Eyeing an 85' vn700 Vulcan..opinions?

Guy here locally has a Vulcan for sale I'm going to go look at it.He thinks either bad regulator, stator or loose wire-so I assume it won't charge.. Looks decent enough in the picture I saw but he want 2K , NOT gonna get it. I'm going to get a look and maybe make an offer if I like it. Any pointers on an 85 VN700 fellas?

I bought a 1990 Vulcan 750 earlier this summer. I am not sure if it applies to the 700, but I read that the late 80s and early 90s Vulcans had a high stator failure rate. The bike I bought had it's stator replaced (about $700 I think). I have been pretty happy with mine this summer. It had 26K on it and was in excellent shape. Looked almost new and ran fine. The guy wanted $2K also and I got him down to $1700. I think $2K for an 85 seems high.

The part was $700 or is cost $700 for a shop to replace it? I wonder if I could do it myself? Kelley lists it for about $1500 around here..

pumps wrote:

The part was $700 or is cost $700 for a shop to replace it? I wonder if I could do it myself? Kelley lists it for about $1500 around here..

It's likely $700 for the labor only.
We replaced the stator one my wifes VN750 recently, and the initial quote (with the OEM stator) was $1,400! :ohmy:
If it is a bad stator (which I suspect it is) and you were to buy the stator at a Kawi dealer, expect to pay just shy of $400 for it.
There are few eBay sellers offering NOS aftermarket stators for a whole lot cheaper.
We bought the one for my wifes bike from one of the eBay sellers, and it cost us about $135 shipped (one year warranty).
A word of caution if you buy a non-OEM stator;
Be sure to pack the plastic wrap that the wires pass through where they exit the engine cover with a suitable liquid gasket sealer, because it WILL leak oil...trust me. :S

As far as doing it yourself, that all depends on your mechanical skills and how much time YOU want to wrench on it = the Kawi labor rate manual shows it as a 4~4 1/2 hour job, since the engine must be removed from the frame to do it, which would explain the high repair quote we got.

IMHO though you'd be better off in just walking away from that VN700 and just keep your eyes peeled for a fair priced (and newer) VN750.
They average anywhere from $1,200~$2,500 depending on mileage and condition in every eBay and Craigslist search I've done.
I'm pretty sure you can pick a nice one up for a fair price in your area.

For example, we bought my wifes '96 VN750 almost 3 years ago with only 12,345 on the odo (I know, odd mileage :huh:) in flawless condition for only $1,500.
The seller even provided all of the dealer service record receipts to show it had been very well and properly taken care of.
Plus it came with LOTS of extras: windshield, leather fork tool bag and saddlebags, leather jacket and chaps, 3 pairs of diff style gloves, and a cheapy novelty helmet (which we threw in the trash).

Better deals are out there my friend, just be patient and keep looking.

I think I'm going to walk the other way. I'm only fair at mechanic-ing on motorcycles so far.He emailed me back and said the repair was only $300..:huh: