Hi guys and Gals! I just purchased a 1999 Drifter 1500 and am quite pleased. The reason that I bought it was because I have a serious sciatica problem and I was just in bad pain riding my other bike a BMW R1150rt. Sold that one and purchased the Drifter. No more pain for those long rides! Back in 2000 while I was living in Hawai'i I bought a 2000 Gilroy Chief but when I moved back to California I decided to sell it as I needed a bike that handled better and braked better. So, I went through several bikes during the interim. (Mostly high performance). Now at the ripe ol' age of 63 I am back cruising. I just recently tried the new Indian (Chief Classic) on a 60 mile loop that I do a few times a week. My thoughts on the bike...Well the motor is quite good, brakes excellent, and suspension very nice. But $20,000 out the door? Then you have to do stuff to it such as pipes, bags, etc. etc. Which brings me to the Drifter. Motor is great, sounds good, looks good, brakes OK, suspension not bad, shaft drive which I am used to and everything works as it should. I did however, put in a magnum performance IAT substitute, and a K&N filter. I just got some bags for it and will be ordering the original rack '47-'53 Indian and brackets from Starklite to mount them. When I get her dialed in I will post pictures.
Congrats on the purchase, and welcome to the forum!
You might want to rethink the bag mounting setup though. The Drifters fender is plastic, so it won't hold much weight at all. Also, that rear fender is attached to the suspension, so it moves quite a lot while riding. Most Drifter bag mounting setups attach to the frame under the seat area, and that solves the issue. This might help you picture the setup: http://www.vulcandrifterriders.com/oemsbsetup.html
Welcome, yes you should ride behind a Drifter to see the fender move......
You know I got rid of those brackets and the dual seat etc. Yes, I realize that the fenders are plastic and not fiberglass. I may have to do some strengthening of the fender with fiberglass on the underside for the rack. You guys make a good point that the constant up and down motion would put a strain on the bags as well as the fender. Back to the drawing board...
try this, get a couple cups of milk, some ice cream and put it in a jar, then tape this to the back fender and go for a ride. Instant milk shake....lol.....sort of.....
Welcome, Indo. Can't wait to see pics of your Drifter.
Quote from: CDNRatMan on July 15, 2016, 11:21:24 AM
try this, get a couple cups of milk, some ice cream and put it in a jar, then tape this to the back fender and go for a ride. Instant milk shake....lol.....sort of.....
That's a decent way of making butter!
Welcome aboard, Indo!
BTW, did someone mention WE LIKE PICS? ;)
Welcome to the forum. Pics are always welcomed! 8)
I have decided that when I remove the rear fender I will beef it up with biaxial glass and polyester resin. After reading the workshop manual on this site,-which happens to be the most informative manual that I have ever seen-it is a breeze to remove the rear fender. Also, after doing the IAT re-do I am getting 43 mpg vs. 33 mpg I was getting when I purchased the bike. Of course that is not completely correct as the speedo is 5 mph over. I also put two 1/2" holes in the bottom of the left side air cleaner cover to increase air flow. Seems to do the job of increasing air flow for a motor that needs quite a bit of air. Incidentally on another note, I had put a Howard Hegwer blown glass Indian head light on my Gilroy chief and I just noticed that he is still making them. The previous owner of my bike put in an original Indian light but must be grounded and since the fenders are plastic I soldered a wire to the mounting base but won't hook it to ground until I either pull the forks for oil or need to change the tire. But I will purchase one of those blown glass fender lights. They look awesome especially at night. Check 'em out...
Can you explain the IAT mod??
