Ok, here is my 2001 Kawasaki VN1500 Classic FI. I bought this bike brand new in September of 2004. I found it advertised in the Cycle Trader by a dealer and made the 180 mile trip to Phoenix and bought it with 3 tenths of a mile on it. I believe that a loud bike is a safe bike so the first change I made is to install a Vance and Hines Longshots exhaust. Here are some pictures of the steps involved.
This is what the stock exhaust looked like when I bought the bike. I like the way they look, but I couldn’t hear them after I got rolling.
This is what it looks like with the heat shields removed. This is simple all you have to do is loosen a few hose clamps and they will slide off. The pipes go into a �goat’s bladder� before they get to the mufflers.
If you remove the passenger foot peg bracket, it makes it easier to get the bolt out of the rear bracket.
Here it is with the exhaust completely off of the bike. I removed the side cover so it wouldn’t get scratched.
Here I have installed the rear mount bracket supplied with the new pipes.
Now I have installed the head pipes with the heat shields on but not tightened. Be sure you leave all bolts and clamps loose until you have it all together and fitted.
The finished product. The Longshots look really good and sound good!
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Techlusion TFI Install
This is the Techlusion TFI unit I chose to install on my bike. The main reason I chose it was cost, I admit it. After reading up on the other brands, I decided that this would meet my requirements and should be easy to install. I live out in the boondocks with no access to a dyno, so I needed something that I could tune by the seat of my pants.
I have removed the seat and left side cover to gain access to the battery, computer and wiring harness.
I removed the battery hold down bracket and the computer is down on the left side of the battery. Once I pulled it up and out, I removed some of the harness cover so I could get to the injector wires.
The injector wires come out of the white connector. I have separated them out of the harness, they are blue/red and blue/green.
Here I have installed the quick connectors to the injector wires and hooked up the blue and gray wire from the TFI. The red power wire for the unit taps into the tail light wire, it is on the rear fender right behind the battery. The black ground wire hooks up to the negative post on the battery.
I decided to put the TFI box inside the left side cover so I can get to it for easy adjustment.
Everything is tucked back in place, I turned the key on and the green light flashed, and was on steady when started. That means it is hooked up right. The TFI has built in trouble shooting to help with problems.
Here it is installed behind the side cover. I followed the instructions and was able to make adjustments by leaving the cover off while making test runs. Piece of cake, took about an hour to get it dialed in.
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Next addition on the modification list is a Thunder Mfg. intake air kit. I bought this brand new on Ebay for 36 bucks! It came with an adapter plate for the throttle body, an air filter and plate. It also included all of the hardware needed to install using the stock air filter cover. It is important to follow the instructions when installing this soI am going to show some of the steps and include some pictures.
This first picture is of the stock intake before I started.
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And this is what it looks like with the cover and filter removed. Note the idle air solenoids (ICS), these will be removed.
 This what it looks like with the ICS plate removed. The crossover tube is under the throttle body. This tube comes from the air filter on the left side of the motor to supply intake air to the throttle body. This tube will be removed.
 Here I have installed the Thunder Air T-body adapter and the crossover tube has been removed. The kit didn’t come with a gasket to go between the adapter and the T-body so I made one out of thin gasket material just to be safe.
 Here I have installed the filter plate to the adapter.
 
 Here are a few pictures with the K&N filter and stock cover installed. It only sticks out about an inch farther than stock.
 
 
I have moved my ignition switch and high idle control to between the cylinders on the left side of the engine. After installing the Thunder intake it left an empty space where the original air cleaner was. All I did was take a piece of strap steel and a couple of spacers and made a clean looking bracket to bolt on in place of the air cleaner. I then bolted the ignition switch and idle control knob to the new bracket. I think it looks pretty clean and the switch is now much easier to reach.
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I don’t have a dyno available near me so I can’t give any horse power specs, but I can tell you the addition of the pipes and intake have turned this bike into a beast. The power has increased so much I can’t believe it. And it still gets 46 mpg on the highway, cool.
Here are some pictures of the radius drag bars, Barons tach and Kuryakyn higway pegs I added recently.
