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Posted by Bucko
- November 16, 2017, 19:35:46 PMI've never heard that the bearing failure was widespread. Is there an oil starvation problem in that area?
Posted by OR Seedman
- November 16, 2017, 14:52:45 PMlots of Vulcan 1500 owners (not just drifters) have reported front bevel gear bearing failure at anywhere from 25k to 35k miles....seems to be quite common across the board on the 1500 engines....could be that the failure is due to harder riding than most Drifter owners subject their bikes to. The oem bearings are a medium load rated bearing with so-so tolerances, so I looked around for something stronger. I buy aftermarket farm equipment bearings all the time, so I got the specs and found a heavy duty bearing with tighter tolerance and 3,000 rpm higher rating at about 1/8 the cost.....not everything has to be OEM with a Kawasaki brand name price tag.... 
I dipped the grips yesterday and put them back on the bike today....much better...now I can actually hold onto the handlebars when accelerating..
Posted by Troll
- November 16, 2017, 08:34:43 AMMy bevel bearing failed at about 75,000...I replaced it and now I have 115,000 with no further problems. I have the original clutch, too
Posted by drifter-paul
- November 16, 2017, 03:07:21 AMHadn't heard of this 30K problem, I got 162K now without replacement. That's worse than the diaphragm spring plate weakness (80k) before the Mean Streak mod !!!
Posted by OR Seedman
- November 15, 2017, 20:50:10 PMthanks. I think the previous owner (original owner who bought it in June '02 brand new), had someone he knew doing a lot of the customizing....but he also had some mechanical work done a the shop I bought it through...clutch spring, plates, etc...but the cost of doing the bevel gear bearing (they quoted him $2500+) pushed him into dumping it on ebay through the shop...I put a BL Heavy Duty bearing in (industrial bearing) that has a higher RPM rating and tighter tolerances...at a cost of $4.95 vs $38 for the oem that seems to go out at 30k miles or so.... I am pretty happy with the whole deal so far....bike seems to run strong...
Posted by BlackBlueMagoo
- November 15, 2017, 19:57:47 PMThat was one heck of a deal on that 1500! I'm happy for you! I only hope one day mine could look 1/2 that good!
Posted by drifter-paul
- November 15, 2017, 03:44:25 AMHair dryer to heat the 800 badges and press fit them to shape ? Haven't tested the theory on my 1500 badges, and sorry, no, not for sale, I sometimes revert to them from the Zambinis.
What a buy !!! Saw a '99 advertisied up in Qld, with 40K for $5000 US, but you have raised the 'Bargain' stakes!. Congratulations! Enjoy.
Posted by chief
- November 14, 2017, 23:12:20 PMwe have a few conchos in our store...
Posted by OR Seedman
- November 14, 2017, 19:16:22 PMthat's the fender rail I was going to use to make copies from....had it cleaned up and chromed....turned out really nice...
I like the idea of the Indian Head conches....I will have to look into that.
The only thing really left to do is I have to dip the solid chrome grips in some plasti dip for tools.....You can hardly hold onto them when riding....I don't know how anyone could ride with smooth metal grips like that...I am going to put a rubber coating in the middle of each one by taping off the ends and then repeatedly dipping them in the can of black I picked up today. Hopefully that will take care of the issue....
Posted by Old Drifter
- November 14, 2017, 19:11:42 PMLooks great. I like the Viking Bags. I had a set of Viking bags for a short period of time. I took off the Viking badges and added these Indian head conchos L & R. They fit perfectly in the same spot/hole.
Posted by CDNRatMan
- November 14, 2017, 18:02:32 PMcolours are nice, the F&S passenger floor boards look really good. That front fender guard really adds some bling to the machine......
Posted by OR Seedman
- November 14, 2017, 16:37:04 PMSo I finally finished putting everything back together and fixing all the little things that were in need of attention on the 1500 I got off of ebay for $720. Total cost with parts and new accessories: $1437.00 Took it out for a short spin today and I must say I like the way it rides.....not a nimble as my 800, but somewhat smoother and quite a bit more torque....here are some pics I took today after the short ride..I still need some tank badges....not sure if I want to go the same route as on my 800 (Indian head decal). I put my 800 OEM tank badges against it, but the tank on the 1500 is not as curved so the badges don't sit flush...any ideas would be a great help....