Hi to all the drifters! I m a total newbie with bikes,actually i really admired choppers but i didnt feel i wanna buy one for my self till a friend of mine showed me a kawasaki vulcan drifter 800 of 2002 and since then i became obsessesd with all the vulcan drifters! Cant remember myself so excited bout anythin. so now i m in front of a dilemma.I m from Greece and there r not so many drifters here on the road..finally found a guy that sells his 1999 vulcan drifter 800 and the price that he discusses is around 3000-4000 euros, maybe more. I ve seen the bike in pics and i dont really like the way he customed that sweetey :( so i ll propably need to change the seats, the colour and mb the front lights. I m gonna meet him next week to get more details and have the 1st talks.
So my questions r:
1) Is the price good for a 99 vlcn drift?
2)I really like all the drifters from 2001 to 2006 but the 99 is not in my taste so much..but here in Greece cant find vlcn drifts for sale :(
3)Should i w8 to gather more money and bring my fav drifter for abroad? ( i dont have that much money )
sry for my newbie post but i would really love to enlighten me! ty
Quote from: Two Teeth Johnny on May 06, 2013, 11:07:35 AM
I m from Greece and there r not so many drifters here on the road..finally found a guy that sells his 1999 vulcan drifter 800 and the price that he discusses is around 3000-4000 euros, maybe more.
So my questions r:
1) Is the price good for a 99 vlcn drift?
2)I really like all the drifters from 2001 to 2006 but the 99 is not in my taste so much..but here in Greece cant find vlcn drifts for sale :(
3)Should i w8 to gather more money and bring my fav drifter for abroad? ( i dont have that much money )
Drifters come in two sizes and types, the 800 is chain driven and the 1500 is shaft driven..
As they are never going to make any more of them they are worth more than they are selling for at this time.
you are faced with two problems..
will the price of drifters increase while you are saving to buy one..
Will there still be drifters for sale when you have enough money..
You have to decide this one for yourself.
John.
I agree with John, only you know your situation well enough to decide whether you want to start with the '99 800. Too many factors go into a decision like that. How long have you been looking? Other guys on this forum would be more able to tell you if the price is right ($3930 to $5240 US) or not for the '99 800 but that too depends on miles, condition, add-ons, etc. I'm a newbie to Drifters as well, but not bikes, had mine only 8 months so far and hate to get off of it. Had paint, exhaust, directional and seat mods. done and it ain't cheap. I am much older and could afford it, especially after looking at HD. Paid less for my bike with mods. than I would have for most of the HD's I was looking at! Best bike I have ever owned! I have to tell you once you ride her you won't really care what color or else isn't quite right. Either way follow your heart, you can't go wrong with a Drifter! 8)
Good Luck & Take care,
Pete
Another possibility is to get this Drifter and flip it (maybe fix it up a bit and either sell it or trade it) for the chromed out model you want. The blackout bikes (like the 1999 & 2000 model) are harder to find and have a loyal following, so flipping it shouldn't be too hard, plus having a Drifter will open doors to more Drifters sometimes. You can join ride groups and sometimes when people see your bike they tell you about theirs or their friend's Drifter. A conversation later and you could be swapping your blackout bike for a chromed out one.
Everthing said so far is the truth, but what is it about the 99 that you don't like?
is it the black out look and you are after a more chrome look?
I have a 99 and just love it, because of the lack of chrome, that is what makes it a 99
we all have different tastes and that is what life is about, if you don't like the blacked out look then for sure the 99 is not for you. Adding chrome to a 99 would just in MHO ruin it .
As for price it would be a good price if they aqre hard to find. Would like to see some of the pictures if you could load them so we could see the machine.
Quote from: CDNRatMan on May 06, 2013, 17:22:50 PM
... but what is it about the 99 that you don't like?
He prob'ly saw some pics of some goober on a red one, and ruint it for him... ;D ;D JUST KIDDING!!!
Seriously, though, Johnny, the local market has as much to do with the prices as anything. When I bought mine (2002 800), I paid $3600 USD, got the seller down from $3900. Is was priced right about in the middle of all the 800's for sale within 500 miles.
If I were in your situation, I would rather have the Drifter that wasn't EXACTLY the one I want, and move towards getting the one you like more when and if it becomes available. What everybody else on here said I agree with - they are not making any more and getting into one would be a better way to look for a different one down the road. And like Ratman said, the blacked out ones have their own look, and are pretty darn sharp when done up right.
Keep us informed of what you decide.
Guyz ty for your help!
