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Reason for editing: Last Edit: December 03, 2019, 06:06:28 AM by RockinRollin

I've had a 1500 for some time now and I can tell you why I finally decided to go with the 1500 over the 800 and it has nothing to do with the power issue as I have owned a 750 Honda that was just fine on the highways and was awesome in the city.

My reasons for choosing the 1500
1. The 1500 is fuel injected, no fiddling with or cleaning carbs, 
2. Shaft drive, no adjusting or changing out chains,
3. Fuel gauge, really nice after so many years without one.
4. Self cancelling signals, just a little thing but again really nice not driving 2 miles with signal flashing because you forgot or didn't push the cancel switch hard enough.
5. No need to pull heads and set valve clearances on the 1500.

This is just me, I do my share of maintenance on vehicles (2 cars an ATV, snow blower, lawn mower and bike) I want to ride in my spare time. But I wish the 1500 had the mono shock like the 800, just looks more retro and I miss the nimbleness of the smaller bike size, 1500 is a little harder to maneuver in parking lots and such but probably not any more than a Valkyrie, probably less. 49 K is a few miles but not excessive if it was well maintained, I find the 1500 a little warm on the exhaust side of the bike in warmer weather but that could be the custom exhaust on my bike. Not the greatest braking system either but it's 20 years old.

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Posted by ThinRedPaste

- December 02, 2019, 20:08:36 PM

Hey all, I was hoping you could help me out with a couple of general purpose questions about drifters, so I can decide if I want an 800 or the 1500. I've test ridden an 800, but I haven't been on the 1500 yet. I spent the last 10 years with a 98 Valkyrie, and then late this summer I decided to try something different and sold that in favor of a BMW R1100RS. Now that THAT's out of my system, I'm looking to get back on a cruiser. I've decided I want a drifter, but the question is which one?

On the one hand, I'm considering the 800 because my usual rides have changed. I used to live in the country and did a lot more highway riding, but now I'm in the city and mostly just take short rides around town. The 800 didn't seem under-powered for that kind of riding, which I had been a bit concerned about. That said, there's a thing I go to a couple hundred miles from here 2 or 3 times a year, and after test riding an 800 I wasn't sure it was up for that kind of trip. Are they happy running at the revs they need to do 80 mph for 4 or 5 hours at a stretch? I also had some concern about excessively soft rear suspension, but maybe that can be adjusted out. I weigh about 230 lbs and it seemed like the bike was in danger of bottoming out on a bad bump. Is that something I should be concerned about with the 800? Is 2-up riding a problem?

But on the other hand I'm used to big bikes, and the 1500 seems to have a lot of advantages like fuel injection and shaft drive. How is it in stop and go traffic, though? Does it get cumbersome in parking lots? One of my biggest issues with the Valkyrie after I moved to the city was the heat off of that big flat 6 engine cooking my legs. I imagine that's less of a problem with a v-twin, but since the only v-twin I've ever owned was a 650 and that was over a decade ago, I'm not sure how the bigger ones are in that regard. There's also the appearance problem - the 800s look better, but is it worth trading a little of the retro look for more modern tech?

Finally, what kind of longevity should I expect from the two different models? Like I said I'm used to Valkyries that are basically immortal, so I'm not sure what constitutes high mileage for Drifters. I've been seeing some 800s listed with about 21k miles, and a 1500 with 49k miles, should either of those numbers scare me off?

Thanks

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