Vulcan In For Scheduled Maintenance

Since I am getting ready to move to California, I am beginning to find an urgency to wrap up loose ends before I leave. My time here in Seattle is running out and I am working right up until the week I leave.

Today I decided to take my '07 Vulcan in for it's scheduled 4000 mile maintenance. I have 4300 miles on it so far. The oil needed to be changed and a good overall check. I will be leaving the bike in Seattle for now, so I wanted it to be sweet and ready to ride when it finally moves down to CA. Hopefully I won't be without it for too long.

I can't say enough good things about the Lynnwood Cycle Barn. They have recently downsized their shop and moved into a smaller facility that is shared with the Seattle Harley-Davidson. I guess motorcycle sales have dropped off like all other businesses, so it was a necessary move.
Even so, this is a slow time of year for their service department and they got me right in when I called.

I dropped the bike off around noon, and just got a call that it is ready for me to pick up. It had only been 3 hours since I left it. The problem is that the rains have started and don't look like they will end for a few days. I think I will bite the bullet and put on my rain gear. I would rather pick up the Vulcan and have it sitting safely in my garage than in their shop.

So off I go to pick up my Vulcan. I have become attached to it and will be sad to leave it even for a short while. My husband has promised to ride it often enough to keep her in good shape.

After I move I will be living close to my brother, who has a nice Kawi Ninja. That should be fun to get the occasional ride fix out of my system!

Vulcan Recall Final Installment

I am back on the road again. What a relief it is. I got the much anticipated phone call from my dealership saying I could come by today and just have my Vulcan inspected for the faulty clamp that caused the Recall. I rode the bike to work ( oh, I shouldn't have) and then over to the dealership during after-work commute time.

My dealership is so cool. They moved a couple of years ago into a larger facility. The service department has its own entrance where you just ride up, wait for the automatic double doors to open, and just ride on in. When I got there today there were 3 guys waiting to greet me. They had already written me up and took the bike right in. I wandered over to the retail side of the place, gandering at the shiny new Honda Shadows, Triumphs, and Goldwings. I didn't get very far until I realized they might have coffee. It turned out they had free hot coffee and it was very good too.

Before I finished my cup, the guy came to tell me my bike was ready, AND I passed inspection! No part needed; it's all good. I hopped back on my bike, put on my gear, started it up, and rode out the double doors as the same 3 guys stood there and watched me go. It was actually a fun experience and I talked to the guy who yesterday had first told me the part wouldn't be in all month. He said they haven't had to replace a part yet, and have done several inspections this week.

They took pretty good care of me, and since I've been in to them twice this month I think they will remember me when I go back for more service. I don't plan to need it anytime soon.

Now I can plan that trip to Bandon, Oregon. I'm thinking about 4th of July week. Part of the fun is planning and looking at maps. Looks like luggage is my next purchase.

I can't wait to ride to work again tomorrow. The sun will be out and I might just take the long way home.

Update On Kawasaki Vulcan Recall

It's been a week since I called my dealership to see how they were going to handle the recall on my bike, which involves a defect in the fuel line clamp that attaches at the electronic ignition. At that time they said they would need to order the replacement part required for the recall. So I waited patiently all week, and didn't ride the bike because of danger warnings and cautions.

Luckily, Mother Nature responded by spewing out its last week of winter weather, even though it is officially Spring now (She claims ignorance). All last week it rained, sleet, snowed, was sunny, all within 15 minutes. It was something we hadn't seen before for so many days in a row. Almost every day I would leave work, driving my truck, and it would start snowing. As I would get to an intersection 2 miles away the sun was out. Heading up the next hill as I approached the top, snow again. It was kind of fun, but I was glad I wasn't out riding in that.

Today I called the dealership again. I had decided to start calling regularly until I got taken care of. I asked the Service Department guy if my part was in yet, and if not when it would be. His reply was: It shows here the part was ordered and yes, they show a backorder on that part. It will be here on the 30th. Me: Of April?! S.D. Guy: Yes this month. Me: Oh, my gosh, oh, my gosh, oh my gosh...... I guess he could sense the fear and panic in my voice as I was thinking to myself how there was no way I was going to lose the whole friggin month of April friggin riding weather.

As it turned out I convinced him to talk to his manager, and by 10am Wednesday he will call to let me know if I can just have it inspected to see if I even need a part. There are apparantly two groups of bikes. Ones that the VIN # is definately linked to the problem and WILL need the part replaced. Others, they are inspecting to see if the problem exists. If he calls and I just need an inspection, I will ride over there after work and take care of it. The sun happens to be out for 3 days and I don't want to miss my riding window!

I'll let you know as the saga continues.

My Vulcan and I Are One

I knew it would happen eventually. As I ride my Vulcan more and more I notice something great happening. It is really quite amazing.

