2009 Vulcan with Mods

[burkbuilds]

I bought my 500 back in May of 2009 and I've done a little bit of modifications to make it work best for me. I re-worked the seat to elevate me about 3" and back about 1-2" from stock position. I don't like the look as much as the OEM, but it fits me really well and is a lot more comfortable for me personally. I added Scootworks risers to the handlebars and I added floor boards, and a front windshield from Slipstream. I also changed out the front fender for an older style chrome version, had to do a little drilling to mount it so it wouldn't rub my front wheel. I added a stem nut clock and a tachometer and handgrip warmers. I've also wired in a plug in to hook up my heated vest and gloves. The saddle bags I got from an e-bay site that imported them from Pakistan. Somebody told me they were probably "ass of Yak"! Well, then ass of yak is durable and watertight! Plus they were only $60, have a nice padded inside liner and they are real leather, from some tough skinned critter! The luggage trunk is nice since it is lockable and large enough that I have actually stowed my full face helmet inside on occasion. I've also got some LED that I can turn on at night and they change colors slowly as I go along. (Or you can pick a color and leave it, or about any combination of a lot of other stuff, but I just let them scroll). I also added a helmet lock up on the front bars, that one that comes on the bike lets your helmet rest on the pipes and melt, ask me how I know. Almost forgot, I also added a drivers backrest, and it's really nice to have!

[Triangles]

I'd like some more details on what u did with the seat. I plan to pick up a second seat and have it modified.

[GeorgiaRider]

Nice work. Which tach did you get?

[burkbuilds]

The tach was an e-bay special, about $60 I'll try and look it up when I'm home this weekend and let you know who I got it from. It seems to work pretty well and was easy to install. The seat, well, I just jumped in and did it. Bought the foam from Sargents Cycle Products in Florida, and used my wife's turkey carving electric knife to do most of the rough work, then I used surform files I bought at Lowe's for less than ten bucks to shape it to fit and paid a local shop $125 to cover it with some good vinyl. I used contact adhesive to bond the new foam to the old foam and I made a template out of some paper taped together with a pattern drawn on it to keep it symmetrical. It took me several tries to get the comfortable shape that fit me best. I just put some plastic wrap over my prototypes and rode them for a while, then brought it back in and cut and carved a little and tried it again until I got the shape that was the most comfortable for my personal shape. When I finally got the shape that I liked the most I took it to the upholstery shop and had them finish it for me. I'm not saying it can't be even better, but this was a good fit. I've ridden as long as 7-8 hours in a day on it and although I was glad to be at the destination and get off of it that night, I couldn't have lasted more than about three hours tops with the original configuration. I'm actually planning to try and make it even better sometime this year, already got the foam from Sargents and some fiberglass to make my own seat pan with, just haven't had the time to do it yet. Gonna try to make it a little wider and more support forward under my thighs this time, but I don't want to mess up what I've already got, so I'm gonna build my own seat pan from scratch and maybe even add a little storage room under the seat and put a keyed seat lock on it for easy removal. I've got all the stuff ready, just waiting for my schedule to open up to do it.

[Triangles]

I'm actually planning to try and make it even better sometime this year, already got the foam from Sargents and some fiberglass to make my own seat pan with, just haven't had the time to do it yet. Gonna try to make it a little wider and more support forward under my thighs this time, but I don't want to mess up what I've already got, so I'm gonna build my own seat pan from scratch and maybe even add a little storage room under the seat and put a keyed seat lock on it for easy removal. I've got all the stuff ready, just waiting for my schedule to open up to do it.

Please take lots of pictures. I contemplated trying something like this, but I fear I'd just screw it up and end up wasting a lot of money.

[burkbuilds]

Okay, I will try to document what I do this time around. I've never made a seat pan before, just downloaded some stuff off of the internet and it doesn't look to terribly tough, but nothing usually looks tough when somebody who knows what they are doing is demonstrating it. I even bought a cheap "hot knife" off of e-bay to aid in shaping the foam this time around, so I'll have to see how well that actually works compared to the electric turkey carving knife of my wife's. It may be a while, I've got Spring break coming up in March, so maybe then, but if not then It will probably be Summer before I have the time to tackle this project.

[Motolove]

The luggage trunk is nice since it is lockable and large enough that I have actually stowed my full face helmet inside on occasion. ]

Everything looks superb!!! I'm especially interested in how you mounted that trunk. Scootworks sells one for the vulcan but it is black in color. I know that rider 500 can have one made by Manuel, but both are pricey. AND jablonsky will & has and can supply a plan for making one ( sorry, J., I know not how to make such a thing myself) .... so , do you have an old "family secret" of where to get such trunk mount at a reasonable price? Let's say $150 ....or so??? hmmmmmm?

M

[burkbuilds]

Here's a picture of my trunk mounting plate that I made out of a piece of aluminum checker plate I had left over from some project a few years back. The four bolts you see are coming all the way from inside the trunk. The eye bolt I added just to give me something to hook a bungee cord to if I needed it and the two pins are part of the luggage rack and help keep everything in place. I'm glad you asked for this information because when I looked at the picture I discovered a busted LED light that I wouldn't have noticed otherwise! This set up has proven to be very secure and I've never had it move on me at all. Sorry the bikes so filthy, I haven't actually washed it since last Fall, I just wipe it down once in a while, waiting for a hot day to wash it again.

[Jablonsky]

Here's a picture of my trunk mounting plate that I made out of a piece of aluminum checker plate I had left over from some project a few years back. The four bolts you see are coming all the way from inside the trunk...

Good job burkbuilds! Even if our civilization falls apart, these bolts will still hold your trunk firmly in place

... AND jablonsky will & has and can supply a plan for making one ( sorry, J., I know not how to make such a thing myself) .... so , do you have an old "family secret" of where to get such trunk mount at a reasonable price? Let's say $150 ....or so??? hmmmmmm?

M

Motolove, if I remember well, Vicente's mount costs abt $150 ? Check the other forum or contact directly Vicente for exact price.
Regarding "old family secret": if you take the plans I posted on the other forum to any company which offers the service of cutting and forming steel, they can make you the mount like mine in no time. And it shouldn't cost a lot, mine is made of 4mm stainless steel and I think I spent abt $30. But remember that my mount attaches to sissy bar mounting plates and I think you do not have them yet. Currently I am using mutazu sissy bar mounting plates, but working on a new set, which includes also attachments for driver's backrest. Should be ready in about 2 weeks and then I'll post some pics.

[GeorgiaRider]

Burkbuilds,

Is the tach still working ok for you? Does the needle stay steady or does it move around on you, i.e. when idling?

Thanks.

[burkbuilds]

The tach is still working fine. It does "jiggle" a little at idle, but so does my bike so it may actually be reflecting the lack of complete smoothness in my idle rpms, it's not significant, I would guess it's moving about 100 rpms at idle, very steady at off idle speeds.

[GeorgiaRider]

Thanks. Did you need to add a "tach adapter" for single fire ignitions (per website info).

[burkbuilds]

No, I just hooked it up to one side and it worked fine.

[GeorgiaRider]

Burkbuilds,

I am going to order the tach you got. Tried to send you a PM, but it doesn't seem to be working right. Great price from what I can tell based on some other prices out there. Is there anything special I need to let me dealer know about hooking it up to a Vulcan 500? They are a Kawi dealer, so they should be able to figure it out. Any special parts I need to know about?

Thanks,

[burkbuilds]

No, it's pretty simple, just three wires and one is a ground wire, I don't think they will have any trouble, the instructions were easy to follow. Good luck!