Vulcan 2000

Date

Message

9/22/2003

I put down my deposit for the new VN2000 at Carrollton Kawasaki. The waiting begins...

10/1 - 10/5/2003

VROC Reunion in Eureka Springs. This is the first opportunity to "see and feel" the bike.

11/26/2003

I started talking with Mickey Blevins at Vida Loca Customs about getting custom paint and other work on my bike.

12/6/2003

We sold Susan's Vulcan 800 in preparation for the new addition to our garage. Susan will be taking my 1500 FI. Now, I'll have to ask permission to ride the bike that I put almost 30,000 miles on. That's OK. I'm getting the V2K.

1/26/04

No bike, but waiting. Rifle sent me an email saying that they will have a windshield available in mid-February and were taking orders. This was my first purchase. Here's the shield I'm getting (except that it's clear):

Classic L Windshield for Vulcan Classic 2000

The shield is very important. Of course, having a bike to put it on is more important. Still, I have confidence that the bike will arrive and when it does I'll have a shield to put on it.

I have a Rifle Classic "L" on my 1500 FI now. It's a great shield (as far as shields go). The size I'm getting is 25" wide and 18" tall. My other shield was 20" tall so I decided on a shorter version this time. Until I sit on the bike with the shield, I won't know if it will be the right height. I'll be getting the lowers as well...

1/30/04

Here are a few reviews of the bike: MotorcycleDaily.com, Motorcycle Cruiser. I'll have my own review if I ever get a chance to ride it.

2/4/04

Got a call from Ray at Carrollton Kawasaki that there is yet another delay. 2 weeks. Go figure... I guess I don't mind waiting but I hope it gets in soon. I have a lot of custom work to do before going on the Hill Country Ride VII.

2/15/04

New seat ordered from Mustang for my future V2K.

2/18/04

Vance & Hines will be producing PowerShots for the V2K. Unless something better comes out (which I doubt), I'll bet getting these pipes. My name is already on the list...

2/19/04

Shocked! Ray and Carrollton Kawasaki said he had my bike and it wasn't a joke. Here are 3 pictures I took with my camera phone:

From the brief ride from the dealer to my office and then back to my home, all I can say is that I was "Shocked and Awed" at its power, torque and handling. I received my Rifle shield today also so I'll get that on pretty quick and add some more pictures.

2/23/04

Took the bike to Vida Loca Customs today. It was pouring rain the entire 50+ miles and I was soaked and cold. Here are some pictures of the bike with the windshield taken on 2/22/04.

It will be 2-3 weeks before I ride my bike again.

3/4/04

Mickey at Vida Loca sent these initial rough sketches of the fenders and tank.

The first picture is the front fender and back fender. The back fender has a dragon and the taillight will be the opening of the dragon's mouth and the eyes are the turn signals. The second is a of the tank where the dragons are flying over the city of Dallas and burning it.

Realize, these are very rough designs. As more pictures come in, I'll post them.

3/10/04

I received my Leatherworks bags. I'm very impressed. Damn good bags and big enough for my computer.

3/13/04

I went up to Vida Loca Customs today to check on the progress of the bike. Here are some pics:

This shows the bike with the fenders and tank off. Pretty ugly if you ask me...

This is the rear fender. The rear fender will have the dragon head where the mouth is the taillight and the eyes are the turn signals. Also, the license is mounted in the fender with a clear covering. The whole thing will be smooth to the touch. The left picture is the one with the dragon template on top and the second shows the metal work necessary to remove the old taillight (see piece on the left) and weld in new metal to fit the form of the fender. This stage is waiting for the eyes and mount to be cut out based on the template so that it can be finished and painted with the base coat of black.

So far, so good...

3/15/04

I ordered a Lightning Fuel Controller and a Tornado air kit from Thunder Manufacturing. No telling when I'll receive it but here's a picture of what the air kit should look like:

3/21/04

Went back to Vida Loca to check on the progress. Unfortunately, I left my compact flash card at home so my camera was non-functional. I took these with the crappy camera on my phone. Mickey will be sending others.

The pictures are awful, but you can get the idea. I forgot to take a picture of the rear fender. Mickey still has a lot to do, but i should be able to pick up the finished product at the end of the week.

3/22/04

Here are some more pictures that Mickey took...

Rear Fender:

Front Fender: