Anyone own a Vulcan 2000?

Yamaha Roadliner vs the Kawasaki Vulcan 2000.  

The vulcan 2000 is a nice machine "but" A dam rev. limiter stops ya from getting into the real power zone. I have a 2000 LT and get blown off by Road Kings! I have every soup-em up stuff available for this bike and can get to the rev. limiter real quick, but that is it! poop  Bike is good on a long ride, "But" It only  runs on hightest and gets about thirty five miles or less to a galloon. Any comments to me: mrsunshine@enter.net  

I've owned a V2K since 2004.... got one of the first, right after it came out.... and I STILL am in love with it! 13,000+ pretty much 'glitch free' miles. My bike suffered the "improperly heat treated rear pulley issue" (fixed under warranty), and has a VERY minor 'knock' at one spot on the power curve.  Other than that, it's been a REAL gem!
Some comments... - The OEM kickstand was a bit short. I found a longer  version.... problem fixed.  Mustang Seat, Leatherlyke "Hard" bags, Rifle windshield (and 'lowers'), Air Horn (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!), Power Commander (worth it, even on 'stock bike'), Tom Tom One GPS on RAM Mount (easily hard wired - Excellent). One REALLY GOOD (and inexpensive) item is Martin Fab. "Running Light Kit".  They mount using existing tapped Disk Brake hole, use High intensity (OR you can get H.I.D's) and work fantastically, both for "fog" AND visibility to other drivers.  I've taken several 1000 mile rides and will take 3000+ one this summer, as I'm FINALLY retired! This is a VERY comfortable long range cruiser WITH a lot of pep when you need it.  I am amazed at how well it handles around town though, BUT you do need to plan ahead (as in "Don't try to manually back it up!!)  I've been riding 45 years+ and have always had Kawasaki's.  Last bike was a Vulcan 800.  Small points ....1) BUY THE FACTORY SPARK PLUG WRENCH BEFORE YOU NEED IT!! Yes, its $60.00, but nothing else works.  Trust me. 2) Get the COBRA Engine guards.  They've saved paint TWICE and just look right. 3) Read the oil level procedure and carefully do it as specified.  Its' VERY easy to overfill.  I use Aeroshell ROTELLA "Diesel" synthetic.  Much higher spec than "Special motorcycle Oil" and available at any Wal-Mart for 1/2 price.  (See Aeroshell "White Paper" on subject on their Web Site. Bottom Line...NOT a "beginner bike", but fantastic for the serious rider.  

Who cares about mpg. It's a bike. They get way better gas mileage than any car. Just get one, I did. Went from a '98 vulcan 750 to a 2008 vulcan 2000. I love it. Have yet to go on a nice long ride, but know that it will be with ease. Seat is comfortable for me. No complaints here. This bike will take you anywahere you'd like to go with little effort. It has a massive 2053cc v-twin motor. Sit on one, you won't want to get off.  

You may think that what I am about to say is silly but it's true. If you are a married man like me and you buy a Vulcan 2000 LT , she becomes your mistress!!! It's definitely a love affair. I now have two mistresses and in my biased opinion there are not many other bikes out there that exemplify the term CRUISER any better. I do think that Kawasaki should find out just what is in a Mustang seat and add it to their manufacturing process. For long rides you just can't beat it. Also, the Cobra Fatty Freeway bars should be on it as the world we ride in just ain't perfect. My 2000 that I bought used this year(2009) came with risers on the handlebars. I had no idea that a little one inch piece of metal could make that much difference. I immediately ordered one for my other bike. Now I'm fixing to tell you about something that I did which might keep you from making the same mistake. I was going to ride with my friend who lives about two miles away so my bike needed a little rinsing off. Well I rinsed it off and got on and rode for about a mile. She started skipping and cuttin out and the first thing that comes to my mind is I must have got water in the gas somehow. I continue riding another mile to my friends house where I park the bike and keep it running and now I'm reving it to get that water out of the fuel. Wrong,Wrong,Wrong. All of a sudden someone notices that the exhaust pipe is cherry red. Too late. If you get to this point it is too late. Kawasaki was very generous in replacing the pipe and the plastic radiator water container mounted just in back of it. I'm the type of person who has to know just exactly what happened so I could keep it from happening again. After much discussion with my mechanic, we think this is what happened. Of course, water did not get in the fuel, it just sounded like it was. We think, that as I rinsed it off , I must have sprayed some water into the front sparkplug boot which after one mile, heated up, causing the boot to partially pop up just enough to start skipping. Now to add insult to injury, I start giving it gas which is not being burnt in the cylinder but is going straight to the catalytic converter and being burnt inside of it. By the time you notice it , its too late Ethel. Heres what I'm saying to you, if this bike ever starts skipping, check the plug boot first. And don't dally. The chances of you getting water from a hightest pump are pretty rare. I allways dump out whatever is in the handle before I start pumping anyways. I'm a true believer in extended warranties. Now, my second bike has a problem, that my mechanic an I have not been able to cure no matter what. The drivebelt, which is $500, chirps and squeals and we have adjusted the rear axle until we are just tired of messing with it. It will stop making noise for about a half a days ride then it starts up again. So I suggested to my mechanic how about silicone spray. He said go for it. It can't hurt anything. Well what do you know. A can of silicone from NAPA is $4.00 and if I spray it liberally on the belt and rear pulley, I can ride all day without it making noise. It only lasts a day though. Having had driveshafts and belts I much prefer the Belt. It absorbs a lot of the drivetrain schlunk ,for lack of a better word. The thing I want to say lastly is, these bikes are very rough on back tires which are expensive. Its like they don't have enough rubber on them. They wear out too fast. Oh, another thing, last year when gas got hard to get down in Florida, the stations were out of premium and you had to use regular. The regular contains that 10% methanol crap and on a 96 degree day this mixture will make your Vulcan engine run ten degrees hotter. A friend of mine with a Triumph Rocket says he noticed the same thing and cured it with something you add to your gas to change the 87 to 93. I'll have to do more research on that tidbit. It's a great bike and its allways ready to go. Low maintenance.Both my girls......

