[humblegeo]

Just picked up a 2002 Vulcan 500 20000 miles that had been wrecked in a ditch in 2005 or 2006, parked on side of a house and never ridden again. Man later died from a stroke and wife just let it sit for years. Eventually carburetors stolen from it, paint sun damaged and faded, seat deteriorated, fuel tank dent damage but clean inside, no battery, rear brake cable broken and all turn signal rubber mounts broke. Got it at a very good price I thought at $300 with clean Texas title. Will probably need to put $300 or $400 into it to just get it going again. Still a good buy I think.

Carburetors: Found some on ebay for $100 to maybe $200. Will any of the carburetors from years 1990-2009 work on my 2002? Will carburetors from a Kawasaki Ninja 500r work on my 2002 Vulcan 500?

Deteriorated Seat: whats the best option here? Seatcover or used seat. Trying to keep cost down to minimum.

Turn signals: all four are broken, rubber pieces and it doesn't look like just the rubber can be replaced. I don't really want to spend $30 or $40 dollars each for replacement turn signals. What are the options on this?

Battery: What size do I need and are the everstart batteries from walmart ok?

Appreciate any advise and suggestion from forum members
Thanks
Larry G

 

[sfair]

Sitting outside with no carbs?

Before spending one dime on that bike, remove spark plugs, squirt some PB Blaster (or similar) into each plug hole, let sit and then put in gear and give it a push to make sure engine turns freely. This does not guarantee the engine is not rusty inside, but at least it turns.

No turning, you may just have a parts bike there.

Turns, could still be an oil burner.

 

[strublet]

I also have to worry about rust in the cylinders as the carbs have been missing for a while. Weather has probably done its damage to the engine. I hope that is not the case. BikeBandit is a good place to look for parts for the bike if the engine is ok. Turn signal replacements are pretty cheap there and they have a good selection of batteries, cables, tires, etc.... They carry OEM and aftermarket parts. Good luck with the rebuild.

 

[flstffxe]

As they said above, make sure it turns over. I would also start with a compression check and leak down test. If the valves and seats are pitted or rusted from being exposed they may not seal.

 

[ktek01]

Some of the Ninja carbs have coolant running through them, not sure which years.

 

[humblegeo]

Surprisingly the battery took a charge and I was able to do a compression test. I got 140 psi which from past experience should be enough for it to run. Don't know what it is supposed to be but the general rule of thumb on motorcycles is anything less than 100 psi don't even waste your time trying to start it.

Did some checking on carburetors and I think the Ninja 500r uses 34mm carbs and the Vulcan uses 32 mm carbs. I think the ninja carb would fitup on the engine side just fine but would be slightly too large on the air filter side to where a person would have to use cone type air filters. I would like to keep it stock though. Also the main jet might have to be changed to 136 and slider move a couple of notches. Still an option.

Turn signals are very expensive at Bikebandit. I'll look for other options. Think I need 41mm band type turn signals for front forks and just pretty standard single bolt type for the rear. Baikebandit want $30 each, I can't do that. Might go with some cheap ones from China, there plastic but so were the original ones from Kawasaki. Just takes abit long to get them, 2 to 3 weeks.

Think I'll go with a seat cover from ebay at $72.00. Should work fine on that.