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Problems with new 2007 500

11K views 39 replies 12 participants last post by  Phil in Maine 
#1 ·
Just bought my first motorcycle a month ago, 2007 Vulcan 500 with 4,000 miles. For the first couple weeks it ran fine. Then it started stalling and/or hesitating badly the first time I gave it a decent amount of throttle from a stop after warming up. Usually I'd go to pull out of my driveway and it would stall or sputter for a couple seconds before it would accelerate. After it would run fine until it sat for a couple hours and cooled down. Did a search here and on other sites and found this is pretty common in cool weather (been 40-55 degrees the last few weeks), and followed some recommendations to leave the choke half on for the first mile or so. This got rid of the problem for a couple weeks, but now the last few days it's been stalling even with the choke half on. Then today it hit the gas reserve with only 65 miles since I filled it. Most of my driving has been short trips of maybe 5 miles, usually with it warming up for at least 2-3 minutes first, and I've been driving pretty aggressively, taking it to 30MPH in first, 50MPH in second, etc., could this be why the gas mileage is so low, or should I get it checked out?

I put some seafoam in the gas this afternoon then took it for a ride, now it was running rough, poor acceleration, hesitating from stops, etc., I'm hoping it's the seafoam working, guess I'll have to to see if it improves. The dealership I got it from said they cleaned the carbs when it was traded in, but who knows.

Also, there's now a buzzing noise coming from the speedometer. At first it was just when I was warming it up with the choke on, but now I can hear it when I let off the throttle while riding. I guess it could be the vibrations from the engine running rough, but I can wiggle the speedometer around a little bit in it's housing. Is this normal, or is there a way to tighten it?
 
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#2 ·
Pretty simple to check that the air filter is clean and properly oiled. As you alluded, could still be sludge in the carbs. Maybe check plugs, too. Many on here much more knowledgeable will likely offer good suggestions.
 
#4 ·
I'll check the air filter, I don't have much experience doing mechanical stuff so I'll probably try some new gas and the seafoam before I drain/remove the tank and check the spark plugs and petcock filter. I haven't been able to ride much due to the weather, I only filled the tank up once, and the tank was still half full of gas the dealer put in, don't know how long it was in there or if they put stabilizer in it. So some of the gas in the tank could have been sitting for a while. I forgot to mention, the last couple times I rode it I noticed a popping sound coming from the exhaust, I'm assuming it's the clean air system burning up unburned fuel. Should I try draining the carbs? If so, what type of hose fits the drain?
 
#5 ·
The air filter looks okay, but tried running it again to see if the seafoam is working, and it's gotten worse. It's now pretty much unrideable, if I open the throttle up to 1/4 of the way, it seems to run fine. Any farther than 1/4 open, and the engine slows way down for 2-4 seconds before suddenly speeding up to where it should be. I was thinking about just taking it to a shop and have them figure it out, but now I don't know how I'll even get it there.
 
#6 ·
I would check your plugs. The condition they're in can help either eliminate them as a potential culprit or help you figure out what may be the problem. Aside from that it sounds like you're riding the bike pretty hard if you're going to 30mph in first. The product manual gives you recomendations for speeds in various gears. Those are pretty conservative, but give you an idea as to the speed/gear relations. The engines do like to rev high but if you dog it hard you'll have tons of issues later on.
 
#7 ·
loose battery terminals will cause these symptoms..check the sticky at the top. the fuel mileage thing..my opinion is your reving too high, if I'm being agressive I might hit 50 in third, theres one bolt holding the instrument cluster on. pull it and check inside, you'll have to disconnect the speedo cable and 2 wire couplers to get it off. theres probably some sort of clamp loose that holds the speedo in the housing.
 
