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Posted by Trall
- March 06, 2017, 18:23:20 PMQuote from: Troll on March 06, 2017, 16:22:25 PMYusa 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.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
My local dealer was $90 for mine.
Posted by Troll
- March 06, 2017, 16:22:25 PMI'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
Posted by Adventure_Boy
- March 06, 2017, 15:28:21 PMWalmart 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?
Posted by Bucko
- March 05, 2017, 22:41:29 PMGet the most powerful one that will fit and make sure it's an AGM battery.
Posted by Adventure_Boy
- March 05, 2017, 15:11:19 PMDoes anyone recommend a certain battery to replace in the Drifter? Do you need a specific 12V 18Ah or will any do?
Posted by Adventure_Boy
- February 28, 2017, 22:53:52 PMThanks 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!
Posted by Old Drifter
- February 28, 2017, 20:15:48 PMX3 on what JagLite said! The roads are a very dangerous place today with all of the distractions.
Posted by DC
- February 28, 2017, 18:54:05 PMWelcome 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.
Posted by JagLite
- February 28, 2017, 18:12:03 PMWhat 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...
Posted by Trall
- February 28, 2017, 12:40:45 PMQuote from: Adventure_Boy on February 27, 2017, 22:18:42 PMIf you have a Walmart close check the oil and boat fluids section.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?
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.
Posted by CDNRatMan
- February 27, 2017, 22:48:54 PMFor 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
Metz 888 WWW front and rear...lol....looks awesome
I personally use Kawasaki Synthetic oil in my 800.
Posted by Adventure_Boy
- February 27, 2017, 22:18:42 PMQuote from: CDNRatMan on February 26, 2017, 18:07:26 PMThe 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 hahaBonus 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........
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?
Posted by CDNRatMan
- February 26, 2017, 18:07:26 PM 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........ 
Posted by Adventure_Boy
- February 26, 2017, 16:06:29 PMThank 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!
Posted by Old Drifter
- February 25, 2017, 08:40:35 AMHi, 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.