What did you do with your Kawasaki motorcycle today?

rjs987

rjs987

Robert
Site Supporter
Joined
Sep 25, 2009
Messages
983
Age
70
Location
West Des Moines, IA
Bike
2024 Kaw Vulcan S
2026 Miles
003845
I guess these sub forums are starting over so here is the first thread in the Kawasaki sub-forum.

Today was a very nice day for a ride. Sunny and temps in the low 50s*F. But while taking my grandson to his dental appointment this morning, and then back to school, I was feeling a bit of nausea and a headache coming on. Went home and took an Advil (the only thing that works for me) I was feeling better. Instead of riding today I decided it was time to do a little chain maintenance. So I pulled the car out of the garage, put the bike up on the rear paddock stand, and cleaned/lubed the chain and checked tension. Now ready for more riding. I seem to get around to doing this maintenance every 1000 miles rather than every 500 miles as the service schedule says. I use the DuPont Chain-Saver wax based spray. Seems to be doing well for me. Low effort and easy to apply.

Tomorrow will be an even better day for riding with sun and mid 50s*F for temps.
 
Rained all day, tomorrow is going to be nice, I plan on taking out the KLR. I have manufactured a couple of errands to do.
 
Looked at my Vulcan S with renewed respect and appreciation today... Right after selling the AK 550 and watching the new owner ride down the street on it. I can now concentrate on taking care of the Vulcan S which suits me better than having multiple bikes. I have a hard time deciding which to ride if there were more than one to select from. So I always end up choosing just one and the other gets abandoned.
So I am now back to being a one-bike rider. Feel a bit lighter now though. Reclaimed some space in the garage. I know I'll sorta miss riding that super scooter. Maybe I'll keep my current ride for longer than 4 years which seems to be about my average.

Always feels strange watching someone permanently riding away on a bike I used to own knowing I'll likely never see it again.

Expecting colder temps and freezing rain turning to snow tomorrow and tomorrow night.
 
New tires for the Vulcan S just arrived via FedEx. They originally claimed ETA was Saturday but the tires decided to take a trip around the MidWest and the south going from Memphis to MS to Lenexa and finally here stopping at each place as if to vacation for a day or so before moving on. Still have maybe 1000 miles remaining on the rear tire and double that on the front but wanted to have the tires on hand to avoid unnecessary delay in replacing the rubbers. Besides, cost is rising so now is better than later. I also have 90 deg stems waiting to be put on.
Bought Bridgestone T33 tires this time to replace the OEM Dunlop D220 tires. Tread pattern looks exactly the same though. The D220 have a better load rating... slightly... by one step... than the T33 tires but still more than enough for the purpose on this bike. Speed rating is better on the T33 tires. Performance is claimed to be better with the T33 but we'll see. I'm at just over 6000 miles on the rear tire so longevity is close to normal for my last several bikes.
 
Was thinking again over the last several weeks...
That's a very dangerous thing.
Since I already made the hitch for my Vulcan S for pulling a Uni-Go I realized the receiver was actually likely a few inches too low for that trailer to track properly behind my bike. Likely the reason for the wobble at 65 mph or more.
Sold the trailer but still have the hitch.
Thinking that it should be easy to make an adapter to put a ball coupler that bolts on in place of the Uni-Go coupler. I still have the stainless steel plate with the hole pattern that was on my AK 550 hitch. With a slight modification of that plate and addition of a 1/2" x 3" x 5" long flat bar welded on to mount the ball I can use the same kind of bolts to mount that onto the hitch I already made. Only need to figure out how high from the ground that flat bar needs to be. Then I would be set for pulling a Mini-Mate camper.
Naturally all this would be provided SWMBO allows such a thing. As always a major thing. And NO, asking forgiveness is NOT an option here. So likely not going to happen. Just idle thoughts.
 
Actually I think the Vulcan S is too light weight to manage even the Mini-Mate camper. More likely would consider a 2 wheeled cargo trailer that tracks behind the bike nicely.
 
Not really something I did with my Vulcan S but related to it...
I've been doing some thinking and planning and designing...
Since I already have a hitch made to mount a Uni-Go receiver, I only need to make an adapter to enable it to mount a ball to pull a regular 2 wheeled trailer. I've doing some thinking, and a bit of research, and figured out (I think) that I made the hitch for the Uni-Go too low and thus the wobble when going faster highway speeds. It should have been about 4 inches higher from the ground. But it is actually the right height from the ground for a ball hitch. I still have the end plate from the hitch I made for my Kymco. I can modify that plate and add a 1/2 inch bar to mount the ball to, and then bolt that onto the Vulcan S hitch that I made, for pulling a traditional 2 wheeled trailer. Been thinking of a Lumina 14 cu ft model or something similar. Just need to make a few cuts on that plate and weld on the thicker bar to make it work. As long as the trailer is level to the ground it should be good.