#8 ·
I was shifting much earlier when I first got it, being a beginner I was afraid of running it too hard without a tach. However, when I was shifting to second under 23 or so, it was lugging quite a bit, and acceleration was pretty slow. I found this thread on here http://www.vulcanforums.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-30632.html and starting shifting at higher speeds, it seems to run a lot better. My manual says the maximum recommended speed in first gear for the 500-1,000 mile break-in period is 24MPH, if going up to 24 is okay during the break-in, I figured 25-30 afterwards shouldn't be too bad. Around here when you pull out onto a road you get up to speed or you get rear-ended, second just doesn't accelerate much under 25. Usually in town I take first gear to 25-30 from a stop, then put it in second till the next stop. If I'm just cruising around the country roads I shift around 25, then put it in third around 40-45.

I did think about the battery connection, but it seems odd that it would cause a problem only when opening the throttle more than 1/4 of the way, and it would do the same thing every time. From what I found about the battery issue it seems to mostly happen randomly. I'll make sure it's tight though.

A friend who's more mechanically inclined than me took a look at it last night, said it seems like all of the fuel isn't igniting properly. He increased the idle speed a little bit and said to try running premium gas in it. I added some premium, so the gas in the tank is now about half 87 and half 92. There's still some hesitation when flick the throttle open, but it's a lot better than it was, no more taking 3-4 seconds to accelerate or stalling when I open the throttle. Probably run this tank out and try running all 92 to see if that gets rid of it completely, and check the spark plugs once I run the tank low.

I discovered that the speedometer is rattling/buzzing when I'm warming it up with the choke on, but the buzzing when I'm riding seems to actually be coming from the lock on the gas cap, probably not much I can do about that.
 
#16 · (Edited)
Tried, doesn't seem to make a difference. I sat in my driveway revving it a few times, after a minute it started to rev without the hesitation, though it still seems to be running a bit rough. However, now when I close the throttle it takes 2-5 seconds to return to idle. The throttle free play and cables seem to be okay, and the throttle snaps closed.
 
#21 ·
See post number 12, second diagnostic test.
Driveway revving will tell you nothing.

Post back with any questions.
No visible cracks or gaps at boots, sprayed carb cleaner on them, didn't seem to have any effect. After running for 5 minutes while I sprayed the carb cleaner, there was no hesitation when I tried riding it, though idle still hangs and there seems to be power loss.
 
#12 ·
That engine should pull clean and hard from idle to red line in any gear and if it will not, something is wrong. Having to run at or near red line in order for it to move under its own power is no good and a safety hazard.
Pull fuel line off at carb, put end in a pop bottle, start engine and fuel should freely flow.
Check for vacuum leaks around carb boots.
If no success with above, carbs will have to come off for a teardown, clean and inspection...no getting around it.
 
#13 ·
There's some acceleration at lower speeds in the higher gears, but not a lot, and second in particular seems jerky below 20. Though I drive my car with a lead foot, so maybe I'm expecting a bit much. Everything I found about this bike said to rev it, and I'm not going much higher than the maximum speeds for the break-in period, I'm certainly not holding the throttle wide open or anything. First seems slow at first, then takes off when it hits about 12, second seems slow and jerky till it hits 25, then it takes off. Even before I started having problems I was starting to wonder if the idle speed was too low. It would take at least 2 minutes of idling with the choke on full for it to stay running when I moved the choke to half, then on half for a minute or so to stay running with the choke off in 50-60 degree weather. After warming up idle still seemed a bit weak, and I'd have to give it some throttle for it to move much in the friction zone. Now with the higher idle speed and premium gas it takes about 30 seconds on full choke to warm up, and there's actually some pull in the friction zone. I am a bit worried that the idle speed might be a bit high though, how do you tell if the idle speed is set right without a tach?
 
#15 ·
High idle speed is just semi-covering up a problem.
Premium gas will fix nothing.
You are going to have to get down and dirty with a little troubleshooting.
See post #12 to start with the basic and easy first two steps.
As an add, gas should not dribble out in step number 1, maybe with the exception of what is in the fuel line, when the engine is not running.

Post back with results and any questions.
 
#18 ·
I'm going to say a plugged pilot jet from sitting before you bought it. The dealer more than likely blatently lied to you. Rest assured, stranger things have happened. Mine had a similar problem with "hesitating" when you open the throttle and "hanging high" after it snapped back (see my previous started threads). Except mine had backfiring and power loss too. So maybe you caught this before it got TOO bad.

