Good buddy Dan, a loyal ExNotes reader, enjoyed our recent blog on the Kawasaki Drifter. Dan wrote to tell us about his Drifter. Check this out, folks. It’s a beautiful motorcycle.
Joe:
My motorcycle is a 1999 Kawasaki Drifter 1500cc. Recently got it, love the combination of Japanese bike reliability that will go forever and the Indian style that is a real head turner. Changed up the seat, added some Indian badging including the tank decals and even an Indian VIN plate cover. Other adds on include the jockey shift that is actually linked to the heel toe shift, the book rack and the triple head lights. I couldn’t afford a 40s Indian and even if I could some of those you have to be a mechanic to operate, this is a great compromise that doesn’t feel like a compromise.
I think people who appreciate the bike for what it is might like the look of the seat and such. It’s funny as a tribute I was even on the fence about the Indian badging but at the end of the day I subscribe to “ride whatever, be safe, have fun.” I even had a rider of a current Indian tell me his was no more Indian than mine…they stopped making them in ’53 and as far as he was concerned anything after that was nothing more than a tribute.
Thanks and be well…I enjoy the blog.
Dan
Thank you, Dan. Your Drifter is a good-looking motorcycle and it’s one I’d be proud to ride. Great photos, too!
When Kawasaki came out with these back in the day the Gilroy Indian was in production and a writer who was doing a review of the bike said ” Kawasaki has made a better Indian than Indian does”.
Bob, I’ve said that about Royal Enfield. They make a better Triumph Bonneville than Triumph does.
Thanks Joe and thanks everyone who commented. I really love the bike and it fits the bill for me as far as a more reliable and affordable version of an aspirational bike I would some day love to own like a 40s Indian.
Ride safe and be well all
Love the jockey shift! The true motorhead in me first
wanted to dismiss the “Indian conversion” just as I would a cager who turns his LeMans into a GTO Judge, or his Camaro into a Z28…but this is a badass scoot…and in the end, its not what you ride, but THAT you ride. Keep Your Knees in the breeze!
Yeah, it is a very cool motorcycle. I wish it was mine.
I had an ABATE buddy who had a black 1500 Drifter with a Hitchhiker Sidecar. Probably the coolest unit I have ever seen
They are good looking motorcycles. I like the full fenders, and I really like the colors and badging on Dan’s Drifter.
I like certain motorcycle models but brand is not so important to me. I feel we’ve been hammered with brand advertising and lifestyle appropriation: be a tough biker, buy our bike!
The guy who puts Indian stickers on a Kawasaki is the real rebel.
My Husqvarna is not Swedish and I don’t care!
Yeah, but you’ve been known to ride Chinese motorcycles, man, so why should we listen to you?