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I also found this chain kit and have heard of this brand name before.  Would this be the best choice?

http://m.ebay.com/itm/JT-O-Ring-Chain-17-40-Sprocket-Kit-for-Kawasaki-VN800-Drifter-2000-2006-/391510648029?hash=item5b27da64dd%3Ag%3AFrgAAOSwdzVXjazk&_trkparms=pageci%253A5f2c06b2-7663-11e7-b7d4-74dbd1807765%257Cparentrq%253A9bae60c815d0ac8075e2e110fff0d2c2%257Ciid%253A4

Ok it looks like this guy's is selling a quantity of 2 at a time and I read your post about installing so I will have to order 2 because I need 4 total?

Sounds confusing,  but you know what I mean right? Lol

Awesome! THANK YOU! Going to send this off to Mark. 

Hi guys,
Didn't forget about this, just ran into some health issues. So I am having a salivary tumor removed from my neck on August 10th and I will be out of commission for 3 to 4 weeks! Sick about that....

So my friend Mark who says you guys are AWESOME with your advise is going to replace the chain , check the dampers or replace, (tried looking for that on ebay, will include picture) check all that you guys suggested and fix my bike. He did say I need rear brakes too.

So I just have a couple of questions before I order the chain kit. I only found 2 on ebay.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/00-06-Kawasaki-Vulcan-800-VN800E-Drifter-O-Ring-Chain-and-Sprocket-Kit-Nickel/131574935215?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2000-2006-KAWASAKI-VN800E-VULCAN-DRIFTER-O-RING-CHAIN-SPROCKET-17-40-530-112L/142400661046?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

I know that both will fit , one says nickel? Which would you recommend?

I need rear brakes and I read somewhere on here to get the sintered Type?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1999-2006-Kawasaki-Vulcan-800-VN800E-Drifter-Sintered-HH-Rear-Brake-Pads/182450354342?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

That seems a little to cheap for Brakes?

Then, is this what I need for dampers?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kawasaki-OEM-Part-92160-1697-Rear-Hub-Shock-Damper/262847217424?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

Hope these links work. Lol

Thank you again!

Thank you again for the great advise. I am going to pass this along to my friend and check out all of your suggestions. I will let you guys know the outcome as soon as we find out what the issue is.

Can't thank you enough!

Thank you guys for your advise so far. So glad this place is here! Passing along the info to my friend.

He said he didn't think it was a fuel/carb issue as he couldn't even get it to cough all the way through the power range. (Have no idea what I'm saying or about to say lol)

He said he would like to check out the idea of the "tight spot" in the chain. Explaining it to me he said it's a link that won't flex around the sprockets correctly. He said he needs to take it off to see if it's stiff. He needs to look at the sprockets before we replace the chain as there is really no way to resurrect a stiff chain.

He wanted me to ask you guys what the stock sprocket tooth count is as he doesn't want to change the drive ratio.
I sent him a picture of a bike master chain/sprocket kit and it had numbers 17-39??? I know nothing!!!  I did read on here however that the chain size is 530 and it has 112 links lol.

And about the oil. I have always used the amsoil synthetic for wet clutches and never had issues before. Maybe next oil change I could try the kawasaki oil?
Thank you guys!

OK I am going to try to give all, the details I can. Lol I have a 2005 drifter 800.  My bike was running perfect as far as I thought. A bunch of us went for a ride and when we parked one of my friends who is very good with bikes noticed a slight smell of antifreeze. He usually changes my oil so I had already had plans to have that done so he said he would check it out when he changed my oil.

So he changed the oil. I used what you guys suggest. Amsoil 10w40 . He checked the coolant and it was low so fill it up and checked for leaks, didn't find any. .We also lubed the chain with Bel-Ray super clean chain lube. I put a cardboard box under bike each time I put away for the night to check for leaks, all seemed good.

Then road my bike and I thought it's either a really windy day or something is wrong. I was feeling a Jerking and bouncy feeling through every shift and even when held at a steady speed 60-65. It felt like it was hesitating. Everything I looked up was bad gas, chain issue. So I took it back to my friend. My tire pressure was so low on both tires that I'm lucky something serious didn't happen! OMG .He drove it and didn't seem to notice what felt and said it wasn't starving for gas so he didn't think it was a gas issue.

So when I left I noticed a huge improvement with him putting air in the tires. I don't really feel it bouncing as much but I know my bike and I just feel that something is just not right because I still feel somewhat of a Jerking sensation while riding. Any ideas? Suggestions? Any info would be appreciated.   I have 2 long days of work coming up so i may not be able to answer right away, so please dont think im ignoring anyone! Lucinda

Thank you so much for your advise, it is greatly appreciated! I'm going to check the battery connections and also the battery itself and I will do what you said with the throttle tomorrow. Hopefully I will have an answer as to what is going on!

Thanks so much again, I will post on here when I find the issue, in hopes I find the issue!

Thank you very much for your imput. I have something else I failed to mention because I didn't feel like it had anything to do with the throttle issue. Right after it did that surge thing we stopped at our local grocery store and when we came out my bike was dead. Took the seat off and tightened the nuts on the terminal of the battery. The one to the positive was a little bit loose and the bike started right up. Today I went to start the lights came on and it didn't start and then it was dead again! This is probably a stupid question but I don't know that is why i'm here, could the issue with the battery have anything to do with the throttle? I am going to check the charge tomorrow on the battery and if it's not good obviously get a new one.

