V2K "Features" {Good Things}

[Dadinator]

Originally Posted by MotorMojo

The one-piece thicker bar you recommend -- that is a good idea.

Bigger bags, you'd recommend which ones for a VN2000?

I really like the looks of the studded seats on this bike -- I hope either the seat conforms to my _____ or that my _____ conforms to the seat. Whichever.

BTW, what kind of touring range in miles do you get with a VN2000?

I wonder what the chances are that the dealer would come all the way down to something like $10K? That's a reduction of $3K. Its still higher than $9.5K.

MM,
On mine, I went with the Kawi bar. I have the stock bags but have a leatherlyke trunk that I mount to the luggage rack when we travel.
The stock seat didn't conform to my arse. I got an ultimate. You can get them with the studs that match the stock studs exactly.
I get 40 - 42mpg on mine 2 up. 5.5 gallon tank. Do the math.
I usually fill up around 175 - 200 miles.

I paid 12K for mine out the door in early '09 for an '08. More than some, but happy with it. Since the one you're looking at is 4 years old at the dealer, I would think you could do better than I did.

32K miles and counting...

[Old Bike Guy]

Originally Posted by Dadinator

MM,
On mine, I went with the Kawi bar. I have the stock bags but have a leatherlyke trunk that I mount to the luggage rack when we travel.
The stock seat didn't conform to my arse. I got an ultimate. You can get them with the studs that match the stock studs exactly.
I get 40 - 42mpg on mine 2 up. 5.5 gallon tank. Do the math.
I usually fill up around 175 - 200 miles.

I paid 12K for mine out the door in early '09 for an '08. More than some, but happy with it. Since the one you're looking at is 4 years old at the dealer, I would think you could do better than I did.

32K miles and counting...

Normally I stay out of these types of threads, but I gotta ask: How did you get that kind of mileage with two up? Are you hobbits? Me and the wife went to Oregon last year and the best we did was 29. Yeah, I had it loaded down but that is still a huge gap from your numbers.

[smedlin]

In answer to the question as to why Kawasaki stopped making the V2K


Kawi spent 4 years, from 1997 to 2001, doing market research on what the American male wanted in a bike.

It then took an additional three years to design and bring to production the V2K... based off that survey of bigger, badder, meaner.

Problem was, by then almost a decade had passed and what the American male wanted had changed; they wanted the road kings and the ultra glides.

That's what prompted the V2K classic (windshield/bags). But it still was not enough, so they came out with the Voyager and the Vaquero.

What they SHOULD have done, was take the frame/engine of the V2K, and molded that into the Vaquero. That would have been the true ultimate machine.

[Jammin'John]

Originally Posted by Old Bike Guy

Normally I stay out of these types of threads, but I gotta ask: How did you get that kind of mileage with two up? Are you hobbits? Me and the wife went to Oregon last year and the best we did was 29. Yeah, I had it loaded down but that is still a huge gap from your numbers.

It's very easy to get low to middle 40's for mileage on this bike.
The bike doesn't much care if it's loaded down.
Now,if you are pulling a trailer....low 30's,high 20's.

JJ

[Jammin'John]

Originally Posted by MotorMojo

JJ & Who: How does one get $ 12,883 "out the door" from a "sale price" of $ 11,600 on that new leftover 2010 VN2000 Classic LT that JJ has linked? I saw that too on Cycletrader. I'd say $ 9,500 could be low but perhaps a good starting point to reach something more realistic. [Of course $ 13K "out the door" was too high.]

As this is a leftover 2009 that I saw, it would have to be worth something less than sale price $11.6K and out the door price of $12.9K for a leftover 2010.

I was just throwin' that out there since the OP was asking me and I wasn't sure.
I think the best deal would be on a clean used one with farkles.

JJ

[whoaru99]

Originally Posted by Jammin'John

It's very easy to get low to middle 40's for mileage

JJ

For some, apparently that's true. Most others I see, including myself, are in mid to upper 30s. Course with me on the bike, at 260 or so, it's almost like pulling a trailer.

[Jammin'John]

I guess I should have said"It's very easy to get low to middle 40's for mileage if you hold the go stick steady."
Hard to do that on this bike.
If I ride a steady 60ish and only pass the cars that are actually going too slow I get low 40's.
It seems like a lot of you guys do the interstate at 80+.
Not my cup of tea. I don't find any fun factor on the superslab.
In my normal riding where I pass a lot of cars and ride the town & county roads at 60 - 70 mph it's easy to get middle 30's.

JJ

[whoaru99]

Not me. Nearest interstate is 45 miles North or 60 miles West. Mostly county road driving around here. Stop signs and fair number of 90 deg turns onto other county roads give ample opportunity for a lot of throttle roll ons.

[rkd2.3]

I believe that the quality of fuel has a big bearing upon my mileage. Crappy fuel= low mpg. It is almost as big a factor as the twist of the right wrist.
Also a carried load is easier on fuel than a towed load, thus trailer decreases mpg
When ever it needs juice, I just top it off, who really worries about mpg??? the ONLY thing I know for sure, when the low fuel light starts flashing & I back out of the throttle, my MPG increases along with the "pucker "factor, cuz I can NOT push this beast to the pump!!!
LOL

[whoaru99]

I'm not really all that concerned about the MPG either, it's just a fairly common talking point and interesting because the reports are so varied. That said, based on my recollections of discussions, I think the bell curve would be centered in the mid/upper 30's.