Kawasaki Vulcan Forum banner

Vaquero owners thread

1M views 4K replies 299 participants last post by  Peg 
#1 ·
This Thread is dedicated to all Vaquero Owners and any other interested bikers.
 
  • Like
Reactions: milliayal70
#2,533 ·
Sorry, man. When I open that link on my iPad it shows the bright orange Vaq!
 
#2,535 ·
Super weird!
 
#2,546 ·
Looks awesome, Which kit did you go with?
 
#2,553 ·
I had a Good Christmas Eve...

Got the best Christmas present I could of asked for; my brother came home from the hospital!
He had gone in for neck surgery the Wednesday after Thanksgiving. Two days after the surgery he suffered a brain hemmorage and a stroke, left him in somewhat of a vegetative state. The hemmorage eventually shrunk and he really stsrted to improve, enuff so that a week and a half ago he was sent to rehab where he progressed even more.
He was released Christmas eve and came home. He lost 25 pnds while in the hospital and he still has a long way to go.

After getting him settled in I left and took the Vaquero for a mellow ride. Saw an incredible sunset and thanking God for David's recovery, coming home and to be out ridin my skoot on such a gougeous evening. I kept ridin and realized I was gettin close to crossing another mileage milestone.

So on December 24th, the skoot being officially 20 months and 5 days in my ownership, i crossed this...



30,000 MILES!! YIPPEE

YEP, it was a good day.

RACNRAY
 
#2,554 ·
Got the best Christmas present I could of asked for; my brother came home from the hospital!
He had gone in for neck surgery the Wednesday after Thanksgiving. Two days after the surgery he suffered a brain hemmorage and a stroke, left him in somewhat of a vegetative state. The hemmorage eventually shrunk and he really stsrted to improve, enuff so that a week and a half ago he was sent to rehab where he progressed even more.
He was released Christmas eve and came home. He lost 25 pnds while in the hospital and he still has a long way to go.

After getting him settled in I left and took the Vaquero for a mellow ride. Saw an incredible sunset and thanking God for David's recovery, coming home and to be out ridin my skoot on such a gougeous evening. I kept ridin and realized I was gettin close to crossing another mileage milestone.

So on December 24th, the skoot being officially 20 months and 5 days in my ownership, i crossed this...



30,000 MILES!! YIPPEE

YEP, it was a good day.

RACNRAY
Now that is a good ride:good:
I hope your brother gets as close to 100% as possible.
 
#2,555 ·
Ray, great to here that David is improving. Our prayers are with you and your family. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help.
Congrats on reaching 30k, just stop posting pics where you are getting over 50 mpg!!! I would have to be drifting down a hill to see that but as you know we don't have any hills down here!! Call me when things get settled and we'll do a ride. I'm off until 01/02/13.
 
#2,557 ·
Cleaned Up the Front Light's

Not happy with the status quo :) and needing end of the year project, I decided to tackle the front markers and turn signals.

So here are some photos and the parts list, took about 3 hrs total. Faster next time :eek:

Cycle Gear Parts
489404 Speedmetal Micro Arrow Short BLK/AMB - $19.99 x1
489425 Speedmetal License Plate Bracket Black - $19.99 x1

Radio Shack Parts
275-0241 - SPDT MicroMini 12 VDC Relay x2

Various shrink tubing, solder etc.

