Kawasaki Drifter 1500

The bike you are gazing at is not what you think it is, but your confusion is just what its designers intended. What you are looking at is the 1999 Kawasaki Vulcan 1500 Drifter. What you are seeing is a late 1940's Indian Chief.

What you a looking at is SOHC, digitally fuel injected and water cooled. What you are seeing is side-valved, carbureted and air cooled. What you are looking at is Japanese. What you are seeing is quintessential Americana.

The Drifter is Kawasaki's latest heavyweight cruiser. It follows a decades-old design philosophy that started with their very first Vulcan 1500, a child of 1970's chopper stylings.

Next came the 1950's styled Vulcan Classic followed by the Nomad with its 1960's leanings. Seen in this light, the Drifter's 1940's image is a logical design result. And what better way to reflect the elegance of the era than by incorporating two deeply skirted fenders?

Long, sweeping, cromulent and curvaceous fenders that look positively ostentatious. Fenders that are however so large that they seem to overwhelm the rest of the bike, a fact that is enhanced by the almost complete lack of chrome.

Chrome that would help draw your eye to other elements of the motorcycle. There is more to this ride than its deep wheel wells. The first thing we noticed after thumbing the starter button was the new and much improved 1500cc Vulcan engine. To start with, the Drifter received the first digital fuel-injection Kawasaki has ever incorporated into one of their V-twin engines. Add a 9:1 compression pistons and dual plug ignition and your ride starts with a whopping claimed 85 ft-lbs of torque... at 2500 rpm!
Torque that will leave all other Vulcan owners crying. Why? Because there is no way to upgrade other Vulcan mills to the new system, one which also includes new pistons, dual spark plugs, a 6250 rpm rev limit, no petcock and digital fuel injection. By the way, there is also no "reserve tank." The only thing that lets you know you are about to run out of gas is a small, car-styled idiot light. Personally, we're partial to the large measure of safety a "reserve tank" offers. We don't care if it has a gas gauge or idiot lights, we'll still run it dry given half a chance! The water-cooled 1470cc engine is complemented with rubber mounts and a geared counter balancer. These facts, coupled with a short-stroke big-bore design creates an incredibly smooth V-twin. Almost no vibration gets through the handlebar or floorboards. This can be seen as good or bad, depending upon how you like to feel your cubic inches. Getting all this technology to the pavement is a slick transmission that offers not one but two overdrives! This translates to a smooth 90 mph cruiser and an easily verifiable 115 mph indicated top speed as well as a 5th gear that demands you go at least 65mph if you want to think about accelerating.