Total Motorcycle Community Forums

Much to the little ladies dismay, I purchased my first bike yesterday...

2006 Kawasaki Vulcan 500 LTD, 2600+ miles...

How do you like the 500ltd so far? I'm looking into buying my first bike, and that model is near the top of my list in bikes to consider.

Truthfully, hard to tell yet... Ive only rode it from the guys house I bought it from to home so far... but of all the bikes I sat on and looked at, this was the most comfortable for me... everything Ive read about this one has be great too... Ill let you know how things are as I get more miles under me...

Perfect choice for your first cruiser!
Congrats!

Since this bike is relatively new and its had its first service already... should I still take it in to have a tuneup done? Ive read thats usually one the of the first things to do after buying a used bike...

I would. It couldn't hurt to have it checked out, just to make sure that everything is alright and that the bike is safe to ride.

I recently bought a 92 Ninja 250, took it to the shop on Monday. They called and said that my brake pads were really thin. Almost metal on metal.

I'm glad that I had everything checked out, before I got into some serious practice riding.

Personally I wouldn't risk getting myself or someone else hurt, just to save a few bucks.

Better safe than sorry. KWIM?

jbprince wrote:Since this bike is relatively new and its had its first service already... should I still take it in to have a tuneup done? Ive read thats usually one the of the first things to do after buying a used bike...

I'd change the oil and filter, check the tires, adjust the chain and call it a day.

I downloaded the owners workshop manual for the 1985-2004 EN500 models... anyone know of major differences for the 2006 that I should be aware of when using this manual for my bike...

jbprince wrote:I downloaded the owners workshop manual for the 1985-2004 EN500 models... anyone know of major differences for the 2006 that I should be aware of when using this manual for my bike...

Make sure you pay attention for things pertaining to the EN500 C 1 - 8 models which are the LTD versions. There is virtually little to no difference between each EN500 C models. I have the C6 US (2001 and not CA).

The OEM tires are OK to start with but I would recommend upgrading those after about 5,000 miles. You might want to look into getting a K&N air filter for it because if you plan on doing some basic maintenance yourself the OEM filter requires a bit of work, time and can be kinda messy. Personally I felt the taillight is kinda weak so I added some LEDs around mine.

It's a good bike, plenty of get up and go power and pretty damn smooth.