Greetings all,
Just purchased a 2002 VN-750 from a friend of mine. Had a whopping 173 miles on it! Nice bike and certainly a major change for me. Previously owned nothing sport bikes (last was '97 GSXR-1100) but found them increasingly difficult to ride for any distance due to the seating.

Still working the new bike through the break-in process. I'll have 500 miles on it by mid-week.

My initial first impressions:
- Riding position is pretty comfortable for me -- a very welcome change from the rice-rocket riding position. I will admit, the feet-forward position is taking some getting used to. I find myself looking for pegs about a foot further towards the rear.

- Exhaust sound is pretty quiet. I'm running a completely stock bike.

- Lots of wind noise at anything over 40mph. This is a major change from my previous sportbikes (apparently the little gixxer windshield was more effective than I thought). With my wife on the back, there's a fair amount of buffeting, as well as an increase in noise (assuming the airflow around the helmets is the culprit?). Definitely a windshield in my immediate future!

All in all, seems like a comfortable and able bike. My friends all ride much larger 'power couch' bikes but they seem ungodly heavy and I prefer the slim/light Vulcan to the retro-Harley look.

tell you one thing.... even though this is a 750 cc engine... it has alot of power once ur dont breaking it in... the range from 3k-7k is awesome. prob not close to your sports bike, but it will make you think twice bout this being a "small" bike.

Congrats on the new bike. Sounds like a nice one. I'm sure you have already read here about the splines on the drive shaft needing attention. You wouldn't think that with less than 200 miles on it, you'd need to think about such things, but apparently on the 01's and 02's, it's often found that the splines weren't lubed from the factory. I just checked mine this weekend and they were dry as a bone, and with 10k miles, I'm already watching for a drive shaft and final drive to replace them. Mine weren't in terrible shape compared to some, but it's something you don't want to put off. If I were you, I'd check it before I rode another mile. It is a very easy job to do and only takes a couple of hours. The Vulcan Verses have writeups on it.

I hate to put a damper on your excitement of owning your new bike, but considering the year, you need to be sure!

Ride safe, and welcome to the forum!

Fergy,
Thanks for your comments. With rain forecast for the next 4-5 days, I'll be looking at the driveshaft splines this weekend.

I did read the Vulcan Verses section, as well as looking at a link showing photos of the process in the Northeast Region section : http://www.cdthayer.com/cruisermaint_2.htm

Just wanted to make sure I'm getting ready to dismantle the right area!! Is the spline-lube issue confined to where the aft-end of the driveshaft (running through the swingarm) meets the 90-degree final drive? This is what's illustrated in the above link and sounds like what's described in the Vulcan Verses. I do okay with written procedures but if the above photos show the correct area, it's an added bonus (a picture's worth a thousand words theory!)

Sounds like I can expect to see either way too much grease or none. Did this problem affect all 2001 and 2002 bikes or was it limited to a particular timeframe of production?

You are gonna love it, easy to go for a distance. recomend some seat work and a new Maintinance free Battery. But all and all the bike is great.

Welcome! =D I'm fairly new myself and so far I'm loving the power during break in, of course I came off a 440 that needed a tuen up but hey it's all good. =D Hope you and the bike have a good relationship.