1st of all i didnt mean to insult the guyz who have 99s drifter :D! Actually i like it but i m more of a "shy" person and if i finally get it , i ll be like a fly in the milk ! (not so bad know that i m gettin the picture). I ll meet the guy this sunday and i ll get some good pics and i ll ask him about the details, so then i can find out what i really gonna do. But after your responds and some search in the internet its 99% that by this summer i ll be ridin my dream!
Thanks again for all the responds and sorry for my sucky english :D
Believe me...your English is 100000% better than anybody here's Greek..Good luck with your decision. Last year, someone found out how many Drifters were made over the production run. There were 9,000 of each displacement family. Given the normal crash rates of motorcycles over the last 14 years, probably about half of them still exist. Any Drifter is a find, and once it's YOURS it's gold......
να μιλήσει για τον εαυτό σας troll αλλά μερικοί από εμάς μπορεί να μιλήσει ελληνικά αρκετά καταριέται καλό ......
Ο κ. Δύο δόντια Johnny αγγλικά σας είναι μια χαρά.
and as a 99 blackout version of the ride I took no offence, as for your shyness ....better get rid of it fast if you want to be a Drifter rider because the crowd will come to you.....lol.....
Mr. Green Barn I'll sort you out later....goober.......from a hick in 0hi0.....really....
Ratman είναι ένας εξυπνάκιας και knowâ πώς να χρησιμοποιήσει το Google Translate ... καλά, έτσι μπορώ να κάνω!
Quote from: Troll on May 07, 2013, 14:17:45 PM
Believe me...your English is 100000% better than anybody here's Greek..
You just had to say that..
but in my case you're right..I can't even understand you Colonials..
John.
;) not bad for an old guy Troll...lol
John you are right, hard to understand them aMericans and their non use of the Queens proper English..eh!
Τι είπε ο Troll! Γέλα δυνατά.
Quote from: CDNRatMan on May 07, 2013, 17:43:11 PM
;) not bad for an old guy Troll...lol
John you are right, hard to understand them aMericans and their non use of the Queens proper English..eh!
Ελπίζω ότι δεν πρόκειται να δει μια Un certain πάλι την εικόνα! :o
Isn't technology wonderful.
Hi Two Theeth Johny,
I'am from Europe too. You can check the german sites www.mobile.de (also in english) and http://kleinanzeigen.ebay.de/anzeigen/s-kawasaki-drifter/k0 for a comparison. Also 15x 1500 for sale now :)
3000 - 4000 Euro is a fair price for a '99 800, depends on the accesoires, mileage and state.
Here in Holland a '99 800 starts from 2500 euro's ( http://link.marktplaats.nl/670444915 )
Good luck and see you soon with a Drifter!
Quote from: CDNRatMan on May 06, 2013, 17:22:50 PM
I have a 99 and just love it, because of the lack of chrome, that is what makes it a 99
+1 ;D
I spent last May sailing around the Greek Isles... spent the night in Athens... did the tour... beautiful country. We rented a scooter on one of the islands, great place for a bike! We didn't see any Drifters while we were there!
Ty all for your replies :D
today i m gonna meet the guy so i ll have pics by the night and news about the bike!
Dont wanna rush things and get ahead of myself but i things gonna go more than good! so more update 2nitght !
again ty all for your replies :D
Good luck and have fun.
We will see the pics of your new ride tonight ;)
Quote from: Two Teeth Johnny on May 24, 2013, 09:53:17 AM
Ty all for your replies :D
today i m gonna meet the guy so i ll have pics by the night and news about the bike!
Dont wanna rush things and get ahead of myself but i things gonna go more than good! so more update 2nitght !
again ty all for your replies :D
One month later, no photos and no news 8)
Guess what, I know another person in your area that is looking for a Drifter with the right price tag!
excuse me for my absence! we didn t make any progress! the guy bought the bike 3.400 euro and wanted to sell it. at least 6.000 euro Oo.the bike was painted red-white (pretty bad job) and was full of scratches. The drifter logo was painted with red paint for nails !!!!! unfortunately the pics r not so good and u can t see the scratches very clearly neither the bad painting job. i hope that way u can c the pics
http://s1319.photobucket.com/user/kafroulitsos/slideshow/
My situation now is lookin for a job to increase my budjet and i will propably bring it from abroad,except a nice bargain appears to me in Gr. ty guyz for all the support! if i have good news i ll post it for sure!
It wouldn't take much TLC to have her looking puuurrrdddy. ;)
But that would have to be at the right price.
Anyone knows what handlebars are those? I like the wide style.
yup bit of TLC and it would be a nice ride. a little paint and it would be done.
Any news over this potentially new Greek Drifter driver?
not yet m8. found another1 drifter for sale in pretty good situation at 7000 euro.havent got that money yet.working hard to get it :) but propably i ll bring one from abroad when i got the money!