Hi! Newbie here. I just did a 2600 mile trip on my 93 Vulcan 750: Boston to Nova Scotia and back!
There were a couple of minor snags during the trip. Once after an extended ride in rain, the cylinders misfired but eventually the bike fired on all cylinders. I didn't do anything special. Just rode her at low speed for a couple of miles. The second issue was the speedometer cable coming undone near the wheel after a long ride on some rough roads between Canso and Sheet Harbour in NS. That was a simple enough fix.
The stock seat was a killer after about 90 miles or so. Other than that, the 17 year old Vulcan performed superbly in our trip!! Plenty of power available even at top speeds. And very solid too!
A little background:
I bought the bike used in 2003. Back then it felt heavy and awkward. The engine also often stalled at idle. Plus I couldn't always get it to start...kept flooding the engine. So after putting about a 100 miles, I put the bike in storage and didn't take it out until 2 months ago. This time the bike was much easier to handle since I have put on about 30 Lbs.
Trip preparation:
I took it to a mechanic referred to my buddy. The mechanic cleaned out the fuel tank, took care of the carbs and showed me the proper way to start the bike (the Clymer manual is awesome and shows you how to properly start the bike as well). I rode her for about 150 miles and still had the engine stalling and hot start issues. So the mechanic relocated the rectifier/regulator, as recommended in the awesome VN750 forums, and said that there was nothing else wrong with the bike. And he was right.
See, I was riding the bike like I drove my car. With my Nissan Maxima, I would go to top gear as soon as I was on level ground and even though I might be doing only 30 miles an hour. My mechanic told me that the bike is a high RPM machine and I can't use it like I do my car. He said I should be maintaining between 4000 and 5000 RPMs once I get out of 1st gear and that I could ride at 40 miles an hour in only 2nd or 3rd gear. Once I started doing like he said, not only did the bike handle and respond really crisply but the engine stopped dying at idle as well.
As for the hot start issue, my mechanic told me that since its an old bike, I can't expect to just press the starter button and have the engine run. He asked me to open the throttle a little bit and then press the starter button. Sure enough. She starts fine every time even in very hot conditions!
Additional equipment:
I got Tourmaster Cruiser II Saddlebags. I didn't have to relocate the direction indicators. The saddlebags did their job.
The Kuryakyn GranCruise tank bag was okay. The main zippers failed after the first two days of use. I used the rain cover on it after to prevent stuff from falling through.
Memphis Shades Hell Cat Windshield: Great value for the money! I am exceptionally pleased with this windshield. So easy to setup, it also caught all the bugs and kept the wind blast out. When visibility was low as during a drizzle, I just sat up a bit straighter -- I am 5'7" -- so that my nose was slightly above the windshield allowing me to see clearly but still not enough to get hit by wind blast. Cleaned it off bugs with two swipes at a couple of gas stations. Sleek and stylish!
Seafoam or B-12:
My mechanic advised that I use Berryman's B-12 instead of Seafoam as the B-12 completely dissolves crud as well as works better with the fuel sold in the New England area. I have not tried running the fuel additive yet. Will post here after trying the B-12 out...
There were a couple of minor snags during the trip. Once after an extended ride in rain, the cylinders misfired but eventually the bike fired on all cylinders. I didn't do anything special. Just rode her at low speed for a couple of miles. The second issue was the speedometer cable coming undone near the wheel after a long ride on some rough roads between Canso and Sheet Harbour in NS. That was a simple enough fix.
The stock seat was a killer after about 90 miles or so. Other than that, the 17 year old Vulcan performed superbly in our trip!! Plenty of power available even at top speeds. And very solid too!
A little background:
I bought the bike used in 2003. Back then it felt heavy and awkward. The engine also often stalled at idle. Plus I couldn't always get it to start...kept flooding the engine. So after putting about a 100 miles, I put the bike in storage and didn't take it out until 2 months ago. This time the bike was much easier to handle since I have put on about 30 Lbs.
Trip preparation:
I took it to a mechanic referred to my buddy. The mechanic cleaned out the fuel tank, took care of the carbs and showed me the proper way to start the bike (the Clymer manual is awesome and shows you how to properly start the bike as well). I rode her for about 150 miles and still had the engine stalling and hot start issues. So the mechanic relocated the rectifier/regulator, as recommended in the awesome VN750 forums, and said that there was nothing else wrong with the bike. And he was right.
See, I was riding the bike like I drove my car. With my Nissan Maxima, I would go to top gear as soon as I was on level ground and even though I might be doing only 30 miles an hour. My mechanic told me that the bike is a high RPM machine and I can't use it like I do my car. He said I should be maintaining between 4000 and 5000 RPMs once I get out of 1st gear and that I could ride at 40 miles an hour in only 2nd or 3rd gear. Once I started doing like he said, not only did the bike handle and respond really crisply but the engine stopped dying at idle as well.
As for the hot start issue, my mechanic told me that since its an old bike, I can't expect to just press the starter button and have the engine run. He asked me to open the throttle a little bit and then press the starter button. Sure enough. She starts fine every time even in very hot conditions!
Additional equipment:
I got Tourmaster Cruiser II Saddlebags. I didn't have to relocate the direction indicators. The saddlebags did their job.
The Kuryakyn GranCruise tank bag was okay. The main zippers failed after the first two days of use. I used the rain cover on it after to prevent stuff from falling through.
Memphis Shades Hell Cat Windshield: Great value for the money! I am exceptionally pleased with this windshield. So easy to setup, it also caught all the bugs and kept the wind blast out. When visibility was low as during a drizzle, I just sat up a bit straighter -- I am 5'7" -- so that my nose was slightly above the windshield allowing me to see clearly but still not enough to get hit by wind blast. Cleaned it off bugs with two swipes at a couple of gas stations. Sleek and stylish!
Seafoam or B-12:
My mechanic advised that I use Berryman's B-12 instead of Seafoam as the B-12 completely dissolves crud as well as works better with the fuel sold in the New England area. I have not tried running the fuel additive yet. Will post here after trying the B-12 out...