HI everyone,
I have searched all over internet for an answer and can't find one.
I am in desperate need of your expertise help! 
So well riding my bike, I had the bike probably at a steady 60mph and all of a sudden the bike had like a surge of power on it's own. I didn't increase the throttle at all and it jerked real fast on it's own. It kind of felt like when you hit a bump and your hand hits the throttle faster? It's really hard to explain.
It's as if I  cranked the throttle real hard to go faster but I never did that, I had it steady at about 60mph. It scared the crap out of me. I actually did hit a bump right before this started. It happened about 4 times on my way home.

The only thing that i may be able to associate this issue with is we had our yearly local Roar on the Shore where thousands of bike participate in a parade. They handed out flags to every bike. So I had no where to put this flag on my bike so a friend rigged it up and put it sideways behind my windsheild and zip-tied it to the two throttle cables. Keep in mind I drove the bike after I took off the flag two days later several places with no issue until I was driving home and hit that bump.

If anyone has any imput on this issue it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.....

Lucinda

Thank you so much everyone for your imput! Sorry for not responding earlier, we had our annual "Roar on the Shore" event this weekend! I finally got feathers painted on my side panels and also LED brake lights! I have a whole list of things (don't we all?) that I want for my bike including the saddlebags.

Next project is the seat! I don't want to change the seat because I don't want it to change the height, I need to lower the bike soon but for now I can deal with it. I just want to change the color! Found someone fairly close to me that can do some upholster work on it just have to figure out what color I want. I thought about doing it the cream color that is on my bike but I don't know yet!  Right now I am trying to figure out some klunking noise I am hearing on my bike. Sounds like it is coming from the fan area but I have no idea. Searching the forum right now to see my issue is listed here somewhere.

Thanks again so much for all your advise, I appreciate it... Always!!

Hi Guys,

Back again with a question. I was just wondering if anyone out there has the Saddleline Saddle Bags on their bike? I usually carry a backpack but as of lately all of my "friends" are harassing me saying I look like a "rag doll" with it on!  I found these on ebay but I am not to thrilled about putting holes in the fender of my bike! This set also comes with a seat cover and I do like the color. http://www.ebay.com/itm/290941571672?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

I just hate to cover up my beautiful fenders and put holes in it! Any info would be greatly appreciated!

Lucinda the bike looks fantastic  ....Your right about the cream cor showing up as white because that's what I'm seeing.Love the paint scheme,however!Always was/am a fan of that baby blue.WWW'S will make your bike pop out like you wouldn't imagine.The bike will look totally different.IMOPthis is a must do on your list with this paint scheme.You'll be more then happy with the end results.

Thanks Drift! I can't wait to get the white wall tires. Love the way the drifters look with them on. IMO it gives them an even more "retro" look. and I LOVE it! Went to bike night last week and all of our friends have Harleys and and I can't even begin to tell you how many compliments I had on my bike sitting next to all the Harley's!

Thank you again everyone for all your help.

sorry not a dog..a devil....ok got that ......

WWW's are a must on a 800 Drifter because they make it look that much cooler. Mr Clean Magic eraser to remove the blue once you get them but wait till after they are on the rims to clean them so the grease hand prints for the shop don't show up, and for daily cleaning it keeps the tires looking really good.

Rad cover ...chrome I'll bet....lol....

Well then WWW's it is! Can't wait to get the tires. Personally I think they add so much to the bike. I was a little bit upset with the blue paint when I got it. I wanted the Deep Turquoise Green that they made with the 1500 drifter. I didn't know at the time I could have gone to the site "colorite" and matched exactly what I wanted so I ended up with the lighter shade of blue.

Thanks everyone for the nice comments on my bike! 

It's a "Biker Tazmanian Devil" with his leather jacket and sun glasses on! No laughing! 

Now all I need are the white wall tires. My tires are still good so maybe next year. Just added a radiator cover and painted it blue to match the bike. The bike actually looks better in person. The colors are blue and cream but in ALL pictures the cream looks white.

You guys are awesome, so glad I found this forum!

Can't thank you guys enough! You were right, fits like a glove when you do it right! The pictures that you posted Ratman really helped. So I am going to attempt to post pictures.

Dang that took me a while to resize the pictures to post on here! 

Oh my gosh. THANK YOU all so much for your help!I really appreciate it! The pictures are awesome and they help out so much. Can't wait for this weekend to fix it! They knew something was wrong but just couldn't figure it out. I am so greatful for this site and you guys are wonderful. I can't thank you enough! I will definitely post pictures this weekend to show what great work YOU guys did if all works well! Cross your fingers! 

Hi there everyone,

This is my first time posting and I am greatful for the wealth of information on this board. I recently received my engine guard for my 800 drifter. I ordered them off of ebay from "Guido" that many of you mention.  I have searched on here and cannot find the answer to my question. My husband and his friend attempted to put them on and are having some issues. As recommended from the board we bought longer screws to put where the horn was located. The problem is the guard is not flush against the radiator? It will not fit under the wheel lock so it is sticking out about 1 1/2" and all I see looking at it from the side is are the long screws! Should the wheel lock be removed to fit the guard flush against the radiator? If so how do you remove it? Or is there something they are just doing wrong that they are missing? Any info would be greatly appreciated...

Lucinda