This is an edit to this post.
The year is 2010. Concerning the belt squeal that would not go away, get a new mechanic who will listen to you. I just changed back tires on both bikes and after discussion with new mechanic, we decided to put the belt on where it barely touched the inside of the pulley on the rear wheel. As it turns out, when you start riding the bike, the belt moves to the center which is where it needs to be so as not to make any rubbing noises. Don't have to spray it any more. What we were doing wrong was adjusting the belt to the center of the pulley, but then when you started riding it, the belt would move to the outside and thats where it would would rub and make that horrendous noise. Oh yes, concerning the low octane gas, they now market an octane booster just for motorcycles. Now why can't someone make a rear tire that doesn't wear down so fast? I've tried three different ones but they all wear out around 6000 miles. Life is good again. Must go ride now.  

Wish this thread would pick up. I've heard of one VN2000 rider who has put on about 60,000 miles, and supposedly satisfied with his ride. I have also heard though that the big Vulcan has had a number of owners who have had to do upper engine work already, or a few transmission issues too. I would like for someone here to confirm for me that these last mentioned are the exceptions and not the rule, and also explained for by the observation that they typically ride the 2053cc Beast as though it were a giant sportbike. The VN2000 uses straight cut gears and not helical, and distributes it's huge displacement in only 2 cylinders, rather than spreading it out in 4 like a Royal Star or even in 6 like a Goldwing does. So, I'm thinking that a VN2000 owner must take all that into consideration and not unduly overwork the giant....with exceptions now and then of course!  

The reason this thread is so slow is this:  It takes a real man to ride a Vulcan 2000. There just aren't that many real men any more. Aren't you glad you are one of us. Also, because not that many things go wrong with this well built bike, so there ain't a whole lot to talk about unless it's where you rode last. My question to the Harley boys and girls is this, Why can't Harley make a bike that ,looks as good as a 2000, runs as good without having to go to the shop every 3000 miles and only costs $15000. All Harleys are BLACK. They are priced from $21000 up. Three of my buds have em and they are allways taking them to the shop. Why? I've allways been an independant type thinker and I don't want to be like everyone else. I want my bike to stand out in a crowd and it does. Every Harley I've ever seen vibrates terribly so maybe this is the underlying cause of spending so much time in the shop.
  I put modulaters on headlites on both bikes. These things will save your life. You will notice an immediate difference as to how cars see you. They are worth every penny even if they only save your life once!  

I just happen to have checked the gas mileage of my 2004 VN2000 the last week. The mileage consisted of about 10% town and 90% highway. It got a solid 47 mpg. This test was on roads under construction, going between 60 mph and 70 mph.
I bought my bike used and in retrospect, I think it was run hard. When pulling hard in second gear, it wants to go in and out of gear. This is the only gear that does this. Besides this the tranny is very good. It crunches some but, I understand this is common. The rest of the bike is really good except the seat. I exchanged it for a Mustang seat. Big improvement. I started out with a Switchblade 2 UP windshield. Too much head buffeting. When I switched to the Chopped winshield, the buffeting improved. My bike has almost 20K miles. Does not use or leak a drop of oil. To make a long story short, knowing what I know, I'd buy a new Vulcan 2000 LT in a heart beat.  

HI,
My brother just bought a 09 2000 Lt with 500 miles on it and I just bought an 08 2000 Lt with 455 miles. Need help though, My brother put a battery tender on it today and when putting the driver's seat back on he notice there is about an inch gap between the tank and seat. Can anyone help us with this problem. He tightens the seats bolts down and the seat still has the inch gap. Appreciate any help with this  

Did you buy it? I got an 04 bought it in 05 and just went over 80,500 miles. Never had any problems with it. It's got the power I like, the weight to keep from being blown around by big trucks and the reliability that I always had with Kawasakis. Even though Kawasaki is discontinuing them for 2012 - been told that people have issues with the weight. I love mine because it's great on the highway and the backroads. My wife and I (400 lbs total) can take off on it and never have an issue with power. I have added Cobra shotguns, a Big Air cleaner from Baron and a power commander. I traveled alot when I first got it and if I was ever working in a certain part of the country for very long - I would have it dyno'd and set up for that area. Ride on and keep it between the lines.  

I have a 05 VN 2000 Limited I bought new. I currently have 70,000 miles on it. It started using oil at about 50k and is currently using about 1 quart every 1,000 miles. I let kawasaki do the service under contract/warranty up to about 35k using kawasaki oil. Then i started doing my own with castrol. At about 60k i started using Lucas synthetic. didnt seem to change the consumption but may run a little quieter. Gets between 40 and 45 mpg depending on 65 or 85 mph riding. get about 8k out of a rear tire and 13k on front tire. I have it lowered 2" which changes the leaning ability. I installed cordin beetle bags painted to match. also have a corbin dual tour seat for when the wife rides.  plus lots of chrome extras. Been on several week long trips approx. 2500 miles each. It has been very reliable with only a couple of repairs. Still runs very strong and wouldnt be afraid to go anywhere on it. For a fun dependable cruiser would recommend it to anyone.  

Anyone still riding/loving the beast ?

               JJ