Just bought a Vulcan 1500, what model is it?

2271 Views 14 Replies 7 Participants Last post by PatC, Feb 5, 2015

msal

Discussion Starter · Feb 3, 2015

(FYI I had asked this over in the new members forum but was told to ask here as well)

Hi everyone, new to the forum. I sold my shadow 750 in the fall and just this week bought a 98 Vulcan Classic 1500 (between snow storms!). VERY excited, although I will have to wait a while until it warms up enough to ride it.

In the meantime, I need to replace the front tire, tune-up, etc and was planning to buy the Clymer manual. However, I'm not sure what exact model it is and there are a few different Clymer manuals for the year ('N', 'C', 'E', etc.).

I was curious if anyone could help me out. I've tried entering my VIN# on the kawasaki site and the only info I get back is that it's a vulcan classic 1500. I've also tried totalmotorcycle.com and didn't see any extra info there either. If it helps any, it's a 5 speed (I believe they also made a 4 speed that year). I've emailed Kawasaki directly, no response yet. The previous owner did not have the owner's manual, otherwise I would have checked there first!

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Bandit101

· #2 · Feb 3, 2015

'98 classic 1500 with 5speed would be an E1 model.

reddyford

· #3 · Feb 3, 2015

Bandit101 said:
'98 classic 1500 with 5speed would be an E1 model.

+1 on the E1 Clymer Repair manual is M471-3

May want to check out this site http://www.gadgetjq.com/gadgetsfixitpage.htm
and search this site for POG replacement if warranted.

msal

Discussion Starter · #4 · Feb 3, 2015 (Edited)

Awesome, thanks guys!

reddyford said:
+1 on the E1 Clymer Repair manual is M471-3

May want to check out this site http://www.gadgetjq.com/gadgetsfixitpage.htm
and search this site for POG replacement if warranted.

Are you saying that the E1 has the POG, or are you suggesting to check and see if it does and if so think about replacement? Asking because I was told by the previous owner that the 4 speeds that year had POG, but 5 speeds had metal (I asked specifically about it, if he knew etc).

Not a huge deal if it is a POG as I would have bought the bike anyways. It's in very good shape, 17k miles and got it for under 2k

.

Edit: I will also definitely be bookmarking Gadget's page, as I've seen it come up in many threads during my lurking

sfair

· #5 · Feb 3, 2015

http://www.skidrobinson.ca/POG/pog.htm

msal

Discussion Starter · #6 · Feb 3, 2015

sfair said:
http://www.skidrobinson.ca/POG/pog.htm

Yeah I had just come across that page as well, I thought I had read on this forum someone claiming that not all 98s had the POG, but I can't find it now. I was crossing my fingers that someone would confirm what I thought.

Crap, guess I do have the POG. He did claim that he's never had an issue with any gears which is hopefully true. I wasn't able to lay into 2nd at all or anything cause of the weather, ice everywhere. We have mutual acquaintances and he seemed like an honest dude, my guess is he just didn't know any better. Oh well.

sfair

· #7 · Feb 3, 2015

msal said:
Crap, guess I do have the POG. He did claim that he's never had an issue with any gears which is hopefully true. I wasn't able to lay into 2nd at all .

POG is the oil pump gear. Nothing to do with transmission.

msal

Discussion Starter · #8 · Feb 3, 2015

sfair said:
POG is the oil pump gear. Nothing to do with transmission.

My mistake, I thought there was a common 2nd gear issue that was somehow related to the POG. I guess that doesn't make sense though. Thanks. I tried to read up on the bike a bit before buying (I don't want to get in over my head right off the bat) but I guess I didn't do a great job.

kcducttaper

· #9 · Feb 3, 2015

The 4-speeds do for sure. I'm replacing my chewed up gears on my '97 1500a right now. I don't think the 5-speeds had the 2nd gear problem as long as you shift like a sane person, but I could be wrong on that. It's a completely different transmission design at least, so it seems weird if it had the same 2nd gear problem.

While I was in there, I looked at my POG and it is perfectly fine. I'll definitely be replacing it though. If your POG goes bad, you have no oil pressure and your engine seizes up and pretty much fries itself. The good news is that with the Judge's oil gear, you can replace it in an afternoon without splitting the case, so it's not too horrible.

