All new big Vulcan

[Eugene]

Your opinion on how long the present Vulcan 1700 will be in production yet. In Russia and Europe it is already out of the official sale.

[mbarr10]

My $.02 , The motor will be around for some time. Models will vary. The 1500 was around for Many, Many years Carbed then FI. And that was a Noisy Motor, But dependable. This Motor seems to be very solid and Quiet.

[redjay]

My thoughts are it is already overdue for a change.

[gv550]

As much as I have enjoyed travelling with my Voyager, I speculate that it will will be dropped from Kawasaki's lineup and not replaced. The market for 900 lb cruiser motorcycles has softened greatly in the last few years and Kawasaki will follow the same path as Yamaha, Suzuki, Victory, and Honda.
The Goldwing will survive as a touring icon, and Harley will continue to defy logic. I don't know about Indian, I see the brand as a passing fad but I said the same thing about HD 20 years ago and I was way off the mark there!

[buckey1313]

You can not compare Indian to the Vulcan or even HD to our model. Both Indian and HD are in another price point way above what we have. Their profit has to be large on these bikes as I do not see they have any more quality behind them. Indian has more features than most but the sticker price reflects that.

Yea the market is not big for a Vulcan and never has been over the years as not the biggest seller out there and the quality is there and the price point is awesome they should have had more sales but the market in North America does not lean to the off shore brands it leans toward the American makes in the Cruiser line up. Shame as they are such great bikes I feel and I have had a Goldwing but prefer this over that.

I think Kawasaki might even drop the Cruiser line up in the big bore heavy bike lineup. Just not enough sales they have never had much of the market in that line up either in cruiser or Voyager ever. Honda does not even have it with the Goldwing any longer really allot of the sales have gone to Polaris brands and HD. Honda has been loosing sales for many years they are not selling as well. Yamaha with the Venture never got allot of sale mass sales that is and same with Susuki has never had great success over the years. Honda with the Goldwing did have success but that has shrunk drastically over the years and Victory and HD took allot of that market.

Face it in the cruising and highway bike market the Americans have chipped away at it allot over the past years. Now with Indian out there the market will even go smaller as they have followed HD and given the public what they want with a boat load of accessories and options just like Harley has done for years.

We have hardly no add on accessories available for the Vulcan it is so very small and limited and the Jap makes have the same no customizing hardly can be done.

The Jap bike market they do have is the race bikes street and I think they will put more focus on that all the Jap bike manufactures as American bike makers are not interested in that market at all. They will produce maybe some smaller highway bikes but I think they will give up what market they have to the Americans for the time being.

Just my opinion they will disappear. Great bike but most will pay more for the American names.

[talon]

Some good points here. I don't know if that will happen and I hope not. If it does, I will probably ride my Vaquero till it stops running. My buddy just bought a HD and is very happy. I just can't imagine spending that type of money. To get the same bike in HD that my Vaquero is; I would have to spend a minimum $25,000 and that would be for a used bike. New would be closer to $35-40k. I love the HD bikes, but not the price.

[buckey1313]

Yea am not sure if that will happen myself just my idea.

Honda Goldwing-Had a large highway crusier market share but was it a cruiser really or just a big sheet of plastic Not really a cruiser look for sure but a smaller motorhome on two wheels. I had one a 1100 loved it but was not a cruiser for sure those cylinders stuck out the wrong way. It had way to many lights on it all over the place on bumper bars or where ever you could hang a light and way to much chrome you can really over do it too. Lets bring up one more highway bike that really flopped does anyone remember the Pacific Coast. I never did see anyone riding one and that is a fact.

Yamaha Venture was really a bit of a sport bike with bags and all the goodies and 4 cylinder so not a cruiser either. Star hardly any mass sales and Yamaha really does not even want it to be thought as one of its bikes line up. They want it thought of as a new manufacturer of bikes called Star Motorcycles no Yamaha brand name really.

