Transmission Repair - 2nd Gear Problem.

[ppgflyer]

Following up on my previous post http://vulcanbagger.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35282 I have more information for those having the same issue, or are merely interested in seeing what a complete tear-down, service and re-assembly involves.

I have posted some more pictures on my photobucket page which can be seen here :- http://s1198.photobucket.com/user/ppggreg/library/ and there will be more soon as I will be assembling the bottom end this weekend. The top end is on hold for gaskets.

The biggest obstacle I had to overcome was finding the transmission parts. To replace all the gears damaged plus the shift fork it was going to cost over $400, the gears were running about $90 each. The output shaft 5th gear, the one with two sets of dogs that locks 2nd or 3rd gear was out of stock everywhere I called. To add insult to injury it is discontinued and no longer in production

So I tried to see what parts replaced or superseded my part. NOTHING Okay, Kawasaki Tech line will surely be able to provide the answer the support specialist said "NOPE, no replacement, equivalent or alternative" well this is for you Kawasaki Thanks for your lack of commitment to support your customers.

So what did I do I can hear you asking, did you look for a used 2001 VN1500-L2 transmission? Sure did, Ebay, Craigslist, wrecking yard put it out on their nationwide hotline - A big fat ZERO. But wait, a vendor on Ebay had a used transmission for a 2005 VN1500 Classic, pictures looked the same. Gear teeth and ratio's matched but not a single part number matched, so after some I decided that Kawasaki wouldn't completely change the VN1500 transmission, in fact I doubted they would change anything other than part numbers.
So I made a leap of faith and purchased the used transmission for $253+shpg,

I'm happy to report that the transmission turned out to be exactly the same as my original and I will be able to completely replace the whole thing for less than the price of three new gears. More importantly, the parts for a 2005 VN1500 Classic, and Nomad for that matter will not only fit the 2001 Nomad but as far as I know ALL those parts are still in production and still available

I can't believe Kawasaki has not produced a cross reference publication that identifies current parts that fit where previous parts are discontinued.
Some information is available for some parts that are superseded but in this case it seems to be lacking.

I hope this info helps those that take their 2001 Kawi to the dealer and he tells you the part is not in stock and no longer in production.

Greg.
PS: my apologies for the excessive length of this post.