Important Announcement
I'm a late starter when it comes to motorcycles. In fact this is my first bike. It's an '86 Kawasaki
Vulcan VN750 and it was bone stock when I bought it 8 years ago. I liked the idea of a custom bike but
the prices are high and there's way too much emphasis on easter egg paint jobs. Then a friend at work
turned me on to ratbike.org a number of years ago and all the stuff I saw inspired what I did.
After nerve-wracking, did-it-myself top end rebuild (I have my first bike for 3 months and the
alternator dies) I removed the stock air system, rejetted and put filters straight on the carbs.
Over the last few years I added some used pipes from eBay, cut the rear frame behind the shocks,
bobbed the fender and made a solo seat on a fiber glass seat pan. Cheap turn signals, mirrors and
side-mount license plate from eBay, inverted clubman bars for a cheapo custom look and 11'' shocks to
drop the rear. Removed the center stand, horns and front turn signals, added a cafe fairing, header
tape and BBQ paint on the exhaust then flat black the whole thing.
It certainly looks a lot nicer than stock IMO. It's fast off the line and it still handles really well, although I have reduced the ground clearance. I hadn't had the tape on the exhausts a week before I scraped it in a turn. Thought about redoing it since I had spare tape but it's supposed to be a rat so I patched it with four steel zip ties instead.
Keep up the good work guys. Rats rule!
It certainly looks a lot nicer than stock IMO. It's fast off the line and it still handles really well, although I have reduced the ground clearance. I hadn't had the tape on the exhausts a week before I scraped it in a turn. Thought about redoing it since I had spare tape but it's supposed to be a rat so I patched it with four steel zip ties instead.
Keep up the good work guys. Rats rule!
- Cheers, Hamish