Susuiki Calalcade wow that is going back did anyone see one actually lol Remember that one now Boulevard no mass sales

Kawasaki 1700 Vulcans and remember the old Voyager old 4 cylinder job only saw a few of them in my life. They were a monster of the day.

When I park and have coffee with the biker crowd in my city I am only one there usually on a Vulcan and I like that not the same old to me. The rest these days who pull in are either Victories, Indians, and Harleys. Usually on a Saturday night and couple hundred bikes turn up. Few more Boulevards, Stars but we on our Vulcan are usually alone. In my dealership they only have two Voyagers for sale in a given year and maybe a couple Classics and a couple Nomads when available. That is not much really but a boat load of race bikes and off road stuff for sure. They usually have to clear out the Vulcan at some point in the year I notice sale tags on them.

Harley and Indian have a sticker price and they can pretty well stick to that price. Way above ours in price point. Each even have a vast leather line to wear and we can not even find a Tshirt with Vulcan on it. Yep that really states that the Jap bikes want to promote their bikes they sell.

They look out of place in the showroom with all the small race bike around them in the bike section. I think the bike companies think they are out of place also.

I am much happier with something different. I do not blend into the crowd and I sound different. I am proud to own my Nomad I love it. Now that it is Ivanized wow I am prouder than ever. No more farting when I pull in for a coffee.

I have seen this happen on a Victory one guy went to leave and his key would not fit and turn. Ops he was not on his own bike some other bike that was the same looking there did not stand out even to him. I think that says it all about our Vulcans we do stand out could never happen to me.

[redjay]

For me it was the weight of the Voyager that influenced my decision to buy another brand. A 900 lb cruiser is not for everyone, especially as you age.
Other factors such as running costs also come into play once you retire.
I downsized to a 1300 Yamaha V Star Tourer. Close to 50 mpg and almost as much power as a Voyager after a few mods and Ivans reflash.

[buckey1313]

That will happen to me also I am sure none of us can say we will be strong as bull as life goes on. They are all great bikes I understand and you probably love it. Do not blame you for going that direction they are heavy beast.

[vaquero1700rider]

We have already lost a Kawasaki motorcycle dealer here in upstate ny he said the demand wasn't there.
I don't see many of the 1700 models around I have had a lot of people tell me I have a street glide which I always laugh.

[Zkovach]

Well if this is true and they drop the model I'll buy a 1 year old model at that moment. I relatively new to my vaquero but I love it's smooth ride, turning, and power

[tonik]

Originally Posted by Zkovach

Well if this is true and they drop the model I'll buy a 1 year old model at that moment. I relatively new to my vaquero but I love it's smooth ride, turning, and power

That is my plan, replace my 13 with the last one they make to tide me over for a few years. Just isn't anything out there that gets my attention. Even a Wing feels like a compromise.

[mrbreeze]

I don't think the Vulcan 1700 gets the recognition in the market place that it deserves. It is really a well made, well thought out motorcycle. I plan to keep mine for a very long time. I can't see where HD or Indian offers much, if any, real advantages.

I think what Kawasaki needs to do with the 1700 is continual refinement. That's what Harley does, and it works for them. The 1700 is unchanged since the 2009 introduction model. I think they need to improve the bags and latches. Gas mileage could be better, and these days you really need a 6 gallon tank on a big touring bike. I also think they need to make it less expensive and easier to add accessories. Example - I went to the parts guy at the local Kawasaki shop and asked him what I needed to do to add a Voyager trunk to my Nomad. He didn't have a clue, even after looking at the parts diagrams. It seems to me there should be a kit for this.

[redjay]

There was a kit to add a trunk to the 1700 Nomad and it was available from Kawasaki.
Since the 1700 Nomad is no longer made maybe the trunk kit is no longer made.

[redjay]

"The 1700 is unchanged since the 2009 introduction model".

The KAMS kit was added to the Voyager, not sure what year.

"And these days you really need a 6 gallon tank on a big touring bike".

When the bike only gets 40mpg I would say yes.