you break the seal, you then lift and move it to the right and it slides right out, if you have three hands it can make it really easy................

[Tfrank59]

Ok set the record straight, The manual calls for the first inspection at 30,000, second at 60,000 I bought my bike and at 30, 000 did the inspection. The engine does not have to be taken out of the bike. You need to remove the seat, and the fuel tank. I am doing my 60,000 valve check today and will take pictures because really it is simple, if you can find TDC on the piston you can do the job and it takes less than an hour once you have everything ready. When I did mine last time everything was bang on so a simple check.
Also in the manual there is a chart that tells you which shim to use in each case required, so simply take one out replace it and start your check over till it all mets up and is correct. The rear cylinder cover is the only hard part and it just requires a little finesse to get it out. But the engine does not have to come out........

Well that's a relief because I got to looking at that rear cylinder and it sure looks tight. Who wants to take the motor out just to check valve clearances?!

[CDNRatMan]

  My mechanic buddy had a family emergency today. So we will be doing the Valves either Sat or Monday. I will make a picture document of the steps required, now that being said I am not a mechanic nor even close to one, but the last time we did this Dave came over and read from the manual for me and I did the work. I just have a hard time with finding TDC and he told me that there is a really simple way for doing that on a VN 800 engine. But the steps are fairly simple,
remove seat;
remove tank;
there is 2 rad hose bolts on each side of the engine need to be loosened or removed so the hoses can be moved around;
remove the hose connecting the two covers;
remove spark plug;
remove the three bolts from the cover;
you might need to tap the covers, not hard DO NOT use a screwdriver here, there is a rubber gasket that is reusable.
it is like opening a jar you need to just tap the cover to break the seal.
remove the covers;
open the inspection plugs on the engine left side to check for TDC
then with your manual see that the shims are the correct ones with feeler gauges,
there is an o ring that needs to be greased inside the cover were the spark plug comes in.
Best way to remove the spark plug is with the tools from the tool kit,
in fact this whole job can be done with the tools from the tool kit other then feeler gauges.
The covers come off and with a wee bit of finess they will slide out to the right side of the engine,
when you replace the covers make sure the gasket is not twisted or pinched, it is visible.
I will be making a picture document of the steps involved shortly.

[Old Drifter]

Good info CDNRatMan! When I saw this post, I knew you'd respond since you've done it before and are doing it again soon.

[CDNRatMan]

  Ok set the record straight, The manual calls for the first inspection at 30,000, second at 60,000 I bought my bike and at 30, 000 did the inspection. The engine does not have to be taken out of the bike. You need to remove the seat, and the fuel tank. I am doing my 60,000 valve check today and will take pictures because really it is simple, if you can find TDC on the piston you can do the job and it takes less than an hour once you have everything ready. When I did mine last time everything was bang on so a simple check.
Also in the manual there is a chart that tells you which shim to use in each case required, so simply take one out replace it and start your check over till it all mets up and is correct. The rear cylinder cover is the only hard part and it just requires a little finesse to get it out. But the engine does not have to come out........

[Tfrank59]

I think the idea with the 6000 miles on valves is to check them, and if they're out of spec to adj with shims.  I have 13k on my 06 and don't plan to do anything unless engine performance or valve train sound changes.

[UGLY]

I ride a 1500-99 Drifter. Four days ago looked at a 800 . AT 75 I still put 2500 up k on my bike  in  b.c and alberta.during the summer the 800 has shims to adj. valves and I understand has to be done every 6000 miles with the engine taken out. expensive if not done oneself. Wow sure like the looks of the800    c/l Kelona b.c.

[Zoar]

Excellent! Glad you are investing in your Drifter. I started mine up over the weekend. It sounded beautiful as always. Did not have time to ride it even tough we had nice weather. I saw about 8 bikes on the road Sunday. I plan to invest  more into mine as well. I have soft bags on it and even though they look quite 1939-ish they don't really have much room in them and/or are that conducive for when I start longer over night rides.

Best bike ever!

[Tfrank59]

Well that settles it. I bought myself some fishtail exhaust and I'm going to keep this girl at least for the foreseeable future.  Once I get the pipes I'll have to do some custom work and will post pics when done.

[CDNRatMan]

  well time to add them WWW's to make her pretty and then when your wife wants you sell it put i back on CL and ask for $85,000.00 and tell the missus you have it listed but strange no one is calling you......

[Tfrank59]

 Yeah I just took her out today for a short ride and reminded myself how much I like this bike. And you're right, it doesn't cost me a thing except tabs every year and very little room in the garage to store it.

[Old Drifter]

Well I deleted my ad on craigslist, at least for now. (some flake in California wanted to try and pay by check even though the ad clearly says "cash and local pick up only")  I'm going to hang onto the girl for a while and if my wife bugs me at all to sell it, like later in the season, I might put it back up for sale but I really want to keep it. After all I bought it because I like it!  I love the way the bike looks and I really enjoy riding it. What else is there?

Glad to hear that you're keeping it, good decision. You know what you have and it doesn't eat much sitting there.