Yes, the Magnum Research Dyno Boost is what I put in. I had contacted "Boosterplug" in Denmark to see if they made one for the Kawasaki which they didn't. (I have one on my Suzuki SV1000). What both devices do is bypass the air temperature sensor and use a resistor in place of that sensor to provide the optimum setting for the air temperature/fueling. Most bikes especially older ones are set very lean from the factory and do not have the optimum air/fuel mixture just so that they can pass EPA. Now there is another device called a Dobeck Techlusion which I used on my BMW as the fueling on that was atrocious. Herky/jerky and backfire on decel but that device does not interrupt the air temperature sensor and requires more adjusting to achieve results. It just aids in the fueling in that you can increase fuel (or decrease). Now when I bought the Kawasaki it had the symptom of backfiring on decel plus I knew it was not getting enough air. It has those V&H long shots on it which probably decrease back pressure so the bike was excessively lean. I took one of my mirrors and looked at the header behind the cover and it was very "blue" which indicates a very lean condition. A lean bike runs very hot and eventually after a lot of miles there could be possible damage plus the fact that here in Ca we only have that 10% ethanol which further destroys an engine over time. It is essential in my estimation to put in the K&N filter with the Magnum. Total cost approximately $250. About 2 hrs to install. You take off the cover where the throttle bodies are, remove the plastic inner cover and disconnect the air temperature sensor. (It will be on the lower right hand side. Cut off the connector leaving enough wire exposed. Connect both of the purple wires to the sensor wires coming from the ECU. I soldered them as I did not want them to come loose as butt connectors are not that reliable over the long term. The unit also comes with a bypass for O2 sensor but this bike does not have one so I cut them leaving some slack. I put the unit in the right side battery cover zip tied to the frame. I put heat shrink on the to wires going to the ECU and routed it over the engine before I soldered them. I also put in the switch that they had provided but you can wire this up to the battery as it uses so little power to light up the LED. There is a fuel adjustment on the unit which requires a jeweler's flat screwdriver. It comes from the factory adjusted but I needed to add approximately 9 clockwise turns (30 turns is max). Now there is no backfire on decel, much better acceleration and much better gas mileage. Essentially what you are doing is increasing the air flow and the fuel flow which reduces the amount of throttle that is needed to achieve a certain speed. It just makes for a better performing bike.
Oh incidentally since Ca has the most stringent pollution laws I took out all the smog stuff-canister, purge etc.-and the benefit is that you can put tools in the left side battery area that was reserved for the smog junk. You guys in other states don't have to contend with that. Usually those canisters have charcoal in them that ends up in your tank and clogs the fuel filter. I am not sure if that is the case with this bike but it is a problem. Next step when I change that filter I will check to see if the PAIR is installed as that will come out also.
Here is the Gilroy Chief that I had in Hawai'i. These "Indians" really do run better with a lot of doodads! I really wish that I could afford a '48 Chief but I need to have a lot more dough...
Quote from: indo on July 22, 2016, 12:03:07 PM
Yes, the Magnum Research Dyno Boost is what I put in. I had contacted "Boosterplug" in Denmark to see if they made one for the Kawasaki which they didn't. (I have one on my Suzuki SV1000). What both devices do is bypass the air temperature sensor and use a resistor in place of that sensor to provide the optimum setting for the air temperature/fueling. Most bikes especially older ones are set very lean from the factory and do not have the optimum air/fuel mixture just so that they can pass EPA. Now there is another device called a Dobeck Techlusion which I used on my BMW as the fueling on that was atrocious. Herky/jerky and backfire on decel but that device does not interrupt the air temperature sensor and requires more adjusting to achieve results. It just aids in the fueling in that you can increase fuel (or decrease). Now when I bought the Kawasaki it had the symptom of backfiring on decel plus I knew it was not getting enough air. It has those V&H long shots on it which probably decrease back pressure so the bike was excessively lean. I took one of my mirrors and looked at the header behind the cover and it was very "blue" which indicates a very lean condition. A lean bike runs very hot and eventually after a lot of miles there could be possible damage plus the fact that here in Ca we only have that 10% ethanol which further destroys an engine over time. It is essential in my estimation to put in the K&N filter with the Magnum. Total cost approximately $250. About 2 hrs to install. You take off the cover where the throttle bodies are, remove the plastic inner cover and disconnect the air temperature sensor. (It will be on the lower right hand side. Cut off the connector leaving enough wire exposed. Connect both of the purple wires to the sensor wires coming from the ECU. I soldered them as I did not want them to come loose as butt connectors are not that reliable over the long term. The unit also comes with a bypass for O2 sensor but this bike does not have one so I cut them leaving some slack. I put the unit in the right side battery cover zip tied to the frame. I put heat shrink on the to wires going to the ECU and routed it over the engine before I soldered them. I also put in the switch that they had provided but you can wire this up to the battery as it uses so little power to light up the LED. There is a fuel adjustment on the unit which requires a jeweler's flat screwdriver. It comes from the factory adjusted but I needed to add approximately 9 clockwise turns (30 turns is max). Now there is no backfire on decel, much better acceleration and much better gas mileage. Essentially what you are doing is increasing the air flow and the fuel flow which reduces the amount of throttle that is needed to achieve a certain speed. It just makes for a better performing bike.
