Kawasaki Vulcan S Review, For the Beginner? 

Do you think this is more than a beginner bike? The price is right.......

Same bike here.. I was 54 , got it new. It was my learner, never rode before. It suites me fine for cruising around obscure towns and country roads.

The engine is the only thing from a 650 Ninja, not a 600,, nothing else about the bike has anything to do with a Ninja and not based off a Ninja.. .. also it's a 4 stroke not a 2 stroke. 0-60mph in 3.8 seconds is not lackluster...

Love my Vulcan S! I am a newer rider, having only had my license since July. That said, I don't know why I'd ever sell it. It has PLENTY of power. It's light. Only downsides are comfort (anything over an hour and my rear end goes numb) and it has a chain drive. I've since added crash bars, Delkevic mini 8 exhaust, an LED headlight, a batwing fairing, bar end mirrors, LED light strips, a pair of speakers from Firehouse Technology, Saddlebags, and I'm waiting on a new seat from Corbin. I'm hoping the seat solves the comfort issue. Never going to drive it across country but I'd like to be able to do a 2 or 3 hour trip without feeling sore afterwards.

Thank you for this video. Nice job. Keep it that way 👍

I just got mine yesterday, and I love it!

That was my first bike, 2019 Vulcan S ABS. Great bike, very nimble, very reliable, and can be set up for long rides with a reupholstered seat and saddlebags. Bought it for dirt cheap right at the beginning of the pandemic and sold it this last summer for a lot more. Only cons were shitty stock exhaust and jerky throttle.

I've rode over 300,000 miles on motorcycles and the only bike I'vs ever scraped pegs on were Harleys. I guess I'm not that agressive of a rider. The Vulcan S is a cruiser, not a sport bike so it was never intended to handle like a sport bike. What I do like about them is the comfort and it is a cruiser without a V-TWIN ENGINE and all that chug chug chug business. I just sold the last Harley I will ever own,. I bought it new for $37,000 and it broke down four times within the first year of owwership. Give me a Japanese bike like a Kawasaki that doesn't give me any trouble.

You are the first Vulcan S rider to bring up the stability subject. I find that mine seems unstable at rest and when riding slow so it could be the same characteristic I noticed although, being a late returner to bikes, I have been blaming myself. Anyway I do agree that a bike can be too flickable if it lacks straight line stability.

Hey chief, 1st-thank-you for your service in our military. 2nd- the MC is a 4 stroke parallel twin, not a 2 stroke. I'm an auto mechanic myself and have been looking and reading up on this model. A small blunder, I am bringing this to your attention with respect (I'm 57 and can't get into the military because of an anyurism in my brain at 19 just out of H.S. by 3 weeks. Good presentation on the internet of the MC. Keep them coming as you're able!👍🤓⭐🏍️ Doug

Nice review. Thanks

Last bike I owned was a beefed up 03 Yamaha FZ1 (roughly 140 hp at the wheel) but it was too much bike for where I live. It was hard to find enough winding roads or straight aways that let it shine without getting into trouble. I like the thought of an affordable run around bike that looks decent and is fun to ride. It's not always if a motorcycle is too much for you, it might be too much for what you will actually use it for (how many rocket owners track their bikes?). This just gives me sweet spot vibes and I might just buy one. Great review

excellent explanation

Great review

I have the 2019 in the Vulcan and the power is 61 HP and about to tune my bike some more @57 motorsports

Thank you Sir. For this Video. 👍🏆🏍 🌎🕊

Amazing bike 👌😎

Love the color hoorahh . They got one for sale near my area same color . 2019 $4,500. I might get it for beginner.

Amazing review after 2 days! Really, 2 stroke engine? It happens but, always like to hear longer term reviews and some miles done! 👌

very cool video. bike is based off the ninja 650c, which is a 4 stroke, 2-cylinder engine. its also the same engine as the versys 650 and the er6n.

Great video

Good review, new subs here 👍

It’s a not 2 stroke engine… it is a 4 stroke motor…. 👍

If you want to ride that bike for long periods I really recommend a third party seat, I got a Corbin seat for my VS and it made it feel so much better, I can ride all day on it with the Corbin seat, when using stock my ass hurt after a half hour.

Love my Vulcan S, got some nice suitcases on it for camping trips, and I threw some bar end mirrors on it, a a cafe windscreen, arrow exhaust and tail tidy, cause that backlight unit is just hideous and weird.

Beginner if it’s the only one you have Fun if it’s your second one

I have to say it looks like a very comfortable bike.

Thanks for the review, I was looking at this bike as my next bike. What do you think of the Suzuki C50?

Not a bad bike for a low cost cruiser. My opinion, the Honda Shadow Phantom is a better choice. They are good bikes to learn on.

When you shoot in your garage, what do you use for lighting and which camera do you shoot with? I am a very solid studio still photographer, but struggle with video lighting. Yeah I know the principles are the same, but “hot” studio lights for video will cost way more money than my White Lightning studio lights which are expensive enough at about $600 each. Thanks for any insight.

