1500 vulcan

[Tearitupfixitrepeat]

Originally Posted by id-man

I've also been told the 2nd gear jumping is due to undercut dogs of the gear itself, that get rounded from wear and cannot stay in place under acceleration. I've been babying my '04 1500 through 2nd gear over a year now and it's getting real tiresome. I'm probably looking at an engine swap myself. Does anyone know if later years may have a more robust gear design?

Originally Posted by MAS Tequila

It's NOT the gear.

It is the shift fork.

I've opened up several of these and every time it was a bent shift fork.

The forks are made out of a soft pot metal, it does not take much to bend one.

Once it is bent, ever so slightly, it keeps going until it eventually breaks.

MT

Both are correct. Shift fork bends, dogs don't engage fully, gear and dogs slip some, and eventually the dogs and gear holes won't stay together.

[MAS Tequila]

Originally Posted by id-man

Man if I was in Florida I'd be all over you to help me for pay or just do the whole thing for hire. I have no great desire to bust into it myself, too worried I'll get something wrong in the reassembly and it'll never run right again.

I'd jump in to that in a heartbeat.

It's not a terribly difficult process.

But if you're concerned about doing it, maybe you should look around for a donor engine.

The swap is a fairly easy job.

MT

[MAS Tequila]

Originally Posted by Tearitupfixitrepeat

NO IT WON'T. At this point all we know is that it's a 1996 model. We still don't know Dual Carb(BUBF) or Classic. Single Carb engines do not easily interchange with Dual Carb. Single stator Classic engines do not easily interchange with Dual Stator Classic engines.

Actually I was speaking about IDmans 04 1500 Nomad, not the original 96 mentioned.

The A model didn't suffer from the shift issues to any degree like the later engines.

As far as the dogs wearing, I rebuilt an 03 1500 and an 06 1600 and only changed the 1-2 shift fork in both engines.

Neither would even allow 2nd gear to engage.

Both worked like new after with the same gears. The dogs were fine and allowed the gears to engage properly.

In my experience, the reason the gear will not engage properly, or at all is because the fork keeps bending and won't allow the gears to come close enough together to properly engage.

But everyone can't agree on everything.

The important thing is that we share a passion for keeping these bikes on the road.

MT

[jtascone]

So what exactly makes the shift forks bend? Improper shifting, or just normal wear and tear?

[ringadingh]

Hard shifting will bend the fork sooner than later. This problem was unheard of until the Nomads starting reaching about 9-10 years old in most cases,and getting some mileage on them. Then it started appearing and has become more prevalent as the bikes get older.

[Tearitupfixitrepeat]

Originally Posted by MAS Tequila

Actually I was speaking about IDmans 04 1500 Nomad, not the original 96 mentioned.

The A model didn't suffer from the shift issues to any degree like the later engines.

As far as the dogs wearing, I rebuilt an 03 1500 and an 06 1600 and only changed the 1-2 shift fork in both engines.

Neither would even allow 2nd gear to engage.

Both worked like new after with the same gears. The dogs were fine and allowed the gears to engage properly.

In my experience, the reason the gear will not engage properly, or at all is because the fork keeps bending and won't allow the gears to come close enough together to properly engage.

But everyone can't agree on everything.

The important thing is that we share a passion for keeping these bikes on the road.

MT

My 2003 had bent forks and worn out dogs and gear holes. I have the forks, gears, and dogs around here somewhere. That's about 6 bikes that were '03 that I have heard off with transmission issues and Kawasaki tried to deny my warranty claim.

[id-man]

Originally Posted by MAS Tequila

In my experience, the reason the gear will not engage properly, or at all is because the fork keeps bending and won't allow the gears to come close enough together to properly engage.

Appreciate the insight - which came first the chicken or the egg. Weak engagement would explain why the dogs might begin wearing in the first place. If I decide to tackle the operation I will make sure to have a whole transmission's worth of parts on hand including new fork. Two wishes - that it wasn't so friggin hard to get to the parts out - and that there were stronger replacement parts available to ensure the problem never repeated.