I am going to take my front and rear wheel off to take them to a shop and have my new Mets installed. Do I need to remove both fenders for this? I'm sure I have to remove the rear fender but unsure of the front. Any info pertaining to this is appreciated. I don't have a manual yet.
Does Clymer make a manual for the Drifter 800? If so, do you know the ISN# ?
Pilgrim, If you have a lift you shouldn't have to remove the fenders, Not sure about the 800 but I've removed both front and rear wheels on my 1500 without touching the fenders, You need a lift to get the bike high enough.
I don't think Clymer has a manual for the 800, but Haynes has one...
Kawasaki Vulcan 700, 750, 800 Repair & Service Manual 1985-2004
http://www.themotorbookstore.com/haykawvul700.html
http://www.kawasaki-techinfo.net/showOM.php?view_lang=EN&spec=US&book_no=99920-1960&lang_code=EN
Owner's manual, not a shop manual....ok
Pilgrim; I am not rich like Bake and do not have a huge garage like Troll, so I have my 800 parked in the living room and have a Canadian Tire jack. I removed the rear fender to ge tthe tire off and out of the way, took about 5 mins to remove the rear fender. I removed the seat then removed the cover off the battery box, the wiring harness is right there, very easy to get to and undo. 6 bolts, 2 are 10mm and 4 are 12mm, the one on the muffler side is the only one that is a wee bit of a pain. But it comes out very easily once you get on it. Fender, rear taillight, Fender Guard is all one unit now. Rear tire is now easy to remove and lift out.
Front tire, Jacked the bike up a bit higher and used my sissor jack to hold th front up I then removed all the required parts and then the tire just leaned over and slide out under the fender was not a big deal.
Power bars are handy here too.....
Quote from: CDNRatMan on March 26, 2013, 18:36:24 PM
http://www.kawasaki-techinfo.net/showOM.php?view_lang=EN&spec=US&book_no=99920-1960&lang_code=EN
Owner's manual, not a shop manual....ok
Pilgrim; I am not rich like Bake and do not have a huge garage like Troll.
Ratman... I'm not Rich... That's my brother (We all call him Dick) As for the size of Troll's garage... I'm not gonna venture down that path! lol
Sorry let me make this clear, I am not financially as well off as Bake and therefore do not have a lift to owrk on my bike......lol...is that better rich's brother......
Ratman... I'd gladly switch my lift with you for the ability to bring my scoot into the living room to work on it during the winter months... The ol' carport can get mighty chilly brother, It's open in the front so a space heater wouldn't help... Now the living room on the other hand has a toasty coal stove.
And there you have it... An official thread jack... and I'm an accomplice. lol
Actually, Clymer does make a vulcan 800 manual, which I have - I suppose most of it is pretty near the same as on the drifter?? I know some things are somewhat different, though.
http://www.amazon.com/Clmer-Kawasaki-Vulcan-Classic-1995-2005/dp/1599691868/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1364355674&sr=8-1&keywords=clymer+800+vulcan
Even better: Ebay has an electronic version of the factory shop manual. Green Manuals- they do a good job. I bought a copy of this last year, and it is a pretty good product. I prefer a paper copy in a lot of ways, but to me it was better than paying $40-60, and along with the clymer, I think it's OK.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/251245211275?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
Quote from: Pilgrim on March 26, 2013, 18:14:22 PMDo I need to remove both fenders for this? I'm sure I have to remove the rear fender but unsure of the front. Any info pertaining to this is appreciated.
Pilgrim - I just had both wheels off my 800. The front comes off easy enough if you can get the bike up high enough - using the bike jack like Ratman mentioned. I agree on the rear you'll want/need to take the fender off. I second Ratmans motion, it's not as hard as it looks.
Pilgrim; sent you an email ref tire removal with pictures from the manual.......
Pilgrim,I too just changed my sneakers to WWW's therefore removing the rims(front and back.)I'd give you some tips but I see my good friend Ratman sent you the info.I must say he does a good job sharing info with diagrams.I myself removed the front fender as well for two reasons
1) just felt safer not jacking the bike that high
2)was adding a fresh coat of paint and wanted to be able to clean,wax while I was in there
Just a suggestion here bud but it would make sense to me while you have it apart to change the breaks as well IMOP however.By the way if "I" could do this project anyone can......LOL
Wow, thanks for all your help everyone. The links and detailed explanations helped alot. Thanks for the email Ratman. I do have a lift so hopefully I will get these wheels removed this evening.
