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It does look like a Harley. I am not a fan of those batwing fairings because they make bikes all look the same. A matter of fact I don't even like windshields. Most of the guys I talked to at the dealership were former Harley owners. But the funny thing is that the Drifter actually looks more like an original Indian! Next to the Chieftain Elite is a 1940 4 cylinder Indian. Now that is a bike that I would give my left...for. Those old Indians are lighter and quite a bit smaller than any of your modern cruiser bikes. I like that idea!

I just went down to the Indian dealership a few miles down the road and lo and behold they had the Elite there. If memory serves me only 300 of these bikes will be produced. And I got to admit that the bike is awesome! The fit and finish is second to none along with all the gizmos like the GPS/rider info/sound system/fairing/brakes/wheels and the custom paint job which is candy red metallic with graphic. The saddlebags even have power to them! At $31,000+ I hesitate when any bike is that expensive but this bike comes pretty darn close to being worth it. You actually need to wear sunglasses while looking at it. Imagine riding through a farm area with a lot of bugs and you are looking at several hours of cleaning as there is so much chrome. So, being a guy with not much money I hopped back on my Drifter and had a happy ride into the sunset...

Thanks guys!

Thanks, Pilgrim.

I recently purchased a Corbin seat for my 1500. I've worked in retail/customer service and Corbin has very poor customer service. I ordered the seat online and filled out all the criteria correctly. A couple of weeks later they sent me a copy of the invoice and there were some missing items. I called three times-no answer-emailed several times and no reply. Finally, I was able to get ahold of somebody and told them what was wrong. They said they would fix it. Well, it arrived and they were not fixed but at least they got the red welt on there. Very shabby. I put the seat on after fixing the forward tie down that goes around the washer; they had mounted the metal tab in a completely different place and used the taller mounting brackets I had leftover from the previous seat. Went for a ride after putting a little bit of white lithium on the rear rack to see if it was hitting the seat. It was. So, I took the seat off and put a cutout in the rear of the seat. This is pan plus foam and is hidden by the fringe which is velcro'd on to the seat. I took it for a ride with my buddy (KTM 990) and went for about 180 miles and everything seemed all right. Then I took it down to the desert and only went 450 miles before my back completely went out. I have previous back problems/sciatica but this was over the top. I was thinking I'd have to hang up my spurs. What was left to do? I got an idea to install springs. Not the easiest thing to do as there was the design I had to come up with and installation. I looked at tractor seats which would be the way to go but you still have to come up with a pan and hinge so that would have to be fabricated. I decided to make the upper brackets (steel) and set them in epoxy with a phenolic resin block under the two screws that attach to the seat and made the lower brackets 90 deg. with the spring in between. I had to drill two holes in the frame (each side) for the lower brackets to attach to and they rest on the frame. I used 2" springs as 3" would be too tall and change the geometry of the seat. How does it work? Very well. Corbin seats are hard to begin with and this just takes some of the jolts out and gives some cushion. Seats with springs take a little getting used to but so far so good... 

After 1000 miles everything is just fine on the set up although I changed the lower brackets to phenolic resin 6-8mm because there was a little too much flex in the aluminum brackets. I have used phenolic for a number of years and its successor G10 in the boating industry. Some of you guys are lucky in different states as your roads are a lot better than here in California. They are just atrocious! So, if the saddlebags/fender can survive here in the land that can't seem to keep up the roads it should be good to go on much better roads.

Thanks for your input CDN. I couldn't remember the name but it is Spiegler and they make both front and rear for the Drifter in all the colors.

CDN, is the vn1500 classic or the E/classic the correct one? In the ad it has all the colors that Galfer makes but seeing as how my bike is 18 years old it does not have a color select in the "buy it now". I really do need black. Thanks

Shortly I'm going to need to replace my brake pads and was thinking about installing stainless brake lines. I can't seem to find a manufacture for them. I have used Galfer in the past but it seems they don't make any.  Any suggestions? Thanks

I cut those ugly ears off of the frame that hold the original bags. They are just plain fugly! The underside of the fender has three layers of 6oz glass more than enough to strengthen the fender. Plus, the bags are not full all the time and it leaves the bags level with the rack which the original brackets do not.

