98 Kawa Vulcan 500

[JimW]

Got a chance to buy a decent Vulcan 500 with 9000mi. Other than a slight dent in the tank it's in excellent cond. What's everyones thoughts on the Vulcan? The 500 is a rarety in my area. As a matter of fact it's the first one I've seen in person.

[Jim]

I have an 800, its been good to me.

[FastDoc]

IIRC the Vulcan 500 is an offspring of the 454, which was an excellent engine. Based on 1/2 the Ninja 900 engine. Good looking reliable torquey. I know the 454's werre belt drive which I like on cruisers. :D

[JimW]

Thanks fellas. I've heard they're a bit of a bear to service but reliable.

My son in law's 750 has the typical acct problems that I hear about but other than that appears to be a good bike.

The guy wants 1100.00. Do you think that's in the right ball park figure? The only thing I noticed about it when I rode it is, it seems slow about idling back down. Could be from sitting and maybe the throttle cable is a bit dry?

[Barnone]

JimW,
I had one of the 1996 Vulcan 500s's with the belt drive and a six speed transmission for several years and never had a problem with it. It had the Ninja engine so it was not like the other Vulcans meaning you had to rev it up but it would walk the dog.

I believe the 1998 has a chain drive and is a little different than my 1996 but both have the same sweet engine.

Don't know why they would be considered a bear to service except for the shim over bucket valve adjustment. I sold mine for $1900 several years ago so I think $1100 is a good price assuming the bike is decent and 9000 miles is nothing for a Kawasaki. The belt drive is nice.

I'd consider buying it if it was local to me.

[Weldangrind]

The slow-to-idle symptom is typical of a vacuum leak. Might be a bargaining tool.

[JimW]

Yeah W&G, I suspected that too. I guess when I get it here where I have extra time to look, I'll find it.

Barnone. On the servicing most complaints were the gas tank and instrument cluster have to be removed just to add coolant to the resevior or change the plugs. I'm going to pick it up this weekend so I'll let yall know what I find out. Thanks again!

[Barnone]

Jim,
Mine was the older version of the Vulcan 500 so what I say doesn't probably apply but changing the coolant on my Vulcan wasn't a big deal. The catch bottle was easy to view for checking.

There is a good Yahoo group on the 500 so you might want to visit it for better info on maintenance. I always like to go to a model specific forum and read through the postings for info before buying a bike. Unfortunately they are few and far between for China bikes.

I've owned quite a few Kawasaki bikes and they were always well built and reliable. I had the old model 1500 Vulcan and it was the most comfortable long distance bike that I have ever owned, even better than the 1500 Wing.

[JimW]

Thanks Barnone. One of the forums for the vulcans is where I got some of the info but, I'll do some more reading. My son in law says his 750 Vulcan is comfortable also. To me it seems awful heavy for a 750 tho. Thanks again!

[2LZ]

Dent in tank..... Possible explanation if it doesn't look like an impact.

A buddy of mine bought the brand new, smaller displacement Vulcan. The one that look like the fat tired cruiser. Classic, I believe?
He rode it around the first day and stored it in his garage. He got up the next day, walked out the the bike and there was a big dent in the top of the tank! 8O
He looked up to see if anything fell out of the rafters...all looked good. Nothing on the floor. He was perplexed. No scars or dings from impact either. Obviously, he was heartbroke.

He rode it over to Kawasaki to see how much a new tank was going to be. He wanted it fixed right away. The counterperson came out and looked at it. "Oh....that's a recall. We'll order you a tank. When the engine and tank cool after riding, it contracts and there's a faulty vent doesn't let air in and it collapses the tank."

Pretty odd, huh? 8O

[FastDoc]

The slow-to-idle symptom is typical of a vacuum leak. Might be a bargaining tool.

Agreed. DO the Old Starting Fluid test to make sure. Replacing the carb holders should not be too difficult or expensive. You can also coat them with RTV. Gross but effective.

[JimW]

Thanks Doc. I didn't have a good chance to check everything on the day, I rode it but pretty certain it's nothing serious. Youngest son in law bout an 85 Yamaha Maxim 700 back in feb doing a very similar thing except it wouldn't idle down at all. The vac line that runs from the fuel petcock to one of the intake boots had gotten old and cracked. This Vulcan isn't as severe as the Maxim was.

2LZ. Interesting story. This is definitly an impact dent. The kawa badge is gone and the tank is scratched. The man that owns it right now is 74. Said it ws like that when he bought it 6yrs ago. It doesn't look to bad but, I'm funny about how my vehicles look, and since my wife will be riding it, I'll fix it and paint it. I'm going to try the dry ice trick on it first. I'f that doesn't work, I'll have to try a different route.

[FastDoc]

A paintless door ding removal guy may be able to fix that I've had good luck with that.

