Back when I was in college, I had a good, old fashioned crotch rocket… a 1993 Suzuki Katana 600. Last month, I got a new toy… a 2006 Kawasaki Vulcan 750. I got a great price, which I found to be a very appropriate price and put almost as much into it to get it and me road-worthy again. It had been sitting in the previous owner’s garage for five years. It had not been started, or in any way, maintained for that amount of time. It was not running and had to be trailered home. Here’s a run-down of what it took to get back on the road:
- Purchases
- Motorcycle (2006 Kawasaki Vulcan 750, VN750A22)
- Helmet (HJC F70)
- Insurance (Geico)
- Registration (TN)
- Turn Signals x4 (Not OEM)
- Phone mount (Roam Universal, I will be looking for something more substantial)
- Battery (Yuasa, OEM)
- Rubber tubing (OEM)
- Fork top (OEM)
- Fuel tap assembly (fuel valve on the tank, OEM)
- Air filters (K&N)
- Spark plugs (NGK, OEM)
- Spark plug socket (O’Reilly’s)
- Fuel gauge sending unit (OEM)
- Oil filter (K&N)
- Various fluids & cleaners (Amazon & O’Reilly’s)
- Battery charger & accessories (Battery Tender)
- Labor
- De-rust tank
- I used Evapo-Rust from Amazon. It did an okay job.
- Replace battery
- Replace fuel tap assembly
- Replace fuel gauge sending unit
- Replace turn signals
- Replace spark plugs
- Replace air filters
- Clean everything
- Rudimentary carburetor cleaning
- Various electrical work
- Ran a wire for a phone charger.
- Change oil
- Top off antifreeze
- De-rust tank
I have learned a TON by working on this thing myself. Here are a few key things that happened or were discovered:
- The carburetor was a BEAST to remove, even though I had the service manual to tell me exactly how to do it. I didn’t have the guts to disassemble it at the time, for a more thorough cleaning. That will come later.
- The tires were in surprisingly good shape, given their age. They are still on the bike and I intend to use them.
- It is a pain to get a correctly-fitting helmet when doing it by mail. I suggest that anyone buying a helmet, do it in person to find the right fit.
- Now that it’s running, I come up against a wall, when I hit about 4000 RPMs. Looses power, especially going up hill. I have been told, by a service tech, that a more thorough cleaning of the carburetor is in order.
- When buying a used bike, have a budget in mind BEFORE buying and have a good idea of what will need to be done AFTER you check it out, but BEFORE handing over the money. Be okay with walking away. There are a ton of bikes for sale.
- GET THE SERVICE MANUAL for your model of bike. Worth every penny. I wish I had one when I had my old bike.
- When ordering online, check out the shipping charges. With certain vendors, shipping is almost as much as the part itself.
Here are some of the websites/stores I used to get what I needed:
- amazon.com – Got several cleaning items and non-bike-specific items
- partzilla.com – My go-to for OEM parts. Free shipping for orders over $140… not hard to do.
- cyclegear.com – Helmet and batter charger w/accessories. They also have a local store. Free shipping to the store.
- jpcycles.com – Spark plugs and non-OEM turn signals (OEM ones are VERY expensive)
- rever.co (not a typo) – Cycling app and service for phone
- oreillyauto.com – Carb cleaner, brake cleaner, oil filter, plug socket… normal non-bike-specific things.
- IMPORTANT NOTE! – DO NOT, under any circumstances, use a company called Adept Powersports. They have the absolute WORST customer service known to mankind. Ever since I have been old enough to spend my own money on anything, I have never received customer service this bad. I even got cussed at for questioning when/how an order would be shipped. Luckily, I stopped it before they shipped me the wrong thing and, likely, charged me a restocking fee. JUST DON’T. These people do not deserve to receive one red cent from anyone for anything.
At this point, all that remains is to receive and replace that fuel gauge sending unit and pull/clean the carburetor again. Not looking forward to that, but I feel much more comfortable about it now that I’ve been through a thing or two. I am, very much, looking forward to spending some time on the road with this thing. There just not much like it. More later!