Ayup Jerry, good on ya for getting out for a great ride. 'Tis what keeps us old boys alive, is riding.

It's not so much the years as being trapped in an old body that spoils the fun. The little trail ride tumbles slowly wear the body down, together with a couple of big bad road bike flyers haven't helped longevity of the old bones. I need a couple of painkillers to help me get out of bed nowadays.

Some of you boys on here have had an awful lot of bikes, by 'eck, loads more than me. I didn't start riding 'til I was 15, now 71, in this time I've always had bikes, mostly at least 2, but only had 11 bikes in a lifetime of riding and still got 4 of them, see my sig. I've had the Ariel FH for 51 years, since 1969. Of the 7 that have left me, 2 were stolen DT175mx & XT225, 2 sold Panther 600 & BSA C15, 2 traded part ex both Triumphs 900 Sprint & ST1050, and 1, the best bike I've ever owned, my Triumph ST955, I wrote off in a big highside 10 years ago after riding it 60k miles.

As long as you ride comfortably on your Vulcan 750, getting out and about on it has to be good medicine.



Not sure how you handle that bike when stopped, given the orthopedic issues you tell us about, but more power to you for doing so.

Next summer point your Vulcan northeast. Get yourself out of the Valley heat and up on the Rim for a time. You'll love it here. It's great medicine for the soul being in the high country, away from the heat and congestion that Valley summers are famous for..

Hi George. Hope things are going well. The Vulcan 750 is the most comfortable bike I have ever owned, including a couple of Goldwings. I have owned three of them, two of them bought new, and have put a total of over 200,000 miles on them. They have a low seat height, and are not top heavy. They also have a riding position that is perfect for me. Yes I do have to be very careful at stoplights and in parking lots. I have to watch where I stop, and make sure I don't put my feet down on an oily spot or loose dirt. I wear shoes with non slip soles. If the bike were to start to fall over, I would not be able to stop it, and there is no way I would be able to pick it up. I remember being behind a guy on a sport bike once while driving a car, we were sitting at a stop light, and his bike started to fall. He tried to hold it up, but it slowly fell all the way over. He was able to pick it up though. The Vulcan 750 weighs 485 pounds, but feels lighter than some smaller bikes. It's actually easier to ride than the XT.

I don't currently have a way to post pictures on this forum. Check my posts on advrider.com for pictures of my Vulcan 750 and Vespa GT200. The Vulcan 750 has 81,000 miles on it, all mine, and still runs like new. https://advrider.com/f/threads/early-morning-rides.1394002/page-13 There is also a very small picture of my vintage Vespa in my avatar.

Great looking bike, Jerry. Nice ride!..

That bike sure do look comfy, that ^^^ seat looks the mutts nuts.

Mine is a 1997, but they came out in 1985, and were sold through 2006, completely unchanged except for paint schemes. So every single one of them is basically a 1985 model. The Vulcan 750 was Kawasaki's first v-twin. Yamaha beat them to it with the v-twin Virago 750 in 1981. Yes the seat is super comfortable, and combined with the location/angle of the grips
and the location of the pegs, it fits me perfectly. There are no stress points, everything is right where it should be for me. Only bike model I've ever owned that fit me that perfectly.

Hear is a link to a picture of my XT225. It's an old picture, but it still looks pretty much the same. Post #45 The white PVC tube is for carrying a walking cane. I was able to walk walk quite a bit farther back then. https://advrider.com/f/threads/xt225-every-mod-they-make.396200/page-3#post-28766341

That's a nice tidy well sorted XT225. By 'eck some luggage out back there, good balance needed.
Tough lil bikes aint they, mine's been a trail bike for most of its life so taken some abuse, still good now, I don't do so much off road nowadays, more dirty lanes where there's little traffic. I ride it on any half decent days through winter, stops me getting rusty.

Now all I have on it are the tank panniers and a heavy wire basket which replaced the plastic crate, which broke. Once on the bike I'm fine, it's a very light bike and I can flat foot it easily. Getting on and off has been the problem for several years, and I have tried several different ideas, with varying degrees of success. I finally found something that works better than anything else I've tried. I got an empty 1 gallon metal paint bucket from Lowes, connected a small chain to the bail, and made it long enough to wrap around the left handlebar. I put it near the left footpeg, and stand on it, which puts me up high enough to get my leg over the seat, and once on the bike, I use the chain to pull it up, then reach around and put it in the basket. To get off I reverse the procedure. After 3-4 times it became obvious that the empty can would not support my weight, as it began to crumple. I got another can, drilled a hole in the top, and used a rod to measure the distance between the top and bottom. I had Lowes cut me a piece of 4x4 wood to that length. I also drilled a hole in the bottom of the can, and into both ends of the 4x4, and fastened it all together with a screw through the top and bottom of the can so the 4x4 actually supported my weight. So far so good. There was enough room left in the can to put a number of small items I like to have with me. I have to remove the screw on top of the can to remove the lid, but the things I put in it are things I would not normally need, so it's not a big deal. Without all that other baggage, I need to fit everything into the tank panniers and the basket on the luggage rack.

Brilliant Jerry, anything to keep riding is good.