A favorite passive aggressive trick my ex-wife would do when she decided to hate me was to kick a dent in my Ford Probe GT while it sat parked in the garage. I've had experiance with the paintless dent removal guy. :roll:

[Weldangrind]

I'm going to try the dry ice trick on it first.

Please explain.

I've had some success with popping dents out with compressed air, but I make sure that the tank is totally empty and dry.

[JimW]

Doc, not sure whether to laugh or feel sorry for you hehe. My first wife's dad was a pretty decent body repair and painter. He taught me alot about removing dents and my own dad tho a Ford mechanic by trade was a good body guy too.

Ya know, my wife is so easy going that in 30yrs, I've never seen her mad but, I have a feeling, I'd end up dented before any vehicles would if she ever got mad. It probably seems unbelievable but, she truly is that easy going and takes whatever life throws at her with a smile.

[JimW]

W&G. Compressed air? You're talking canned air, I assume? If so it's basically the same process since the materials are similar. Warm the dent and around it with a blow dryer and place dry ice on the dent, or take a can of air and flip it upside down and blow straight c02 on the dent and surrounding area. The can is the safest way naturally and is most likely the way I'll do it. I just refer to it as the dry ice trick is all

[SpudRider]

...Ya know, my wife is so easy going that in 30yrs, I've never seen her mad but, I have a feeling, I'd end up dented before any vehicles would if she ever got mad. It probably seems unbelievable but, she truly is that easy going and takes whatever life throws at her with a smile.
Hang onto that woman, Jim! :D

Spud :)

[FastDoc]

It probably seems unbelievable but, she truly is that easy going and takes whatever life throws at her with a smile.

+1 to what Spud said. She's a gem!

[JimW]

Thanks again guys. She truly is a great woman. Her childhood was a far cry from what most would think is normal. I will say one thing since I can't speak for the rest of the world, if my childhood had been similar in anyway to hers, I would NOT look at the world with a smile but some how she manages to see thru all bad things and find the good. Her brothers on the other didn't take it so well.

[Weldangrind]

W&G. Compressed air? You're talking canned air, I assume? If so it's basically the same process since the materials are similar. Warm the dent and around it with a blow dryer and place dry ice on the dent, or take a can of air and flip it upside down and blow straight c02 on the dent and surrounding area. The can is the safest way naturally and is most likely the way I'll do it. I just refer to it as the dry ice trick is all

Nope, I'm talking about popping dents out by pressurizing the tank. It's really easy if you have a dirt bike style cap with a vent. Just hold a blow gun tip against the vent tube and force a little air into the tank. The tank quickly becomes pregnant, and often minor dents will pop right out. I have had my buddy tap the perimeter of a dent with a body hammer while I pressurize it.

If you try this method, please be careful.

[JimW]

Well, that's one way of doing it alright but, I have some tools that'll reach inside a tank. I'm thinking, I can reach in and push outward while using the c02. I'll know more once, I get the bike here where my tools are. If worse comes to worse, I'll replace the tank. Thanks for the extra option W&G!

[Barnone]

JimW,
Status report?

[JimW]

Hi Barnone, I went ahead and bought it but haven't had a chance to do anything to it because my wife likes riding it so much it doesn't sit still. Hopefully next week or the week after, she'll ride her scooter to work and, I'll get a chance to work on it. After an idle adjustment it's running fine. Had to turn the screw about 3 to 3 and half turns to get it to idle down where it needed to be but happy it didn't take any more work than that. I'll get some pics of it today and post them

[Barnone]

I'd say that the Kawasaki was a good purchase.

I'm ready for a bigger motorcycle again after fooling with these sub 250cc bikes for the last several years.

Maybe a used Versys, KLR650, or DR650 might be good for here in the mountains.
I have a two mile ride to get to a hard road.

[FastDoc]

Sounds like a great bike, Jim. Major points with the wife! :P

[JimW]

Yeah, its running great. I think it's a pretty good buy also now that she's had a chance to ride it. We're just a 1/2mi off the pavement but, my wife rides 70mi round trip to work, and I figured the heavier Vulcan would work better for her with our relentless winds. She's been riding a Diamo Turista 300 maxi scoot so the bike has been a change for her. The scoot handles the wind pretty good but it's a little light and gets tossed around pretty easy.

My nephew has an 08 Yamaha dual sport 250 with the 5 valve fuel injected thumper. It's a heck of a 250! He put an adjustable performance chip on it last year. Dang thing produces like 33hp stock, but it's way to tall for my short legs. His too but, he's a young buck so it doesn't bother him as much. He even put a lowering kit on it and it's still too tall. He's planning on running the TAT soon on it, or at least been talking about it. A friend of his has a KLR650 and they ride together alot. Just made a trip to Creed Colo the past two weeks to ride some trails. Haven't heard a word from him so, I hope it went well for them. The KLRs are good proven machines.

[SpudRider]

Thanks for the update, Jim! :) I'm glad to hear the bike is running well, and your lovely wife is enjoying it. ;) If you have time, please post some photos!

Spud :)