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I have a set of 1500 straight pipes for sale over in Classifieds.

The more I listen to mine when cold the more I think it's coming from the piston skirts slapping in the cylinders. When the pistons warm up, they expand, reducing the clearance between the skirts and the cylinder walls. It's not unusual for pistons to be machined slightly out of round by design. Once warmed, they expand to a round shape. Normal oil film on the cylinder walls acts as a cushion and prevents wear and damage. It seems to take about a minute for the noise to diminish to an 'acceptable' level. I've gotten used to it and have learned to love the sound as unique and as a sign that I'm about to get out on the open road.

New bags, still not sure, any thoughts?

C'mon guys, be honest. It seems no matter what anybody does to their bike, everyone says, "Looks great!" My honest opinion? They look plain, drab, out of place, cheap. I say send 'em back and get something else.

Could we as fathers, mothers and young people be able to do today what they did with such intensity, swiftness, resolution and sacrifice? Last Fall We went to the funeral of our son-in-law's grandfather. In a book written about D-Day, there were several pages that featured his granfather's account of D-Day and his trek into the interior of France. During the service, a recording was played of his grandfather reading that part of the book. Then the honor guard entered the room for the flag ceremony. While listening to the reading and watching the flag ceremony, all I could think about was the real sacrifice of so many young men that lived through it and more importantly, those whose futures ended there. I never cry but that brought the tears on with that realization. It was a that moment that I really began understand what they did. God bless our service men and women.

If the barrier poles didn't get him, the garbage cans would have.

I took my glasses off and they cleared up. Nice photos, Greenbarn.

Very nice looking bike. Once you get it the way you want it, you'll love it. These Quiet-Riot Baffles look interesting at JP Cycles. Or, you could revert to the stock exhaust. I'm really happy with mine. Here's a Craigslist posting. The guy wants to sell everything listed in one pop. It's been listed for awhile and you might be able to talk him into selling the exhaust only.

Let's go back to the beginning where you found red oil in the air cleaner. It sounds like you've over oiled your K&N which creates a restriction. That can cause a buildup of vacuum inside the air cleaner & throttle body. Too much vacuum in the air intake system can cause it to suck oil through the crankcase ventilation system. Try putting the factory air filter back in. Clean or replace the spark plugs and fix that oil screen thing.

Go to cycletrader.com and do a search for Kawasaki Drifter. I found 24 listings from all over the country. Ten were for 1500s and the rest were 800s. You can get an idea of asking price range. When buying from a dealer you can usually negotiate 10 to 20% off of their asking price, depending on time of year, their inventory and even end-of-month when they want to hit a certain sales goal. When I bought my '05 1500 with 5,000 miles on it in 2011, they were asking $6,500. I got them down to $5,700 plus a really nice full faced helmet and new windscreen at their cost. It's my first motocycle and I've loved every minute on it.

Were the measurements were taken by the Itty Bitty Titty Committee?

inspect, clean and tighten battery connections, power connection to fuse panel and ground connection to engine.

It didn't seem like it was running hot. The cooling fan cycled normally when parked and running. Temps were close to 90F on Friday but Monday they were in the high 70s & low 80s. Detonation was the same.

I just returned from a 1,200 mile trip on my 05 Drifter 1500 that took me through the hills of WV and VA. I noticed a lot of spark knock on acceleration at speeds of around 75 mph and up while pulling up long grades. I had to either allow my speed to drop off or run it in 4th gear to prevent the pinging. I used 93 octane throughout the trip. At the half way point, I bought a can of Sea Foam and put about 1/3 of it in the tank at the next three fillups without any change in the detonation/pre-ignition. I pulled all four plugs after the trip and they all have a nice light tan color. Spark plugs are NGK DPR6EA-9. Cooling system is full and seems to be working OK. Cooling fan cycles as it should when parked and idling. The bike just turned 10,000 miles this weekend. Any ideas?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXdNgO94rKQ

Go to a Ford dealer. They alll have wiring repair kits that contain about 150 different OEM connector pins. I think you'll find what you're looking for.

Here's a parts diagram...

