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frustrated/exhausted please help

4K views 19 replies 12 participants last post by  pjckm 
#1 ·
Here's my problem, I got my Vulcan 500 from a dealership in Mississippi and had it shipped to me. The driver who shipped it said that the battery was dead. it wouldnt turn on when he picked it up. No problem easy fix. charged the battery, put it back in and it started right up. However, when i switched it into gear and took hand off clutch and tried to get it to go it would cut off. looked up some possible things of what it could have been. came to conclusion that the carbuerator needs to be cleaned. found someone with similar problem who drained the old gas from his bike, poured in some seafoam and heet and new premium gas and it worked out just fine. I tried this. Bike will turn on for a little bit and cut right off. rechecked battery, took it to advanced auto parts. battery is good but it needed to be charged. charged the battery once again. it turned on and i left it running for a bit and it cut off on its own. now it won't turn on at all. it sounds like it wants to but doesnt have enough power. i just got this bike and i would hate to have to take it to the shop for something i can fix on my own. Any suggestions please. :(
 
#2 ·
When you say it shuts off. Is it spitting and sputtering or is it just killing out like you turned the key off or or hit the kill switch.

Does it do it while it is just sitting there or only when you let out the clutch.

Just fishing for details
 
#3 ·
When you say 'cut out', do you mean an instantaneous shut down, like what would happen when you shut it off with the key or kill switch, or that it begins to bog down and run rough and eventually shut down?

Either way, and especially if it's the former, hit all of your switches (kill, ignition, kickstand, clutch, lights, and anything else you can think of) with electrical cleaner. It could just be that a dirty switch somewhere is intermittently causing problems.

Others will get in here who are more knowledgeable than I and will help you better diagnose this problem, but if you only listen to one thing I say it's this- Do not diagnose problems by buying parts! I see soo many people burn through so much money replacing parts that didn't need replacing in situations just like yours. Do not replace a part until you have diagnosed it has failed. There are lots of knowledgeable people on this forum who will jump in and help you do just that.

EDIT: SWVA beat me to the first part. Great minds think alike eh?
 
#4 ·
That they do but do the bad one think a like too???
 
#5 ·
it just cuts off. turns right off as if i hit the kill switch. it did it when i let go of the clutch and now it just wont stay on long enough. it'll turn on but in like 2 minutes cut right out. its a bit cold here in North Carolina but figured if i let it run and get warm every day it should be fine. It doesn't even stay on long enough to get warm. don't hear no spitting or anything it just cuts out. i can tell when its about to cut off because the engine sounds get softer and then just cuts out. Thats when i try to leave it running. when i try to release clutch it just automatically cuts out. :confused:
 
#15 ·
... i can tell when its about to cut off because the engine sounds get softer and then just cuts out. Thats when i try to leave it running. when i try to release clutch it just automatically cuts out. :confused:
On point however, I'm concerned about the comment that the engine sounds get softer and then the engine cuts out. As I'm not familiar with this specific bike, I can only generalize, but that causes me to wonder about the control module. For instance, start cold bike - run at higher rpm to warm - bike warming, decrease rpm - bad code, bike dies. Engine is now warm (same place in code) so it can't start. Wait until engine cools off, starts now. Rinse, repeat. And as always, I could be so far off base that I'm not even on the playing field!
 
#6 ·
EVERY time you release the clutch it cuts out, WITHOUT fail right? Does it jerk forward before dying, or just die right away? (If it jerks forward it could be sticking clutch plates)

How about adding throttle. Can you 'rev it up' in neutral?

Get some good electronic cleaning spray and spray the clutch lever, the sidestand switch, kill switch, etc. etc. Then see what happens from there. I'm just a backyard fix-it, but it sounds to me like an electrical problem is more likely than a carb issue.
 
#7 ·
If it is just shutting down like that then I would say you got an electrical problem.

If you start the bike and it runs a long time is the battery dead after that. If so then you man have a stator/regulator problem. An easy thing to look for is when your battery is good and charged and you start the bike, How bright is the headlight? If you light is not bright enough then your are running off your battery and not getting any charge.

Do you have a multimeter? If so start the bike and see if you are getting 14v back to the batter with it running. You need to have it running at around 2500 RPM.
 
#8 ·
What year is the bike and how many miles does it have? It doesn't seem like a carb issue, like the others also noted. If you can give it throttle slowly at idle and it rev's fairly smoothly then you can for the most part not worry about the carbs, at this point.

Do 500's have some sort of neutral safety switch?

Do you have the ability to post a video of the issue happening?

Sent from my Desire HD using Motorcycle.com Free App
 
#10 ·
I know this old man who has raced pretty much anything his entire life and I always used to hear him say: The first rule of any motorsports is check the battery's connections/cleanliness/ground and then you check your battery. Then you start from there and work your way out from ignition to firing system to charging system to engine to carb and then start all over again if you still can't figure it out.

Of course, anyone does what they want to do with their machines but you are all on point.
 
#11 ·
Bazan,

To add to what others have suggested it sounds like the sidestand switch may be a possible culprit. A test is to bypass it.

To do this locate the G/W & BK/Y wires near the left side of the radiator. Disconnect them then connect the ones coming from the top together. (Yes, the G/W & the BK/Y wires will connect into each other.) If this solves the problem then the sidestand switch is definitively the culprit.

And the battery could still be part of the problem. At idle speed the alternator can't keep up with the electrical demands of the bike. (headlight, ignition, etc.) Revving the engine will get the alternator past the 'break even' point. Since the battery was dead for an undetermined amount of time I'd also spring for a new battery.
 
#12 ·
Thank you everyone for all your help. This is my first bike and all very new to me so I appreciate all the replies and help. For those worried about me taking offense don't apologize. Again I'm new to this so I am ignorant to all this. Id rather ask and sound stupid and get help from experience riders than to continue in my ignorance and end up messing up my bike even more. Oorah Semper Fi. Thanks again. Will give update once I get it up and running. ;)
 
#18 ·
Sounds like it could be a fuel flow problem. If the fuel filter is partially blocked, say with rust particles that have built up while the bike was sitting for a long time, then there would not be enough fuel flow volume to keep the carb bowls topped up while the engine is running. Then if it sits for a while, the bowls would slowly fill back up, the bike would start, but would only run for a short time before quitting because once again the fuel level in the bowls would fall too low.

One way to check this is to remove the fuel feed hose from the gas tank petcock. If the petcock is in the on position, no fuel should run out. If the petcock is then turned to the prime position, "PRI", fuel should flow easily (have something to catch in in). If it's only a trickle, the there's some blockage and the petcock will have to be removed and the fine-mesh screen filter cleaned.

If someone has added an in-line fuel filter, then the flow rate will have to be checked on the carburetor side of that filter.

May not be the problem, but it's relatively easy to check.

Keep us posted.
 
#20 ·
Gary W, As I was reading this post my mind travelled to the same idea as yours. Is the Kicksatand still down whenever putting the bike in gear? You would not belive how many times I tried to get started with the kicksatnd still down and stalled the bike while at motorcycle saftey class. THe instructor got a little tired of yelling over to me to put my kickstand up to get moving. I felt really dumb about the third time he yelled at me. I'm just glad it happend there and not out in traffic.
 
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