Still listed but now at 12,750 Euros.
In Portugal....
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Show posts MenuStill listed but now at 12,750 Euros.
In Portugal....
That's really neat!
We look forward to seeing how the conversion looks with the Drifter style.
I am glad I was able to help support the website.
I have certainly benefited a lot over the years from things posted and questions answered.
James 
Wow! 
Mine still looks like new.
Excellent!
Thanks for posting a good replacement cable.
I'm on my second speedo cable and won't replace it with another Nomad part.
Yikes! 
That is expensive.
Mine were under $800 but I've read how much more you folks have to pay for customs, etc.
I hope the UK distributor can get you a MUCH better price than that.
James
I have YSS shocks that I am very happy with.
I bought mine from Cogent Dynamics and they had to special order the longer bottom eye to get the length I wanted.
The standard YSS shocks are for the Nomad, and others that are a bit shorter than what the Drifter uses.
HERE is the site European distributor for YSS for information.
The US distributor doesn't have a website, gee I wonder why they aren't better known here?
Well, after 22 years my shocks need to be replaced, one has blown the air bladder and now oil comes out of the valve.
I just started searching for recommended replacement shocks and I've found several threads with various suggestions but so far I haven't found anything definitive.
Some like the Progressive (444?), others the Hagons from England, and others various Harley shocks.
I don't want anything shorter than the stock 13" shocks, slightly longer might be nice for cornering clearance.
I will keep searching but if you have suggestions or links to threads I will appreciate it.
Well that's a rotten deal. I'm sorry I don't have an answer for you since I haven't heard of that before.
I would suggest figuring out what the previous owner changed when he added the straight through exhaust.
Usually when reducing the exhaust restriction an engine will run a bit lean so a small increase in fuel will be beneficial and sometimes very necessary to not overheat the engine.
Usually that is.
The Drifter 1500 is limited by the very restrictive intake design so changing or modifying the exhaust doesn't require adding fuel. If we modify the intake by installing a filter on the right side where the dummy air cleaner cover hides the sensors for the fuel injection system the bike may require modifying the fuel flow. This is done by adding a Power Commander or similar electronic fuel mapping device, OR, by modifying the stock temperature sensor to trick the FI system into adding fuel.
Your engine may have been been modified one way or the other.
Other members who are a lot smarter than I am will hopefully offer more/better help.
Of course it could be that one of the FI sensors has gone bad and needs replacing,
The shop manual should have instructions on how to test the sensors (air temp, air flow, etc.) to see if they are all in spec.
I hope you are able to get it figured out quickly, or if you take it to a shop, they can figure it out quickly.
I've been riding this summer instead of checking the forum.
I only had one ride last summer because I had a low speed high side on my street tracker and made the mistake of reaching out to break my fall (on dirt). That dumb mistake dislocated my shoulder and put me out of action all summer. I tried physical therapy but after 6 months my therapist and doctor agreed that surgery was required. That happened in November and I have been doing exercises daily since January to regain movement and muscle. This summer I am riding!
I did bolt on the backpacks I bought to use as saddlebags and they are working out great.
Instead of just one hole like the original small leather bags, the backpacks have several areas of different sizes.


I am using the stock saddlebag brackets. I cut off the shoulder straps and waist strap on the backpacks and sandwiched a UHMW cutting board cut to fit inside the backpacks to put the bolts through and hold the bags in place.
I have a 1.5 gallon gas can in the left side bag and spare gloves, lunch, water, and assorted stuff in the right side.
There is a lot of room for camping gear and the bags expand much further out as needed.
I'm happy.
Wow, two great bikes!
Beautiful.
Ah, that's why I was lost.
Thanks mate!
After reading your previous post I tried to find the history section of the forum where the articles about the Cobra bike built by Berg but I can't find it. Have we lost that information or am I looking in the wrong places?
Seems to me there used to be the original Kawasaki write up about the new Drifter, the information about how many were sold each year and more. The original Kawasaki advertisements, a video or two...
Quote from: Bucko on April 20, 2021, 18:17:37 PMInteresting, my bike didn't have tank badges when I bought it ('99)."Kawasaki" is written right above "Drifter" on the tank badges.
Here it is with the stock secondary muffler completely gutted of the two small diameter long tubes so it is now an empty shell. In combination with the modified primary box muffler (aka Goat Belly).
I can't recall anywhere it is marked as Kawasaki but I have a poor memory.
It is on the VIN sticker of course but I think the factory left the bike sort of stealth instead of stamping KAWASAKI in many places. Of course it did NOT come with INDIAN marked anywhere on it.
Lots of owners have added the INDIAN markings on their own.
You found an excellent bike! Maintenance records show how well the owner took care of the machine.
I have never been able to buy a used bike/car/etc that had records.
Understandable though because I never keep records of what and when I serviced my machines.
Some people are good at that, some just do it, and some just never remember to do it.
I know where I belong in those groups.
The Drifter is a wonderful bike to ride and it has presence.
Welcome to the club!
I was surprised that it isn't very loud, just going through the bell muffler really takes the volume down.
My theory is that it allows the sound wave to expand and loose energy with just the small hole for the wave to come out of. Much, much quieter than my neighbors Sportster with short straight pipes.
Not really liking the sound with the stock secondary muffler on the modified primary muffler I have removed it and will gut it by removing the two small diameter full length tubes.
I wondered what it would sound like with NO pipe installed and with the modified primary muffler only, so...
The chrome cover/heat shield is loose I know.
I had to loosen it up to get the muffler out.
I am looking forward to seeing the final result too.
The flange clamps arrived and I bolted the modified stock exhaust on the bike and set up my video camera.
I tried to put the camera in approximately the same locations as before.
Here is the combined video of both systems.
You need headphones to really hear what they sound like.
Modifying the chamber to allow free flow of the sound waves made very little difference to the sound or volume of the stock muffler.
I am now thinking about going back and cutting out the two tubes running full length of the "muffler" pipe.
I believe the two inner tubes are keeping the sound waves from expanding by funneling them all the way out at about 1" diameter.
I think allowing the sound waves to expand as they do in the 5" diameter Borla muffler gives it a deeper sound.
Of course the sound absorbing material Borla uses also helps with the tone as well as the volume.
But the muffler chamber under the swingarm is already diffusing much of the sound waves before they enter the "muffler" pipe so it won't need much, if any, sound suppression.
Always something to experiment with, eh?
Thanks!
I bought a set on Ebay and they are in the mail so I hope they arrive soon.
I would love a set of Longshots but shipping to Alaska is way too expensive.
Sounds good!
Well, that's interesting. Part no: 18069-1156?
I looked at Bike Bandit, Revzilla, Partzilla, and two other new OEM parts sellers and they all show the parts as "Unavailable".
The 1999 and 2000 Drifters used a different part number than all the other 1500 & 1600 bikes.
And they were half the price!
But they are unavailable so that doesn't matter.
The other bikes use part no: 18069-1161.
Kawasaki uses part no: 18069-xxxx for many bikes of various displacement so I don't know if the bolt spacing and flange size changes or if it is I.D. maybe that is the difference?
After searching online with no answer for what the difference is I am hoping it is that they just have a different finish, chrome or polished instead of plain steel.
I am watching Ebay for a used set.
There is currently two listed and I have a question sent to one seller so maybe I will be able to buy some soon.
And hopefully they will fit correctly!
Thanks for replying, that made me do more searching 
Well, I searched for another 2 hours and can't find those pipe clamps.
Anybody with aftermarket pipes willing to sell or trade the stock exhaust clamps?
Nothing new for me to lose things, I do it all the time.
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