Sounds like it's worth looking into...and welcome!
Thanks guys for the welcome!
Yes welcome
Hey Indo, welcome! I'm new myself - I just bought a 1500 Drifter in MN, turns out it came from CA, has some mods, Vance and Hines long shots, and I think I have the exact same problem you are describing before you did your mods. I gotta find out where I can get the IAT kit - where did you purchase it?
**EDIT** I think I found it! "Kawasaki VN1500 FI MAGNUM Dyno-Boost Motorcycle Performance Chip" - I found it here:
http://www.magnumtuning.com/en/detail/dyno-boost-motorcycle-performance-chip/kawasaki/vn1500-fi
Quote from: Indian_fan on July 28, 2016, 23:48:54 PM
Hey Indo, welcome! I'm new myself - I just bought a 1500 Drifter in MN, turns out it came from CA, has some mods, Vance and Hines long shots, and I think I have the exact same problem you are describing before you did your mods. I gotta find out where I can get the IAT kit - where did you purchase it?
**EDIT** I think I found it! "Kawasaki VN1500 FI MAGNUM Dyno-Boost Motorcycle Performance Chip" - I found it here:
http://www.magnumtuning.com/en/detail/dyno-boost-motorcycle-performance-chip/kawasaki/vn1500-fi
Very interesting, BUT...it changes sensor readings, ok, I can see that, with the exception of the fact that you don't have most of those sensors on the open loop 1999-2004 efi system. The only ones you have are AIT, MAP and BARO...no o2, MAF. I opened up the intake side on my '01 several years and 50,000 miles ago and now I get an AVERAGE of 45 mpg, up from 37...I put 1200 miles on leading rides during Coulee Cruzin and averaged 48 mpg for the week....
Very interesting, Troll. So you're saying that I may achieve close to the same results by just opening the air intake more? I know everyone has an opinion, but I'm curious on what your recommendation would be on how to do that. An aftermarket intake kit, or just drilling holes as I've read some others have done?
The big problem is the duct connecting the two air boxes together. You can run with the left side cover off, and there will be no improvement. I removed the left air box, and the duct, and made my own backing plate. I'm running a K&N filter for an 800 ( it's WAY BIGGER THAN THE 1500 filter) and that's basically all I have done to improve everything. I wrote an article and posted it here when I did it, back in 2012 (60,000 miles ago) and there are pictures with it.
There are a few different ways to achieve similar results. I happen to like to add fuel if I am giving the engine more air. And this bike is basically starved for air. I am getting better mileage and averaged through stop & go all the way up to 5,000ft mountains and twisties. The performance is much better as I am sure yours is "troll". It is just a comfortable cruiser. If I want to go fast I just fire up the Suzuki SV which is zippy to say the least.
@ 5,000', you have another factor you haven't considered. The BARO sensor has a huge effect on the mixture. When I was running stock intake box, I was getting 38-40 at about sea level running 70 mph, when I got into the mountains around Casper, Wy, I got 45 mpg at 75 mph...Where I live, now, we are about 500' and i'm getting upper 40's..like 48...but when I go into the mountains, I'm getting 50+