Yes they do move with the fender/swingarm, as one unit. I have pictures of bags on '51-'53 Chiefs with the brackets (original) but the brackets are too obscured to see exactly what they are. I particularly wanted to have the option of camping with the bike and the rack is a must for the tent/sleeping bag as they will not fit in the bags. This system would also work with hard bags. Took her for a ride yesterday and everything functioned perfectly. Thanks for the compliments.

Well, I had ordered the brackets from Starklite to fit the original rack but I had been waiting 6 weeks for them and just got tired of waiting. So, I made them. Went to the metal supply and bought some aluminum. Unfortunately, since it was scrap it did have some scrapes but I buffed it as good as I could. Hand bend on the radiuses and I made a lower bracket to go on the top bolt of the bracket holding the fender. As I stated in another post, I throughly glassed the under side of the rear fender to make it beefier. It is definitely solid. Since it is a part of the fender it moves with the motion. The advantage to this design is that you can put any type of bag on it as long as it clears the pipe. However, these are not quick detach unless one were to put jam nuts on the bolts on the brackets and use wing nuts to fasten the bags on. The wing nuts would have to be secured from backing out. And then you would have the face of the bracket protruding. So, for all intents and purposes they are semi-permanent. Rack is still fully functional. I utilized Viking Bags as they are very robust and inexpensive. Someday maybe I'll put some Traveleer bags on. Here are some pictures and the last one of my Moto Guzzi which I did a very similar design on.

Thanks for the compliments guys. Stuff does get knocked around a bit on the rack so anything must be tied down adequately. I really like the look of the exposed rear fender but to go on errands and pick things up it really needs the saddlebags.  I'm still waiting for the brackets to mount the bags and I will post some pictures also of the front end when I get them installed.

Well, thanks guys!

Well, I was riding the other day and I went get gas and as I was leaving the bike was suddenly different in corners. The front end wasn't the same. So, I stopped and inspected the tire and all was all right as was the suspension etc. So, I kept on going. It was getting worse and I was closing in on my house but I kept plugging along and got home and the rear tire was nearly flat-10lbs. Of course this was in time to do other stuff so, I removed the rear wheel, put in an additional rim strip and a heavy duty Michelin tube. Since I had the fender off and planned to do this anyway, I put on the Indian rear rack after putting three layers of glass in all the strategic places. ( I am still waiting for the saddlebag brackets). This is the type of rack and brackets that were used on the '51-'53 Chief. I also installed a LED light bar for an additional stop light. I figured that I might as well do the front forks while I am at it. Put some Progressive shocks and some Amsoil ATF (since I had a lot of it left over) in. My initial observations of the shocks and oil is that there is a lot more damping and the ride is somewhat harsher. It will loosen up in time. When I do change tires I will take apart the swingarm and lubricate it and expose the u-joint for lubrication. I have had Moto Guzzi's (still do) and there used to be a joke that when Luigi was on strike or eating pasta that the u-joints did not get greased up. Until the V-11 they did not have zerk fittings at the joint. I have read some of the past comments on this site and I take it that the Drifter does not also. Is that true? I don't see any but my eyes aren't that good anymore. Thanks for all your help.

I had a similar problem and ordered a stud from McMaster-Carr. I put high temp never-seize on the stud(s). Whilst working on the bike (yesterday) I noticed that I had not fully seated the flange so I tightened that up and installed a new exhaust gasket. I recently ordered a stud from Kawasaki and it was the wrong size! I just wanted to have one on hand in case...

Hey Chief, thanks a lot. Blue is positive and yl/blk is negative.

I notice in the manual on this website that they don't have color coding for the taillight/brake light. I thought I would ask first before pulling out the multimeter. I am primarily interested in the brake light function. What color is the wire(+) and ground(-). Normally they would be red/black but sometimes they are not.  I am putting on a LED light bar as I also upgraded to a an 1157 LED array in the taillight. Maybe some of you guys don't know about Custom Dynamics as I have been buying from for years and am very happy with their products. Check 'em out. Thanks

In the shop manual that is on this site you will find the schematics for the Ca model. (Look for the emissions control). One line is to the purge unit and the other is the vent line. Cap off the purge line. Some of them may still have their color markers on them still and that will further help identify which one.

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.

Thanks guys for the welcome!

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...

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.

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.

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...