When I first got the bike it fit well. That is one of the reasons for choosing the Vulcan 900 Classic. As a woman, it is hard to find a bike that feels right and fits all parts of the body. The Vulcan fit like a glove from the very beginning.

The first time I actually rode the bike anywhere, I had trouble finding first gear, had it in neutral instead, and it tipped over. Not all the way, but it seemed so huge at the time that I couldn’t get it back upright. It was a helpless feeling, but I knew it would just take time to get used to the size of the motorcycle.

Lately when I have ridden this wonderful thing is happening. I am turning easily and almost instinctively. Backing up is getting much easier. My feet go automatically to the floorboards after taking off, and shifting is a breeze (always was). I can feel myself becoming one with the motorcycle. We have bonded. The Vulcan wanted to do its own thing for a while, but now it responds to my every whim.

What a pleasure it is to ride. Spring may be here officially this week, but hasn’t happened yet here in Seattle. When the weather warms past 50 degrees I will be out on the road non-stop. Well, maybe in between making a living.

Windshield Weekend

My Vulcan windshield came in that I had ordered the day of the motorcycle purchase. It was very large and I was worried that it might be too big for me to see the road clearly.

Not to worry……I assembled the windshield and put it on a few days ago. It has rained here constantly since then so I was waiting for a window of opportunity to ride with the windshield and see if it made a difference in handling, etc.

I was also a little concerned that if I rode on a cold, foggy morning that the windshield would fog up and I would be blind to the road. One of my fans (I think it was my brother) suggested that I use Rain-X glass treatment to help the water bead off and hopefully the fog wouldn’t collect. I bought the ‘wipes’ and treated the windshield inside and out, the mirrors, and all of our other bikes mirrors with one ‘wipe’. It was easy and didn’t hurt the plastic that the windshield is made of. I’m going to try it on my face shield for the same reasons.

The windshield is optically correct.....you can hardly tell it's there!

I took the bike out for a ride after its treatment, and ‘dude’! I really love this motorcycle. The windshield is great, with no distortion. At 5'3" I am looking through the area about 8" from the top of the shield. It was overcast and around 40 degrees. I didn’t dress warm enough and wore my favorite leather gloves. The ride was awesome, but my hands got so cold I decided to head back home because it was getting painful. I never learn that I need to overdress on the bike, just to be comfortable. It was a wonderful ride anyway, and there should be a couple of dry days this week when I plan to ride to work.

My ride looks pretty good with its new windshield……

Unexpected Addition to the Garage

Since the weather has been soggy lately I have been dreaming of riding next summer. In my daydreams I am on a large cruiser motorcycle going on overnight trips and riding up and down the Pacific Coast. The sound of the rumbling rhythm in my head is from a Harley.

Since Harleys are overpriced and have a certain 'status' associated with them, I started looking online to see what other motorcycles there might be, so that I might start dreaming of a closer reality. I really need a bigger bike. Yesterday, to pass the dreary day, I talked my husband into going to this huge motorcycle dealership that is pretty far away from our home, but has the largest variety of Japanese bikes in the area. My intention was to 'look' and narrow down what type of motorcycle I wanted and could afford in the near future.

We drove down there and happily started jumping on bikes in the showroom. This place had every make, model, and color of every 2007 Japanese motorcycle on the American market. I was immediately drawn to a Honda Sabre with a flame paint job. I love flames! It just didn’t feel good to me once I sat on it. I also tried all the larger Suzuki Boulevard series, Yamaha cruiser V-Stars, many Honda cruisers, and some Kawasaki cruisers. Finally I sat on the Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Classic. That was it!

After leaving to go eat lunch, think about it, and discuss it with my husband……..I went back and bought the bike. We decided the sale they were having was really a good deal, the bike fit well, and it had all the features that I needed in my next motorcycle. I had followed the chain of events when a fellow blogger, Rippin-Kitten had been fortunate enough to be loaned a Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Custom for a while. She rode it and reviewed it. It generally sounded like a fine motorcycle, looked good, and was reasonably priced. I also knew a girl in my riding group who had a new Aqua colored one. It’s a beautiful bike. The dealer had a Candy Cardinal Red one. I nabbed it.

I don’t pick the bike up until Tuesday, which is supposed to be the start of a couple of partly sunny, dry days. I got a large windshield, and engine guards added to the already cool motorcycle. It has floorboards, a real gas gauge, and a huge headlight. It also has a 5.3 gallon gas tank, fuel injection, low maintenance belt drive, and spoked wheels with disc brakes on front and back.

I am sure this motorcycle will serve me well for several years of riding pleasure. I will be looking for large leather saddlebags and eventually a small sissy bar with luggage rack behind it, for those overnight trips with lots of gear. It was an unexpected purchase, but one that I had been leading up to for a while. Now I just have to keep my husband off of it……