Rider Review: 1995 Kawasaki Vulcan 1500A

Another big bike, not well suited for an entry level rider. This is the original 1500 Vulcan, the dual carb version that preceded the current "Classic" style being sold today. Same basic motor though, the newer ones are single carbs (with all 1500 models slated for being FI as of 03).

I acquired one of these mean machines and was immediately impressed with the powerband. I took my friend for a ride the first day, headed down a lonely long road that goes on an uphill grade. I accelerated from a stand still and to my surprise I was shifting out of third gear at 100mph ON A GRADE WITH A PASSENGER! Excellent power-to-weight ratio, a 1500cc motor on a bike that has the same dry weight as a Honda Shadow 1100 A.C.E..

I bought it used with about 5000 miles on it and nicely equipped with a freeway bar, chrome plated radiator grill, side covers, and lower engine casings, new raised white letter Dunlop tires, and extra detailed paint. The bike was great on the freeway, cruising along at 75mph purring nicely. Top gear roll-ons were responsive, the only time I ever downshifted to pass was to keep up with my riding partner's CBR1000 Hurricane...The seat was quite comfortable.

And now for the bad news: The bike leaked all four fluids within a one-year period. The starter circuit had a quirk to it, on occasion the starter wouldn't activate from the switch and I would have to roll it forward to "bump" the starter, and then the switch responded for electric start mode. This was investigated many times but never resolved, as the bike NEVER did this for the mechanics. Fortunately I was never stranded, because push starting these beasts was quite a chore. I didn't find out until after parting with it that this needs to be done in SECOND gear, something the owners' manual failed to divulge. And the "adjustable" horn never worked after awhile, after spending 10-20 minutes making hairline adjustments on the adjuster screw and getting it to sound, the screw would rattle/vibrate out of synch within two blocks (lock-tite didn't help either).

Speaking of rattle/vibrating, I can't list how many nuts, bolts, screws, and fasteners fell off while riding. I would come home, park the bike, and notice a rear turn signal dangling by the electrical wires or a passenger footpeg missing one of its bolts, etc... once I even felt something hit the ground and go under the rear tire, didn't see what it was "on the fly" but noticed after several blocks (at a stop) that the left side wrap around exhaust pipe was missing its heat shield. I went back for it, but it had already been damaged (either by my tire or someone else's...). The Cobra slip-on brackets kept snapping loose and required frequent re-welding at 1000 mile intervals (this was due more toward the cheap manufacturing on Cobra's behalf and not neccesarily due to the bike itself). The handlebar even came loose and pivoted downwards once after hitting a bump in the road.

I pretty much had to perform weekly tightening inspections, and it seemed each week I discovered a new area to examine each time. One more thing worth mentioning was the less than adequate craftsmanship on behalf of Kawasaki's machinery of their parts. Can't mention how many pieces got bent, warped, twisted, or stripped during routine maintenance (and I used a torque wrench on most of them). Getting parts from the manufacturer was a chore too, I waited 8 weeks for four seals to fix my oil leak (the bike needed five and the dealer had one in stock). That was two months that my bike sat in the dealer's back lot and two months of extended warranty down the drain...

On a brighter note, Kawasaki seems to have (finally) ironed out all the bugs in the 1500 motor as of the year 2000 (it took them long enough, their 88ci motor has been in production since 1987...), the newer FI versions are almost as spunky as the former twin carb versions. Many of the single carb 1500 owners were perplexed with the older dually models' ability to pull away under acceleration.

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