My local dealership won't mount them because I didn't buy my tires from them, but I found a shop that will mount and balance them for $28 each. Don't seem right that a dealership would turn away a customer in need.
Maybe I was going to buy oil, filters, etc. while I was getting my tires mounted.
Still snowing here this morning...
greenbarn, that manual doesn'tactually cover the 800 drifter correct?
we have links to online versions of all the 1500 and 800 owners manuals. I will modify this with the url later. on my tablet and on business right now. someone else can post if they want.
Pilgrim: Find another shop man, I went to the local Kaw place and told them to give me a price for tires, tubes and liners, I then left nad went on line and to a local Honda dealer, and if you look at the post about tires I found a place in QC that was the best deal for me, the local Kaw palce said not an issue buy from them, when i ordered the tires they were out of the tubes and liners, so back to the Kaw shop ordered the tubes and liners from them and they still made money on installing the tires for me and balanceing them...so I will go there again.
Quote from: chief on March 27, 2013, 08:56:18 AM
greenbarn, that manual doesn'tactually cover the 800 drifter correct?
Chief, that is correct, it's "vulcan 800 and vulcan 800 classic". I figured it would cover most things adequately, and I can verify specs w/ the electronic version of the factory drifter manual I have. How much is actually different on the classic vs drifter, anyway???
Quote from: chief on March 27, 2013, 08:56:18 AM
we have links to online versions of all the 1500 and 800 owners manuals. I will modify this with the url later. on my tablet and on business right now. someone else can post if they want.
Here are the links:
http://www.vulcandrifterriders.com/mods/manuals/Drifter1500Manuals.pdf
http://www.vulcandrifterriders.com/mods/manuals/Drifter800Manuals.pdf
I have both the manual's by Kawasaki,
Vulcan 800
VN 800
Motorcycle Service Manual
Vulcan800 Drifter
VN800 Drifter Motorcycle Service Manual Supplement
I have found a few places the first one tells you to go to the supplement to see what is done or what is different. Nice to have both.
So what is in the supplement that is not in the original? I didn't even know there was a supp.
Quote from: greenbarn on March 27, 2013, 12:01:41 PM
Chief, that is correct, it's "vulcan 800 and vulcan 800 classic". I figured it would cover most things adequately, and I can verify specs w/ the electronic version of the factory drifter manual I have. How much is actually different on the classic vs drifter, anyway???
Here are the links:
http://www.vulcandrifterriders.com/mods/manuals/Drifter1500Manuals.pdf (http://www.vulcandrifterriders.com/mods/manuals/Drifter1500Manuals.pdf)
http://www.vulcandrifterriders.com/mods/manuals/Drifter800Manuals.pdf (http://www.vulcandrifterriders.com/mods/manuals/Drifter800Manuals.pdf)
Thanks for the info.
The Kawasaki Vulcan 800 VN800 Service manual part # 99924-1183-09 has on the back listings from 1995 to 2005 with the frame numbers for which bikes, my frame number did not show up there, but on the back of the supp...part # 99924-1247-51 my serial number is covered there has three chapters 17/18/19 titled Supplemment 2000-2001, 2002-2003 and 2004-2005. The service manual will actually tell you to check the supp. I could not find an example but it is there.
Update- had my tires/new tubes mounted and balanced today and installed them back on my bike. Wasn't bad at all. The guy said those tires I had on there that was 9 years old was hardened up and unsafe even though they looked like a new tire.
Also received my engine guard from Giudo today and installed it. It is nice and looks good on my bike.
Thanks for the help ebveryone and the manual recomendations.
Dude......come on......all this work and added goods to your ride and not a single pic.....hope you didn't think you were getting off that easy,my man. :D ;)
:-[ I'll try to get some pics tomorrow. i have to put one of those wooden swingsets together for my grandson, so I don't know.
I will get some soon though.
Grandson, at your young age your a grandfather already..........want help with the swing set?
I ain't as young as I used to be. One more day and i should finish that swingset. I bought a used one and it needed stained and several boards and hardware replaced. Thanks for the help offer but I already done the hard parts, just need to bolt the slide on now....wheres the ibuprofen. ;D
slide you have a slide on the swing set...cool.....I will enjoy that ....lol.......