Agree with BikerBill on the octane. Manual says 87 octane, put 87 in it. Any more is a waste of money.

Also, your fuel economy should only be that low if you accelerate like that EVERY TIME you enter a main road from a side road. Just like a four wheeler, if you keep the RPMs down, the fuel economy will go up.
 
#19 ·
I'm going to say a plugged pilot jet from sitting before you bought it. The dealer more than likely blatently lied to you. Rest assured, stranger things have happened. Mine had a similar problem with "hesitating" when you open the throttle and "hanging high" after it snapped back (see my previous started threads). Except mine had backfiring and power loss too. So maybe you caught this before it got TOO bad.

Agree with BikerBill on the octane. Manual says 87 octane, put 87 in it. Any more is a waste of money.
Agreed."hanging idle" indicates a lean mixture or plugged pilot jets..
:);)
 
#27 ·
Spent hours trying to find a vacuum leak when I was having almost the same problem, to no avail. After the carbs were opened up, looked at, and sprayed out with compressed air, it ran beautifully.

I'm not saying that it still couldn't be a vacuum leak, I'm just saying there's more than one cause for a lean running condition.
 
#24 · (Edited)
When I first start it up, it sputters and hesitates when I open the throttle. After running for a couple minutes the hesitation seems to go away, but I close the throttle it gradually returns to idle over 2-5 seconds. Idle is a bit rough, and randomly speeds up slightly, acceleration is also a bit rough and weak. Since most of the problems started right after putting the seafoam in the gas, I'm guessing the seafoam may have loosened some gunk that clogged something.
 
#25 ·
Yeah based on that description I would go ahead and tear down the carbs, please dont just spray some cleaner on them. Take them apart, remove all the jets and preferably get a bucket of berrymans carb dip and dip all the parts you can but be careful to not dip any plastic or rubber parts, especially orings. Take your time with disassembly and be systematic abd take notes of what went where. Labeled bags or cups work well to organize parts. Make sure to thoroughly clean every small passage in the carb body and spray them out with compressed air, the cans for computers work great.

Its really not that difficult if you are patient with it. Plus you have a lot of people here to help you out.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Motorcycle.com Free App
 
#29 ·
I'm not really comfortable putting the carbs back together, and don't have a place to have them in pieces for a while, so decided to take it to a shop while it's still semi-driveable. Called a local shop that a couple friends recommended, he said the same thing, sounds like something is clogged in the carbs. Since it's running lean, is it okay to drive it for about 6 miles with the choke half on, or will that overheat the engine?
 
#31 ·
Again. take your battery out and check the side bolts in the terminals. I know this sounds impossible, but I had similiar problems with my 500, and finally did it right, and that fixed it. You have to raise up the battery and check the side bolts. They are usually the problem. Wallacem in Ga.
 
#32 ·
I tightened the positive terminal a bit, it wasn't really loose but it wasn't completely tight either. I can't get to the screw on the negative terminal without disconnecting the cable, and as luck would have it, the top screw is stuck. Pretty sure the terminal is going to break off before that screw comes out.
I decided to give the seafoam another try before taking it to the shop, let it sit in the carbs for a day then rev'ed it a few times with the choke on. Drove it for a while and the sputtering/hesitation seems to have gone away, except for some slight hesitation from a stop now and then. Now that it's running better I lowered the idle speed a bit, the hanging idle is mostly gone. The right cylinder does still seem to hesitate for a second when I open the throttle, and sometimes it backfires when I shut the engine off.
 
#33 ·
Okay, but again, It seems that the screws that give the most trouble are the side ones that you have to lift the battery up to reach. The top ones are easy and don't loosen as often.
 
#36 ·
It may not be the problem but I agree with wallacem. When my terminals were lose my bike would run fine at times. Other times it would miss, backfire and lose power. I finally found the problem when the bike died and wouldn't start. Luckily I was close enough to my house to push it back home.
 
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