20 Most Recent 2005 kawasaki EN 500 Vulcan Questions & Answers

Try a dealer, ebay, craigslist. If you google around you can find some motorcycle salvage yards which could have the part.

you can remove the head light bulb, power the bulb with a charger or check it with voltmeter. if bulb is good, make sure the ground is good on the light housing. if fuses are good, could be the actual switch on the handlegrips

Harley Davidson has handled gas tank venting in a couple ways over the years. One is to allow the venting to be done by the gas cap the second is to have a non-venting cap and connect a vent hose to the tank which vents air from the top of the tank. You said your hose was dry rotted so it should be replaced. However, I don't feel that, by itself, would allow pressure to build up. Replace the hose and, while it's off, ensure the connection to the top of the tank is not plugged. When you put the tank back on, ensure the hose doesn't get crushed. It sounds like proper venting is all that is required. Something else to consider is that a plugged vent would, most likely, cause a vacuum in the tank instead of pressure. (As the tank empties while riding, air can't come in to fill the space vacated by the gas.) The only reason I could expect that you build up pressure is if the vent is plugged and the tank gets heated from an outside source such as the sun. I hope this is helpful.

Sounds like a bad relay... the relay switches all power to the solenoid to start the bike... when you let off of the starter it turns the lights etc back on. If the relay goes bad... starter button will not work, and no power to the headlight/taillight/dashlights... the relay is fairly cheep, 10 to 15 bucks....so its a pretty cheap test to see if that is what is wrong.

I only hope you have not damaged a shift drum or bent a shift fork. My 2009 has never downshifted well unless I am moving. If I coast to a stop and down shift at the light , I often have to double clutch to get back to neutral. If you ride in hot weather and that is where you are experiencing the problem, you may just be using the wrong oil. Use only JASO MA certfied motorcycle oil. Do not use car oil or any oil that says Energy Conserving , it will shorten the life of the wet clutch and transmission gears. You may want to try a full synthetic oil , it will help the bike run cooler and shift easier.

probably lean. check fuel flow , then float levels, and emulsifiers, to start with.

I suspect the start button. In many bikes the start button deactivates the headlight to provide full power for starting. This continuous load works the button mechanism quite hard.

usually 3.5L of oil.

Improve the FixYa experience for everyone by voting. I want you to let me know if the solution(s) suggested were of any value. Constructive criticism is welcomed.Hi,I'm Ben and -- hopefully -- I can provide some meaningful assistance.Oil requirements vary with climatic condition, environment and use. Therefore, rather than providing a recommendation, I providing you a link to the service manual. CLICK HERE

Call your nearest Kawasaki Dealer, and ask for the Service Department. They will be happy to answer all your questions.

SAE 10W40,,, it is on the oil cap engine, Gear case ( transmssion? )

G'day.
The tank is building up too much pressure because the pressure relief valve in the gas cap is blocked.All gas caps are vented-(otherwise the tank has to be somewhere- like on Canadian models with fuel evaporative systems on them).
clear the blockage or replace the cap & you should be fine.
Under most roadbike gas caps is a cover held in place with two screws-remove them to dissasemble the cap & clear the blockage in the cap vent
If yours is a Canadian(maybe US models are the same)-model then the problem is in the fuel evaporative system. Check out this link.
http://www.mrcycles.com/fiche_section_detail.asp?section=365110&category=Motorcycles&make=KAWASAKI&year=2005&fveh=8485

Hope this is helpfull.
Kind regards Andrew Porrelli

The problem is not the clutch. The problem is bent shift forks in the transmission. I hate to tell you this, but it will not be cheap to fix. Some special tools are needed to do the repair and working on the transmission is not recommended for the beginner mechanic. The engine comes out of the frame, gets flipped upside down then the bottom half of the engine casing gets removed to gain access to the gears, shift drum and shift forks. Your bike has three shift forks, replace them all. Contact a Kawasaki dealer for confirmation of my diagnosis and to see what the estimated cost will be. I would guess it to be around $1500. Below is a generic diagram of how the forks move left and right to shift between gears. Please, rate my answer. Thanks.

A good start would be to replace the spark plugs, having the choke on shouldnot have caused any permement damage, apart from fouling the plugs, once the engine was warm it would have run rough untill it stoped

Hope this will help.

http://bikez.com/motorcycles/kawasaki_vulcan_500_ltd_-_en_500_c_2005.php

http://www.bikez.com/msgboard/msg.php?id=21488&type=bike

Is there an exhaust leak at the cly? can **** in fresh air and backfires, thats the common one. other than that carby out of sync or lean pilot/ low speed jet.

Remove cables from carbs and check for free movement. Carb butterflies may be stuck.

Hi Fred

In short.... NO... there should not be oil in the alternator. You will have a failing seal on the output shaft from engine to the alternator. These seals can sometimes be changed without splitting the crankcases, but sometimes not. You will need a puller to get the rotor off and access to the shaft/seal to see what is going on.

This may be a job for a repair shop if you have not done this sort of work before. There are some tools required, and the engine will need to be removed from the frame if a new seal cannot be fitted without splitting the crank case.

regards
robotek

That is something you are going to have to look up from the manuf. They don't hold much, maybe 1 pt. I just did mine, 3/4 pint in each. I bought 2 bottles at the motorcycle shop and still have some left. So look up your forks, ohlins, brembo, sachs, ceriani, showa, whatever, get the schematic for them, pull them apart in a big pan to catch the oil, and replace the seal, or whatever you are doing. You don't have to top them off if they don't show signs of a leak, if you feel the shock is gone out of them, well, that's different. Your bike is a 2005, it shouldn't have a problem in the front end. Hope this helps.