The Uni-Go trailer is very different than a 2 wheeled trailer since the draw bar is not straight so it's not so easy to set it right. I did make it the right height per the Uni-Go factory spec... at least what they told me it was. But they were wrong IMO. My Vulcan S is lower than many bikes to that added to being unable to make the hitch much higher without some more changes to the tail. The Uni-Go website does show they have such an adapter already to purchase but have stated that they don't actually have it even though it shows on their accessories page. They also said they don't want the liability of selling that adapter since their hitches are for the Uni-Go trailer. I think they just want more money for buying a new Uni-Go trailer.

Maybe I'm crazy. But ever since I pulled a Time Out camper with my GW, and then a Mini-Mate camper with my ST1100, and then the Uni-Go with my Kymco, I keep tending to want a trailer to pull when I travel. If only to keep a tall load off the tail of the bike.
 
Hey Russ (@ardykay54 ), if I do end up getting a trailer then you can send me more stuff to pack along for the trip. I know I won't be filling 14 cu ft very full. I don't intend to bring along any more than I do now when I pack it all on the bike. I have a list and I plan to keep to that list... except maybe add my Rocker camp chair. My Uni-Go was 5.9 cu ft and I almost filled that. Maybe I could bring along my mini Solo fire pit.
 
Not to be a bummer here - i saw in this thread a reply from @motornut - i recently posted for his wife that he passed away. I am assisting her in the sale of his Kawasakis. A Connie, 1200zRX and a 650 KLR. I went through them and got them started, she wants them sold bit its difficult when she wont show them. If anyone knows of someone looking for one of these let me know.
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This week I updated the electrical diagram for the farkles I have installed and intend to install. As I've mentioned before I still want to get a trailer. So with that in mind I included in my diagram the connections for a trailer harness. I did have that installed once before for the Uni-Go trailer but removed it when that trailer didn't work out for my bike. I also added connections for a LED tail/flashing brake light bar. I will be installing the same KnightRiderz LB03 LED bar as I've used on several of my past bikes.

Last Saturday I was rear ended by a lady in her SUV. She looked up just as she got to me but didn't stop in time to prevent smashing into the rear of my fender. I did not go down since I was standing straight up but I did get pushed a bit forward from the impact. The rear end of my fender is a plastic flap that houses the tail/brake light and license plate and plate light. There is a steel reinforcing rib under it. When it was hit it acted like a shock absorber preventing damage to anything else. But the tail light lens was shattered and the license light was also slightly damaged... and the reinforcing rib was bent causing the plastic flap to be distorted. I have a dealer estimate of repair and we are working with her insurance company to take care of the costs.

I am trying to still attend FerrySTOC even if the broken parts are not yet replaced. You know how insurance can be. I need to replace the rear tire since it won't make the miles to FerrySTOC and back. I also intend to add that LED bar to supplement the brake light. All the stock lights amazingly still work but the stock tail light is slightly diminished because of the lens being broken. It will sit at the top of the plastic flap above the stock tail light. When I installed the trailer harness before I used the License plate light wire to trigger the primary relay (Relay A) to enable power to all of it. I have since found where one of the 4 official AUX connectors is located but I haven't decided if I will use it yet. This is an isolated power system.


Kawasaki Vulcan S ABS electrical farkles 2.jpg
 
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Finished installing the tail/flashing brake LED bar. Works as it should.

2 days ago I replaced the rear tire. So all set to make the trip to FerrySTOC.

Still debating about doing the oil change before or after the trip. Can be either way.

The tail "flap" (as Kawasaki calls it)... which is the rear end of the fender where the license and tail light and turn signal stalks are mounted is not yet replaced/repaired since I was rear ended. That is why I really wanted to get the LED bar installed before the trip so I'd have a brighter, more visible, tail and brake light. The factory lights still work but with half the tail light lens missing it is harder to see... especially when the brakes are on.

Before and after on the tires. The right one is the OEM Dunlop tire with 2 wear bars in the center of the picture. The left one is the Bridgestone Battlax T33. Replaced at 7075 miles on the original tire. The front tire still looks like a lot of tread remaining.
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Oil/filter change is scheduled for 7600 miles. I have 8400 miles on the bike after returning from FerrySTOC. So I did the oil/filter change today. A little late but it'll be OK. I'll just do the next one at 15600 miles or there about... give or take 300 miles or so. :)
Also cleaned and lubed the chain since it really needed it after the trip.

Oh, and the parts for the crash repair are on the way and should be here tomorrow.
 
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