Vaquero front lights are 3-wire, replacement lights are 2 wire, so the first challenge was the conversion so it all worked in the end. Searching the web discovered various options for this, I opted on the relays to handle the new 2 wire replacement lights.
I discovered all the parts at Cycle Gear while picking up some charger parts, the Speedmetal lights have various options and come in Black or Chrome.
One challenge I had was a new mount, I knew what I wanted but fabrication was the challenge, while looking at the lights I saw the license plate bracket and knew if I put it together and flipped it over all I needed to be concerned with was the mounting holes on the stock part, the bracket was about 1/8" off on both sides and 2 min with the dremel tool fixed it and it mounted perfectly in the same location as the stock and was predrilled for the light stems. The bracket is designed in such a way as to be accomodating for the differences in plate width and in my configuration that means I could locate the lights as close or far apart as suited me.
So now it was a matter of wiring and testing and it all went very smoothly, keep the wiring harness in the bike as is, make no changes there. Remove the front bezel trim, remove the headlight and unplug and set both parts aside.
Unplug the left and right markers at the harness and remove the entire light assembly, I cut the connectors off with about 6" of spare wire and set the whole light thing away, I soldered the connectors to the relay first and then connected the lights after testing the connects on the bike, you can hear the relay click when the T/S are activated from the handlebar, and with a test light confirmed the markers were activated and I got power everytime the relay switched on/off.
Everything was shrink wrapped and waterproofed, tucked away, H/L replaced, bezel back on and these babies are bright.
So all new front lights, all new back end.......2013 is a new year and I'm running out of projects. What next :rolleyes:
 

Attachments

#2,558 ·
Not happy with the status quo :) and needing end of the year project, I decided to tackle the front markers and turn signals.

So here are some photos and the parts list, took about 3 hrs total. Faster next time :eek:

Cycle Gear Parts
489404 Speedmetal Micro Arrow Short BLK/AMB - $19.99 x1
489425 Speedmetal License Plate Bracket Black - $19.99 x1

Radio Shack Parts
275-0241 - SPDT MicroMini 12 VDC Relay x2

Various shrink tubing, solder etc.

Vaquero front lights are 3-wire, replacement lights are 2 wire, so the first challenge was the conversion so it all worked in the end. Searching the web discovered various options for this, I opted on the relays to handle the new 2 wire replacement lights.
I discovered all the parts at Cycle Gear while picking up some charger parts, the Speedmetal lights have various options and come in Black or Chrome.
One challenge I had was a new mount, I knew what I wanted but fabrication was the challenge, while looking at the lights I saw the license plate bracket and knew if I put it together and flipped it over all I needed to be concerned with was the mounting holes on the stock part, the bracket was about 1/8" off on both sides and 2 min with the dremel tool fixed it and it mounted perfectly in the same location as the stock and was predrilled for the light stems. The bracket is designed in such a way as to be accomodating for the differences in plate width and in my configuration that means I could locate the lights as close or far apart as suited me.
So now it was a matter of wiring and testing and it all went very smoothly, keep the wiring harness in the bike as is, make no changes there. Remove the front bezel trim, remove the headlight and unplug and set both parts aside.
Unplug the left and right markers at the harness and remove the entire light assembly, I cut the connectors off with about 6" of spare wire and set the whole light thing away, I soldered the connectors to the relay first and then connected the lights after testing the connects on the bike, you can hear the relay click when the T/S are activated from the handlebar, and with a test light confirmed the markers were activated and I got power everytime the relay switched on/off.
Everything was shrink wrapped and waterproofed, tucked away, H/L replaced, bezel back on and these babies are bright.
So all new front lights, all new back end.......2013 is a new year and I'm running out of projects. What next :rolleyes:
Some more shots of the install and lights on
 

Attachments

#2,561 ·
Added a Little OldSkool Class to the Vaquero

The wife and I went off to the Rockabilly Car/.Bike Show on saturday, one of the sponsors Bonehead was an OldSkool pinstriper so I asked him to take a look at the Vaquero. He said he would do the bike right then and there for $120.
Once he started I noticed a kid hanging out and watching and found out he was the apprentice. Well I love passing on talent and asked him if he wanted a job I would pay him to do my helmet. So he showed me some of his work and I gave him my helmet, $40 and done.
Bonehead said the kid was son of a family friend and he had real talent and thanked us for giving the kid the job. Bonehead toild us someone shared the knowledge with him when he was young and he was paying it back sharing it with the kid.
So I got the tank, the front fender, both bags, both side covers and rear fender, great work and adds a bit of class to the bike.
 

Attachments

#2,563 ·
I bet it's a reflection though.
 
#2,568 ·
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top