97 1500 Classic, I had oil pressure problems a couple of years ago, I bought the oil gear replacement from Judge, The 1st one failed, still not quite sure why but the screws on the gear backed out and chewed the gear up, Bob was kind enough to send me a replacement gear. Since then the wife has been scared to ride the bike, because of that, some electrical gremlins that keep draining the battery and she says the front end is just too darn heavy when trying to do slow parking lot type turns. I think almost everything is fixed on the bike now, I just bought as hers was 3 years old and dead, it wouldn't take a charge, I start the engine up and NOW I have a tick or tap coming from the top end like either the chain tensioner is out of spec or oil isn't getting up top, any thoughts on this would be appreciated, The bike still has less than 20K on it. If it's the tensioner, How do you adjust it?
Tensioners are self adjusting spring loaded ratchet-type. 20k is awfully soon to need tensioner extenders; usually 35-50k miles is when the chains stretch beyond the limits of the tensioners. These bikes are notorious for being noisy. Mine has the extenders but it still rattles and clatters a lot. In fact, a week after I bought it new in '04, I took it back to the dealer because it was so noisy. Just the nature of the 1500 motor. It still tuns great at 44,500 miles. You might try some different oil, just make sure it's wet clutch compatible.
Haven't had a chance. Battery is fried. Waiting on new one to be delivered, this'll make 3rd battery in 8 years. But the bike sat all last year did not get plated. Before that it ran perfect, no tap or click, so something may have just stuck from sitting. New battery comes in Tuesday.
I use a battery minder yes, but the bike has had charging issues from day one. Checked charging system a few times and it's always working. It'll do things like start fine, ride 20 miles, turn off, go have lunch or dinner and try to restart and it turns slow, put a jump on it, it starts, get home and battery needs charging. Finally took it to Kawasaki, they couldn't find anything wrong. I'm at the point of changing the whole charging system.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Kawasaki Vulcan Forum
712.7K posts
67.8K members
Since 2008
A forum community dedicated to Kawasaki Vulcan motorcycle owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, modifications, Vulcan 1500, Vulcan 2000, Vulcan 500, Vulcan 1600, Vulcan 900 and all other Vulcan motorcycles.