The OEMs engineer, design and manufacture parts for the specific performance characteristics of their vehicles over long term. They do it to protect their warranty, their brand and their customers. I believe OEM is best and I always use OEM. Here's an excellent read on why: http://www.nicoclub.com/archives/kn-vs-oem-filter.html

I bought my first motorcycle ever last year - a 2005 Drifter 1500. Before riding it anywhere, I took the course and I'm glad I did. It was worth every penny and every minute.  After the course, I spent several sessions practicing in a nearby church parking lot before I went out on the road. My longest ride last year was from Akron, OH to Raleigh, NC.

Disconnect the battery. Run jumper cables from car battery to bike battery cables without car running. If it all works OK, replace the battery.

Run the fuel out and try a fresh tank from a different gas station.

What are the advantages of progressive springs. How does it change the rideability, handling, stability, braking, steering? Seems like a nice winter project (if I get my man-cave wiring/heating project done before the big freeze comes).

Thanksgiving day 2011 my youngest brother was home from a couple hours away. We were outside enjoying a cigar and got to talking about bikes. He's been riding the last several years including logging over 30,000 miles in 2010! I'd never ridden a motorcycle in my life, although I have about 60,000 miles in my legs on bicycles. Well anyway we were talking about his motorcycle and he told me I should get one and we could ride together. I told him I've always said if I ever got one, it would be an Indian or a Victory. That thought stuck in my mind the rest of the day. That evening after everyone was gone, I sat in front of my computer for several hours looking. I started with Indian but sticker shock convinced me to look further. Victory was my next choice and there were several good one-owner candidates in my price range at dealers in the area. Friday I was off work so I sneaked out of the house to go look. I found two really good Victory candidates in my price range and told the guy I wanted to look around more. After several more stops at Honda and HD dealers, my last stop was to a Victory/Polaris dealer near home. I walked in and around their showroom and there it was! Every thought of owning a Victory vanished and I was in love. The Ebony/Silver 2005 Vulcan Drifter 1500 had 5,020 miles on the clock, a set of leather bags, was pristine in all respects and even had new whitewalls. I was tempted  to buy it on the spot but needed time to settle down and needed to ease my wife into the idea. The next weekend, my brother rode up and I took him out to look at it. He was impressed with my find. After rechecking the other places I had visited earlier we stopped for lunch. He told me if I didn't get the Drifter, he was seriously thinking about going after it. I think I made three more visits to the dealer after that. I finally made an offer and negotiated a deal for $6,000, a new windshield and a modular, full faced helmet. On December 10th, my friend Jim and I went to pick it up. Remember, I had never ridden before. Jim was happy to ride it home for me in spite of the 18F weather that day! We took it to the church parking lot at the end of the road and I drove it around there for about 15 minutes until I could feel my fingers or toes anymore. We then took it back to my house and put it to bed for the winter. I was the first to sign up for the MSF Rider course scheduled at the end of March. I passed with flying colors and have had a wonderful summer. October 13th my brother and I rode from Cleveland, OH to our brother's home in Mebane, NC near Raleigh. Riding though the hills of WV and VA during peak leaf season was awesome. We put 1,100 miles on that weekend. I might be able to grab a few more rides before the rain, snow and ice set in. My Drifter's birthday is coming up soon then it will be bedtime again for my baby. When people show me their baby pictures, I always get mine out. I have a showroom view, a speedometer view, a front view, two side views, a back view and a windshield on view.

I'm working on some additional lighting and considering heated suit/grips/etc. What is the specified wattage or ampere output on the 1500 charging system?

No catalytic converters on drifters...

Oops! I thought I had seen where someone cut open a goat bladder that had a converter brick in it. It must have been something else. I stand corrected.

Other causes could  be a misfire or too rich causing the catalytic converter to overheat. An over-rich condition can be caused by a false temp signal causing the ECM to think it's running cold. Stale fuel can cause the engine to misfire and run poorly.  These things can cause the cat to get fuel saturated then suddenly light off. I saw this happen on an early 80s MG. It was ran for a long time with the carburetor adjusted all out of whack. I was asked to set the carb up. When I did the final tuning of the idle mixture jet and I hit the sweet spot, the engine smoothed out. Then, all of a sudden, the catalytic converter  and exhaust pipe lit up and glowed cherry red like it had a blacksmith's fire inside. It lasted about 30 seconds and then cooled down. That cat must have really been saturated. Just some thought starters...