I just joined and would like to greet everyone.
I am looking forward to learning a lot and meeting a good group.
I own a 86 Vulcan 750 and am trying to get on the road again.
I know a little bit about mechanics, but need help.
I am going to teach my 20 year old son to ride. I have encouraged him to sign up for a beginners riding course. I took one 5 years ago and got a bunch of good info from it.
We live in south Texas right along the coast.
Bugs are in abundance down here and windshields are almost a must.

Cheers,
Roland
:beerchug:

Sky Rider is in Corpus Christi.

If you haven't done so, read ALL the VULCAN VERSES in the main forum. It tells you what you need to know about these bikes. There are some quirks, and if you've read the verses, then you probably know how to fix the major ones.

You need to check your splines to make sure they have lube on them. Here (http://pages.tstar.net/~fergy/writeups/final_drive.html) is Fergy's site (Fergy is from Burnet, TX).

If you are having trouble starting it, especially when hot (20 minutes of riding), then you have a bad battery. You can't just use one from autozone or walmart. It must be a Maintenance Free battery (sealed). A lot of people argue this one, because the bike turns over easily, just won't start. It has a habit of doing it after you get gas. Very irritating.

You need to read up on the charging system. Simply put - it's fragile. You may want to degoat or move the r/r (regulator/rectifier), especially since you're in this wonderful heat zone.

You must get a voltage monitor of some sort. Whether it be a digital gauge, analog, or LED. This will save you from having to pull the engine later. You need to check the voltage at the battery when it's revved up above 4K rpms. Make sure it's at least 13.5 volts. If it isn't, let us know.

Oh, and you need to get a battery tender, which will also save you from having to pull the engine unecessarily.

Other than that, Welcome aboard!

Welcome Roland! We've got a great group of folks and lots of experience between the group so ask away. There are also several members down around the coast in one direction or another so holler and maybe we can get some hands on help.
Take care!

Greetings from wonderful baking hot Corpus Christi. Heat index over 105 today!!!!
Welcome to the group.
Please pay attention to the verses and all the other advice that is given here. Most all of the knowledge gained here is from the school of hard knocks. The Maintenance Free battery thing is really counter intuitive but it seems to work. Since you are in the heat zone, I'm going to really stress moving your R/R where the relatively cooler air can get to it. The goat belly will bake it for sure here. Cegodsey has some pictures in the gallery that show where to put it and the write up instructions are very good.

One hundred and five ? It was sixty seven when I left for work this morning. Sweet ride.

.... where the relatively cooler air can get to it.
With a H.I. of 105°, what's 'relatively cooler'? .... 95° ? http://www.addis-welt.de/smilie/smilie/wetter/033.gif LOL

Ya ever think about rigging up some kind of water misting device infront of the rad to help cool the bike ??

Oh yeah, Welcome to the site Roland !!

Didn't think about the bike, but I have thought about doing that to my home A/C. It's on the south side of the house, out in the open. I mentioned blocking the sun to my A/C repariman, and he didn't know why anybody would do that. As long as he can fix my unit, I don't care how smart he is (or isn't)

I saw someone on the yahoo group mention something like "we've got to have another get-together before it gets too cold to ride". Northern folk have it tough in the winter where the bike get's mothballed for a few or several months. Something I can't imagine. At the same time, I imagine it's hard for you Northerners to comprehend parking the bike in the Summer.

I did a test ride Sunday on my cop bike after doing some work, and that's the last time I've been on a bike. And that was brutal. I rode the Vulcan a couple evenings to the park last week to do some walking but that's it. When it's too hot to wear the armor, it's too hot to ride. No use in putting that kind of heat on the bike anyway. I'll wait it out. My "riding season" is almost here again. :rockon: