This video hits home.I own a 1996 Vulcan classic 1500 D.Bought it new .It drives me crazy with this same problem.My softail never but the Vulcan always.It just did it today.Good luck.
I’ve heard there’s a factory authorized repair on these. Involves new valves and head work and they added a coolant line to the carburetor. You can have your vin checked at a local dealership. If it’s never been touched it could qualify for the dealership to do the work and provide the parts. Mine has had previous head work and doesn’t qualify. Going to replace the factory air filter assembly. Hopefully this helps cool the carburetor. The carburetor is tucked in so far between the heads. My theory is it’s too hot and causes the hiccups and backfiring under load at low rpm
still having issues with the carburetor. I’ve completely rebuilt it and replaced the intake manifold and o-rings. Looks like the carburetor has a plugged passage. The bike runs great but it stumbles just off idle. When riding it looses power when accelerating slowly at low rpm’s. Say when turning in 2nd gear then accelerating. Or when riding in top gear at low rpm’s and trying to accelerate. I’m ordering a new carburetor and with follow up afterwards. If you have any info on the carburetor service or can confirm if the bike did this previously. All the electronics look to be in good condition or new. Do you have more info on the head work that was done?
We never had any Carb issues with it until I changed out the fuel pump. It would idle rough in cold weather until it warmed up. When my nephew changed the head gasket, that was all he did and it ran fine. Shortly after that we stopped riding it because my husband had shoulder surgery and the transmission issue. We bought it back in 2007 and never had any carb issues, just changed fibers&steels then that head gasket leaking a little oil. After sitting for a year, I put a new battery in and tried to crank it up and it was like no gas was flowing, that’s why I changed the fuel pump, that helped but was still sputtering, I rode her a few times and has a lot of backfiring and bogging down. Unfortunately I am not attuned to notice as keenly when it would do this, but I did notice a few times at about 60mph it would loose power, it didn’t stall, but seemed to run better 45-50mph.
Still sorting out this issue with the bike. I found a factory authorized repair might need to be done to correct it properly. It involved head work as well as carb work. It seems to be a known issue with the '96-'97 model. Do you know if it ever got a recall service check/repair? The bike starts, idles, runs and rides great. Just has a stumble at low RPM excelleration like from 50-60mph. Also does it if making a right-hand turn going slow in 2nd gear then rolling on the throttle slowly. It never seems to do it if riding aggressively or keeping the rpms up a bit. Any feed-back would be helpful
@ Hi, sorry to hear it is still having some issues. We bought it second hand, it was 9 yrs old, low miles. We never had any engine/carb problems, it always ran great. Had to choke it to start in cold weather. We had to replace the steels and fibers. We never received any recall notice from Kawi. The man we got it from didn’’t mention any recall work. No stalling or bogging down. We really enjoyed it and had many trouble free years. That fuel pump was a cheap amazon part, not sure if it meets the fuel pressure demands of the carb? Just grasping???
@ the fuel pump is next on the list of suspects. I took the sidecar off of it and put it on my ‘96 wide glide. I have heard many complaints about the aftermarket fuel pumps for these bikes. Has to do with a ground controlled by the cdi box. Did the original pump fail or just replaced it just in case? Pressure is within spec testing at the carburetor inlet
My intake boots are pristine brand new carb runs fine (almost) with choke on and at idle but when I put in first with choke off it has almost no power and I can’t even shift into 2nd
@@anthonymatteson9499 might need the carburetor cleaned. Sounds like jets are clogged or the diaphragm for the slide is damaged. Does it run rough or cough spit or pop while trying to accelerate?
@@fitchpaintingrepairllc9871 i just had it professionally cleaned last week as I thought that was the issue, it runs fine with no air filter on but then when I put one on it idles great but accelerating issues happen and spits and sputters and back fires and when I shut it off after it get nice and warm a flame shoots out the exhaust
@@anthonymatteson9499 sounds like it is running very rich. Does it have a smell of gas or is fuel dripping from the breather? Empty the fuel tank and check for contamination like water or rust. The float level could be set incorrectly. Professionally done doesn’t necessarily mean it was done correctly or there could be another issue
This video hits home.I own a 1996 Vulcan classic 1500 D.Bought it new .It drives me crazy with this same problem.My softail never but the Vulcan always.It just did it today.Good luck.
