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Posted by John Hopkins
- February 06, 2015, 17:13:13 PMQuote from: pcarrell on January 23, 2015, 23:00:38 PMI always thought the cams are simply there to move the valves open and closed.Drifters have a little different cam grind then the other similar sized Vulcan bikes. The grind is designed to offer more bottom end torque at the loss of a bit of top end.
John.
Posted by capnconch
- February 05, 2015, 13:26:40 PMQuote from: John Hopkins on January 23, 2015, 18:53:15 PMThe difference between a Drifter VN1500 and a Meanstreak VN1600 is only 3mph.. I wouldn't bother.
John.
The MeanStreak is cranking more rpm to get there, different gearing. Putting the 1600 cylinders, pistons etc with the Drifter gearing who knows what the top speed would be.
Capn
Posted by pcarrell
- January 23, 2015, 23:00:38 PMDrifters have a little different cam grind then the other similar sized Vulcan bikes. The grind is designed to offer more bottom end torque at the loss of a bit of top end.
Posted by holycow
- January 23, 2015, 22:29:49 PMTop speed is not so important, I've never tried to max out the speed on either of these bikes- but I do really appreciate the power of the motor in my Road King vs the power in my 1100 Honda. The Harley really seems to cruise along effortlessly. I suspect the engine in the Drifter and the Road King are similar in their performance. On paper the Drifter seems to have more torque (I suppose due to its being slightly higher displacement.) I need to pretty up the Harley a bit and sell it- going to test ride a Drifter or two and see where it takes me.
Posted by John Hopkins
- January 23, 2015, 18:53:15 PMQuote from: holycow on January 21, 2015, 21:11:55 PMThe difference between a Drifter VN1500 and a Meanstreak VN1600 is only 3mph.. I wouldn't bother.I came across this just now. http://www.thundermfg.com/store/index.php?l=product_detail&p=169
Kicks it up to 1550 CC! Anyone here tried it? was it worth it? Did it take away comfort or reliability? Any info would be great.
Thanks.
Jeff
John.
Posted by John Hopkins
- January 23, 2015, 18:51:07 PMQuote from: holycow on January 22, 2015, 19:53:15 PMThe top speed on a VT1100c is much faster than a vn1500.In the past I have stayed away from "making engines bigger" for all the reasons you mentioned. I was hoping someone would say something along the lines of " oh yeah this is just a drop in and go modification." Oh well.
I'm 99% that my next bike will be a 1500 Drifter, I have an 1100 Shadow Aero (good aesthetic- but is carbed and low on power) and a Road King With the 88ci engine (good on power but lousy aesthetic and has... ugh... belt drive.)
I'm fighting hard to keep myself from buying one of those new Indians... I just need to hold out for 5 or six years for the used prices to be reasonable.
-Jeff
My Drifter has a top speed of 107mph which drops to 90mph in a very high crosswind.. Both bikes are great to ride but I think the VN1500 has the edge in reliability.
I jumped on the "I want a new Indian" bandwagon when they first came out, but after a cooling down period I have decided that I really don't want to change my Drifter for an Indian after all.
John.
Posted by Troll
- January 23, 2015, 18:13:56 PMHave you had a chance to ride a well sorted 1500? My '01 is a much better overall motorcycle than the FLT it replaced, and has LOTS more power, though not as much as the SuperGlide....
Posted by greenbarn
- January 23, 2015, 17:27:27 PMQuote from: holycow on January 22, 2015, 19:53:15 PMOnce you get a Drifter, who knows... you may not want an Indian....I'm fighting hard to keep myself from buying one of those new Indians... I just need to hold out for 5 or six years for the used prices to be reasonable.
-Jeff
Posted by holycow
- January 22, 2015, 19:53:15 PMIn the past I have stayed away from "making engines bigger" for all the reasons you mentioned. I was hoping someone would say something along the lines of " oh yeah this is just a drop in and go modification." Oh well.
I'm 99% that my next bike will be a 1500 Drifter, I have an 1100 Shadow Aero (good aesthetic- but is carbed and low on power) and a Road King With the 88ci engine (good on power but lousy aesthetic and has... ugh... belt drive.)
I'm fighting hard to keep myself from buying one of those new Indians... I just need to hold out for 5 or six years for the used prices to be reasonable.
-Jeff
Posted by Bucko
- January 22, 2015, 14:17:00 PMGood advice IMHO!
Posted by Troll
- January 22, 2015, 09:21:02 AMChanging the cams and upping the compression probably did more than just bumping the displacement a mere 50 cc (3 ci)....Lisa, on the Facebook Drifter page has done this, and after some teething problems, she seems to be happy with it. I did a big bore S&S conversion on my SuperGlide, 74" to 98", and the power level was pretty astounding, but the longevity of the top end was clearly an issue. going from a 3.96" stroke to 5" made things wear much faster, and the 3.635" bore required case mods.....but it might be easier to replace the stock cylinders/pistons on the Vulcan with 1600 mean streak parts, and then the cams with a high performance set....... The price of the kit parts doesn't really reflect how much you are going to spend....consider this alteration carefully. While it might be a blast to have a few extra ponies, the long term costs might make this a money pit. JMHO....
Posted by holycow
- January 21, 2015, 21:11:55 PMI came across this just now. http://www.thundermfg.com/store/index.php?l=product_detail&p=169
Kicks it up to 1550 CC! Anyone here tried it? was it worth it? Did it take away comfort or reliability? Any info would be great.
Thanks.
Jeff