PatC

· #10 · Feb 4, 2015 (Edited)

All VN1500s had the POG until the 2000 model year.

Failure rate is only about 5-8%, which isn't a lot. But then, would you see a doctor who lost 5-8% of his patients, or fly an airline that had 5-8% plane crashes? A POG failure, as KC said, can result in a very bad outcome for the engine rather quickly, never mind leave you stranded in traffic or out in the wilds somewhere.

msal

Discussion Starter · #11 · Feb 4, 2015

kcducttaper said:
The 4-speeds do for sure. I'm replacing my chewed up gears on my '97 1500a right now. I don't think the 5-speeds had the 2nd gear problem as long as you shift like a sane person, but I could be wrong on that. It's a completely different transmission design at least, so it seems weird if it had the same 2nd gear problem.

While I was in there, I looked at my POG and it is perfectly fine. I'll definitely be replacing it though. If your POG goes bad, you have no oil pressure and your engine seizes up and pretty much fries itself. The good news is that with the Judge's oil gear, you can replace it in an afternoon without splitting the case, so it's not too horrible.

Got it, yeah according to the previous owner he's never had a single issue with the transmission so hopefully I won't have any issues there.

Regarding the POG - The previous owner was told that the gear was metal when he had bought the bike. I wonder if he was misinformed, or if it was replaced? I guess the only way to find out is to look myself so I know for sure.

I've ordered the Clymer manual (saved $20 with Amazon Prime plus two day shipping

) and I'm sure that be very useful. I'm somewhere between novice and intermediate when it comes to bikes. I've had the entire fuel system apart on my old bike, but never split the engine case or anything like that... sounds intimidating. I think the JOG might be the way to go, although splitting the case might be a fun learning experience. First thing I need to do is check if it's actually still plastic though!

PatC said:
All VN1500s had the POG until the 2000 model year.

Failure rate is only about 5-8%, which isn't a lot. But then, would you see a doctor who lost 5-8% of his patients, or fly an airline that had 5-8% plane crashes? A POG failure, as KC said, can result in a very bad outcome for the engine rather quickly, never mind leave you stranded in traffic or out in the wilds somewhere.

Part of me wants to just run it for this season and worry about this in the fall, but having this fail on me in the meantime would SUCK!

Thanks for the feedback guys.

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Bandit101

· #12 · Feb 4, 2015

There is a pretty high failure rate from the JOG as well. I would not recommend anyone install a JOG just because they wanted to eliminate the POG. If the POG fails and you need a short term temporary fix, install the JOG. But for a long term reliable fix, split the case and do it right with the factory steel gear. There is a low oil pressure warning light right in front of the operator. If it comes on, shut the engine down and have the bike towed. The only damaged engines I have seen are when someone continued riding trying to get to their destination and burnt the bearings up.

sfair

· #13 · Feb 4, 2015

Bandit101 said:
as But for a long term reliable fix, split the case and do it right with the factory steel gear. There is a low oil pressure warning light right in front of the operator. .

Excellent advice.

The only problem with the oil light is that one would need to stare at it to be of much use, particularly at highway speeds.
I have to admit that I glance down occasionally, but if the gear shears between glances, it could already be game over!

madhatter4119

· #14 · Feb 5, 2015

If you have the POG...I would roll the dice on that...But I would be concerned with
your bike popping out of 2nd gear...If its bad...me and the prior owner would be having
words in an alley somewhere...3rd gear is next and then...no gears...Was it a craigslist
or ebay find...??? how did he have his add written...Good running Vulcan or something
like that...??? you might be able to do something legally if your not a back alley kind of
guy...Good Luck

PatC

· #15 · Feb 5, 2015

Bandit101 said:
There is a pretty high failure rate from the JOG as well. I would not recommend anyone install a JOG just because they wanted to eliminate the POG. If the POG fails and you need a short term temporary fix, install the JOG. But for a long term reliable fix, split the case and do it right with the factory steel gear. There is a low oil pressure warning light right in front of the operator. If it comes on, shut the engine down and have the bike towed. The only damaged engines I have seen are when someone continued riding trying to get to their destination and burnt the bearings up.

Out of curiosity, is there any data on the failure of the JOG being because of the gear itself, or because they're usually a DIY install job?

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