I’ve heard there’s a factory authorized repair on these. Involves new valves and head work and they added a coolant line to the carburetor. You can have your vin checked at a local dealership. If it’s never been touched it could qualify for the dealership to do the work and provide the parts. Mine has had previous head work and doesn’t qualify. Going to replace the factory air filter assembly. Hopefully this helps cool the carburetor. The carburetor is tucked in so far between the heads. My theory is it’s too hot and causes the hiccups and backfiring under load at low rpm
Very good analysis! First thing I check with a vaccum test at 2500 rpm will tell the story. Great video
Thank you and I’ll post a follow up after I install the new manifold and gaskets.
Glad the transmission is resolved! You are an amazing mechanic!!!💪🔧😎
still having issues with the carburetor. I’ve completely rebuilt it and replaced the intake manifold and o-rings. Looks like the carburetor has a plugged passage. The bike runs great but it stumbles just off idle. When riding it looses power when accelerating slowly at low rpm’s. Say when turning in 2nd gear then accelerating. Or when riding in top gear at low rpm’s and trying to accelerate. I’m ordering a new carburetor and with follow up afterwards. If you have any info on the carburetor service or can confirm if the bike did this previously. All the electronics look to be in good condition or new. Do you have more info on the head work that was done?
Primary!
primary? Not sure what you are referring to.
We never had any Carb issues with it until I changed out the fuel pump. It would idle rough in cold weather until it warmed up. When my nephew changed the head gasket, that was all he did and it ran fine. Shortly after that we stopped riding it because my husband had shoulder surgery and the transmission issue. We bought it back in 2007 and never had any carb issues, just changed fibers&steels then that head gasket leaking a little oil. After sitting for a year, I put a new battery in and tried to crank it up and it was like no gas was flowing, that’s why I changed the fuel pump, that helped but was still sputtering, I rode her a few times and has a lot of backfiring and bogging down. Unfortunately I am not attuned to notice as keenly when it would do this, but I did notice a few times at about 60mph it would loose power, it didn’t stall, but seemed to run better 45-50mph.
Still sorting out this issue with the bike. I found a factory authorized repair might need to be done to correct it properly. It involved head work as well as carb work. It seems to be a known issue with the '96-'97 model. Do you know if it ever got a recall service check/repair? The bike starts, idles, runs and rides great. Just has a stumble at low RPM excelleration like from 50-60mph. Also does it if making a right-hand turn going slow in 2nd gear then rolling on the throttle slowly. It never seems to do it if riding aggressively or keeping the rpms up a bit. Any feed-back would be helpful
@ Hi, sorry to hear it is still having some issues. We bought it second hand, it was 9 yrs old, low miles. We never had any engine/carb problems, it always ran great. Had to choke it to start in cold weather. We had to replace the steels and fibers. We never received any recall notice from Kawi. The man we got it from didn’’t mention any recall work. No stalling or bogging down. We really enjoyed it and had many trouble free years. That fuel pump was a cheap amazon part, not sure if it meets the fuel pressure demands of the carb? Just grasping???
@ the fuel pump is next on the list of suspects. I took the sidecar off of it and put it on my ‘96 wide glide. I have heard many complaints about the aftermarket fuel pumps for these bikes. Has to do with a ground controlled by the cdi box. Did the original pump fail or just replaced it just in case? Pressure is within spec testing at the carburetor inlet
@ Just in case, I believe the old one was in the bucket of parts I sent with you.
My intake boots are pristine brand new carb runs fine (almost) with choke on and at idle but when I put in first with choke off it has almost no power and I can’t even shift into 2nd
@@anthonymatteson9499 might need the carburetor cleaned. Sounds like jets are clogged or the diaphragm for the slide is damaged. Does it run rough or cough spit or pop while trying to accelerate?
@@fitchpaintingrepairllc9871 i just had it professionally cleaned last week as I thought that was the issue, it runs fine with no air filter on but then when I put one on it idles great but accelerating issues happen and spits and sputters and back fires and when I shut it off after it get nice and warm a flame shoots out the exhaust
@@anthonymatteson9499 sounds like it is running very rich. Does it have a smell of gas or is fuel dripping from the breather? Empty the fuel tank and check for contamination like water or rust. The float level could be set incorrectly. Professionally done doesn’t necessarily mean it was done correctly or there could be another issue