I have a 2016 Vulcan S and boy do I have opinions on it. Before that, I would consider the Vulcan a lightweight cruiser, but a middleweight bike. It's 500 lbs wet, which is less than the Iron 883 (560 lbs) and the Scout (550 lbs). I don't think the existence of the Rebel 300 (360 lbs) and Rebel 500 (400 lbs) should move the definition of "lightweight" to not include the other three. I'd say the Softail (650 lbs) and the Chief (670 lbs) are middleweight cruisers, and they only get heavier from there with baggers and tourers. Now for my opinions. I got the Vulcan S for my second bike as a beginner rider and chose it because of all the rave reviews I heard about it. Every review I saw about it claimed how excellent and perfect the bike was. Maybe I held my expectations too high because after taking ownership I was disappointed by the bike and would not consider it a good beginner bike. There are plenty of better options out there. On a positive note, the bike has plenty of power to get you going, even in sixth gear: just pin the throttle and go. Enough power to pass on the highway and not feel like you're pushing the limits of the motor. I found the stock ergonomics uncomfortable. I'm 5'8" and tried mid-reach and reduced reach pegs and bars. I found the reduced reach controls were better for me, but were still uncomfortable, mostly hip and back aches. I installed Kuryakyn mini floorboards and absolutely love them, and may be installing a Corbin seat. I absolutely hate the positive neutral finder. I almost never put my bike in neutral at a stoplight. I'm always in first gear, ready to go in case of someone coming up too close or too fast from behind. As such, I rarely have a need to put my bike into neutral at a stop. The one time I did need to put my bike into second gear from a stop was when the battery was low and I needed to push start the bike. Some genius thought you wouldn't need second gear when you're not moving, so they invented the "positive" neutral finder to prevent you from going past neutral into second. I had to run alongside the bike, periodically hopping on one leg and kicking the shift peg up until eventually the bike was moving fast enough to disengage the positive neutral finder. Once I was in second I was able to properly push start the bike. It's a pointless feature and I don't see why it's needed, but thankfully it only sometimes gets in the way. However, the biggest issue I have with the bike is the horrifically twitchy, on/off throttle response, especially in low RPMs/speeds. When driving down my apartment complex's driveway or driving down a school zone at 25 mph in 2nd or 3rd gear, the bike bucks back and forth: it's rapidly alternating between adding power and engine braking multiple times a second. It's like there's no 10% to the throttle; it jumps straight from 0% to 20% to 0% to 20% over and over. It gets so much worse when I hit a small bump like a pebble and my wrist twitches, sending me into the cycle of speed-brake-speed-brake. This isn't limited to low speeds, it's also happened to me at 35-45 mph, but it's less jarring at that speed. I adjusted my throttle freeplay and researched solutions online to this. Lots of others have had the same issue. They recommend getting a booster plug, which is supposed to even out the throttle map (or something like that); I tried it, and noticed almost no difference. They recommend getting a throttle tamer, which has a different cam profile for the throttle cable so small rotations don't pull the cable as much; I tried it, and again noticed almost no difference. They recommend sending your ECU to some guy in Florida who can tune it and even out the throttle map (or something like that); I haven't tried that yet, but I might. Though if I have to do all of this to make the bike good, then by default the bike is not good. I keep two fingers on the brakes in school zones and neighborhoods, both for quick stopping reflexes and to help keep my hand steady, and this bucking shit still happens. I tried riding the clutch a bit to smoothen it out, but I shouldn't have to be riding the clutch for blocks at a time going 35 mph down the road. To say the throttle twitch is fustrating is an understatement. Sometimes it pisses me off so much I don't want to ride that bike for a week or two. This may be a bit dramatic, but if I test rode the Vulcan S I wouldn't have gotten it. (My dealership doesn't do test rides and they haven't done demo days because of COVID.) All that being said, I'm still a beginner. I practice when I can and try to get over it, but I still get frustrated; and frustration is the enemy of fun, and fun is the mother of learning (or something like that). If you wanted a beginner's perspective on whether this "beginner" bike is truly a beginner bike, I would say to shop for something else. It's possible they fixed the throttle issues in a recent version of the bike. Like I mentioned, mine is a 2016 (I don't know what year your neighbor's is). It's also possible/likely that I'm doing something wrong and need to learn, so feel free to tell me off or provide helpful feedback. Sorry for the rant. This bike just pisses me off because I feel like I was over-promised and under-delivered. The rest of the bike is fine, I guess.

I am going to try out the Ergo fit system next week (I am 5 ft). For a test ride I will have to wait until February... I am very curious about the nimbleness. I now ride a Honda Rebel 500.

This bike give you comfy, fast, agility n durability 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

I am riding bikes for 20 years now. Sports bikes, around 200HP (((GSX-R1000 tuned for 4 years))) ....I do not think this bile is "for beginners" I found it way WAY more easy to drive my GSX-R. Whatsoever...the Vulcan is fun and a cool looking bike

I ride a Harley Electra glide cvo, big bike. Looking to down size I’m doing more inner city riding but still would like to throw some bags on each side. What’s your take? Thinking the vaquero but not much of a downsize lol think the vaquero is 100 lbs less and a tad lower than Electra glide

its a great motorcycle,why they say beginner bike.hideous...what" it comes with training wheels... This 650 is a all around awesome motorcycle..

4 stroke 2 cylinder says it right in the specs you put up

Was that for a restricted version? If not your stats and some info are wrong

Put ecu tune and wow

It seems like you actually did not ride it bc your experience on it differs from everyone else who agrees.

My Vulcan S is 4 stroke. I think they all are. 54 HP.

What is the best quality helmet for big bikes

it's based on the er6 platform, not the ninja

2 stroke based on ninja 600 😂😂😂 Nice intro...

Is it 2 stroke ???

So you ride the bike , or the neighbour from time to time ?😅

*650

You said it is a 2 stroke?🤔

The Vulcan S 650 is a great bike but it didn't age quite well. Any japanese 125cc nowadays comes with full-led, a nice looking tft display plus some (admitedly pointless) riding modes. I know it costs 7000-8000€, but still Kawasaki should update de model while its popular.

4 stroke

Too flickable? What the hell does that even mean?

Not easy to scrape pegs

You said two stroke!

2 stroke? Skipped...

wtf is a flick? just say HANDLE(ing).

You lost me at 2 stroke

2 Stroke? Haha.not

2 stroke really,typical American know it all.

$14000 dollar where I live