Top 20 1996 kawasaki VN 1500 Vulcan Classic - Page 5 Questions & Answers

Check visually to see if needle jet is moving up with slide when twisting the throttle. Another way to check is to remove top carb. cap, remove slide, check that the needle jet is attached. Hope this helps.

First you need to check to make sure your oil level is full, there is a window at the bottom of engine on the right side. It is a wet clutch. Make sure you are using the right type of oil. Most likely your friction plates are worn or burnt. It is not a bad idea to invest in new damper springs as well, Heat will weaken them over time. see Delphi Vulcan Forum for great visuals and instructions.

check to make sure you didn't get bad gas some where is it a cali model be couse your carbs can over flow and you will never know it just all goes into the charcoal canister in the front bottom of the radiator is allow raw gas to enter in the air side of the carb un metered

check the wiring plug to the rear lights. the front ones wont blink unless the rears are working, they need the right current draw through the flasher for it to flash.
Unlikely but it can also be two rear indicator bulbs blown.

This is correct. The left side is just for looks. There is only one carburator. make sure your jetted properly if you change exhaust.
keep baffels in for back pressure or you could burn valves.
This bike handles great, but you need to remember that it is a heavy bike and will not stop as quickly as most. You'll find it's purrrrrfect at 50.

TRY THIS. Pull the seat. Remove the battery cables. Clean the all the connection surfaces real good. I use a sanding block. Do this often.

You have stock exhaust? If not, that's your cause.

Drain fluid out of clutch cylinder. Clean out cylinder then look at bottom and you will see 2 small holes.Stick a small pin or wire into the hole that has a little check ball inside. Once you can push that ball in with the pin you will see some fluid come into the reservoir. That lets you know it was clogged. Now refill with dot 4 and bleed system. Clutch will not slip now. I just had the same problem and changed clutch spring, plates, etc and nothing worked until I did this.

If you are getting 13volt output and it revs and gets 14.5volts it would appear to be charging. As you would get a drop in voltage if it were not. Stator is there for working. Check your voltage relay as it may be sticking which would cause it to run on system and not be sending charge to battery. Poor ground would also keep battery from being properly charged

Could just be a flat battery - if you don't ride it all the time you'll find the battery will go flat quite quickly. If it's the case you'll need to recharge the battery off the bike - if you have an alarm you'll find that sucks the battery down quite quickly! I'd recomend you get a 'trickle charger' I use an opti mate charger, you put a small harness on the battery and when you're not riding you just plug the bike into the charger - NOTE - Only do this with a charger like the Opti-Mate that is designed do be left on all the time. I think they are worth there weight in gold - they are about £50 but you can get a cheaper version! A lot of manufactures recommend them these day especially if you do ride your bike all the time.

If is like my Vulcan the anti freeze jug is behind the right side cover. I have one screw to remove to get the plastic side cover off.

Rock the bike back and forth, to loosen the clutch plates taking the load off the gears so you can shift up.

If there's any adjust ment left, you can adjust down where it attaches at the cluch lever on the right side of you bike using a wrench, but if the cable is already at the max, then you'll need a new clutch kit which is relatively easy to do with some basic hand tools. Loosen your clutch cover bolts and remove the cover then remove the clutch basket and reinstall new friction disc's and clutch plates in exact same order as old one sit's in there. Then fill'er back up with some fresh oil and adjust it out. Be sure to leave a little free play at the lever. Good luck.

hello, you may need to check float in carb, could be sticking or bad, make sure plugs aren wet with gas insted of oil, you can smell gas fouled plugs, than oil, gas coming out of breather sounds like float needs to be adjusted or floats bad or trash in carb, may have broke ring also

sounds like a bent shift fork, or worn guides, either way the case will have to be cracked to take a look

most gear shafts usually have a small replacable seal, that can be hooked out and replaced simply, I am not familar with your bike, but seals have a number on them like 10 20 8 which are the actual dimentions in mm 10mm shaft 20mm outside 8mm width, clean it up and have a close look, the sizes are sometimes available from bearing shops for a few dollars, compared to OEM bike shop prices

could be 2 problems, the carb float needle should stop the flow before it floods into cylnder, so it may need a clean or replace. If it floods when engine not running, the fuel tap may need cleaning or a repair kit, as it should stop the flow when the engine stops

32 front 36 rear is most common depending on load you have with you and the brand of tire

Fuel bowl needle is bad and not seating properly to seal the bowl when enough fuel has entered, thus it overflows out of the vent tubes.

Hydraulic lifters on your model, there are cam chain tensioners sometimes those go bad, I would go by a Kawasaki dealer and get a product they brand under the Kawasaki name called carbon clean, you might have a carboned up engine, stuff really works, Yamaha also sells the same product there’s is called ring free.