Vaquero intake leaks

[RACNRAY]

I recieved the intake parts and here is what i found. These parts are off a 2012 Voyager.

First, i could see where the right side o-ring between the t/b and manifold had not been making full contact. The manifold surface which is A MACHINED surfaced was very uneven, just as i found mine was, and had a very poor surface finish, with a "galling" pattern in the middle. Laying a straight edge across the surface revealed quite a bit of warpage-not good.

Second, there was the tell-tale signs of intake back-fires on the engine side of the manifold. Black soot on the edges showing where the backfires were escaping thru that sealed area. Out of curiosity i called the owner and asked if he had intake backfires, he said "yes ever since new".

I finished the parts today and will be sending them out next week.

I had a Vulcan owner stop by yesterday with complaints of severe exhaust backfiring on decel on his skoot with only 200 miles on it. The dealer is stumped along with the Kawi tech rep, so i told him to have the dealer service manager call me, which he did. I told the s/m of our findings and he said he would relay this to the tech rep and i might get a call from the rep. Hopefully this may help in getting the ball rolling with Kawi coming out with a FDM for those with performance complaints. We shall see.

RACNRAY

[redjay]

What is a FDM ?

[ponch]

Originally Posted by redjay

What is a FDM ?

My guess it is a recall.

[RACNRAY]

Originally Posted by redjay

What is a FDM ?

Stands for "Factory Directed Modification". When i was a service manager this was a mod Kawi came up with that addressed and fixed a known complaint that a model had. It was not a recall as it only applied to those units that exhibited the problem and the owner notified a dealer or Kawi of the problem. The skoot would then be eligible for the FDM.

My opinion is as this is a safety concern, bikes stalling, hesitating, etc., and that can certainly be dangerous then this may qualify for recall status.

This may be the beginning and what direction it will go and what that will bring those with complaints relating to performance of their skoots remains to be seen. With my experience i'll do whatever i can to convince Kawi the cause of this problem many are complaining about.

RACNRAY

[ponch]

Originally Posted by RACNRAY

Stands for "Factory Directed Modification". When i was a service manager this was a mod Kawi came up with that addressed and fixed a known complaint that a model had. It was not a recall as it only applied to those units that exhibited the problem and the owner notified a dealer or Kawi of the problem. The skoot would then be eligible for the FDM.

My opinion is as this is a safety concern, bikes stalling, hesitating, etc., and that can certainly be dangerous then this may qualify for recall status.

This may be the beginning and what direction it will go and what that will bring those with complaints relating to performance of their skoots remains to be seen. With my experience i'll do whatever i can to convince Kawi the cause of this problem many are complaining about.

RACNRAY

I would think most shops don't have a machine shop to modify the intake as you have. Kawasaki may choose to do nothing is there is no safety concern. I wouldn't agree with that decision, but they've ignored other issues like weak clutch springs and cam chains that prematurely stretch to limit. May be you know whose attention to get...

[redjay]

As Ray stated :

"My opinion is as this is a safety concern, bikes stalling, hesitating, etc., and that can certainly be dangerous then this may qualify for recall status".

I think these issues are a safety concern. Stalling and hesitating in traffic is an issue dont you think ?

I almost dumped my Nomad in traffic in an intersection before the TFI install. Stalling, hesitation and backfiring through the intake are signs of something wrong.

[Red Sand]

I have recently got my Vaquero 1700 and would like to know what indicators I should look for. I dont want to get too hung up on it but will get the dealer to get it sorted if there is actually a problem with mine. On the highway ride home I got 16.5 KPL (about 39 MPG) and it seems a little lower than others have reported. I dont have any imediate plans for modding the bike (except for some cosmetics) but I would like to be confident that it is running as it should.

[redjay]

The mileage sounds about normal to me.

[landman]

my 2011 vaquero runs great with no overheating and 47 m.p.g. on 88 octane gas.i now
have 3200 miles and think i will not mess with trying to upgrade/mod this bike at the
risk of ruining what i think is a good thing.

[BC RED VAQ]

well finely found a dealer that stands behind the kaw product took my vaq to the shop and was talking about trading it in. On a new one asked why and I told them there was a problem with an intake air leek and stearing head bearings need looked at something wrong. He asked if I talked to the place I bought it told them they said it was just ware and tear not under warrenty with 7500 miles on an 2011. they said thats not right left the bike mechanic called said it had an intake leek and bearings were loose. he ordered parts and said it was under warrenty I told him about the forum and he read it said he could not do all the machining on the intake but promissed it would not leek when he was do with it. I pick it up friday so will find out then if it runs better and handles better no wobble and less popping on deceal. Wish me luck.

[Red Sand]

Wow that's great news. The more it gets acknowledged as a problem, the more likely we all will get the same support. I hope you notice a nice change when you pick it up.

[garvulcan1700]

Interesting thread.
Just rode my Vaquero out till the fuel light came on at 125miles. I have about 1,500 on it now. If I'm figuring right, that's about 31 miles to the gallon. The milage seems to be getting worse every tank full. I'm riding in traffic to and from work. Its usually 40 degrees in the morning and mid 60's on the way home. Some freeway riding as well. I try to run around 3,000 rpms, or just under for best mileage. Thats not how I normally ride but I'm really fixated on this at the moment. That seems to start to raise it up the quickest.
Its funny how it starts to climb back up to what the meter says is "36 mpg" when I'm able to ride the freeways. As soon as im off of the freeway and in the street traffic it drops quickly back down. Ive sat in traffic and it would run down all the way to 28mpg Guess I'm going to have to investigate the intake for leaks because this seems a little extreme to me.

[BC RED VAQ]

cooler weather will decrease your mpg

[ponch]

Sure, but that mileage sucks.

[bearbait]

Yep, that's weirdly low mileage. My Vaq has floated around 40 mpg (39-43) for its first 5,000+ miles under a wide variety of roads, loads and weather conditions. Something must be wrong.