Vulcan 500 LTD '07 starved gas issue?

[flw]

I have a '07 Kawasaki Vulcan 500 LTD and bought it new.

First the prestranded conditions:

1. Gas tank was about 1/3 full or more. It also had Seafoam put in when the tank was last fill completely. I used about 1 oz. per gallon of gas.

2. Engine was at normal operating temp (I had been riding about 30 miles non-stop when it began to act up).

3. No rain and outside air temp was in the low 70's. I was also ridding in the country side (farming area's)

4. The bike is a '07 and has just over 10k miles. Other than valve clearance check and cleaning of air filter, no engine work has been done to date. I'm the original owner as well.

What started happening after about 30 plus miles:

At 65 mph it started loosing egnine power (not electrical) until I had to pull over because the engine died. At first I burbed the gas tank (just in case) and tried to restart right away with no luck.

After about a minute of trying the above and the choke it did start.

After about a min and a mile down the road it did it again. This time I only waiting a minute and tried to restart. It didn't. So I put the choke back on and it started.

It died several more times and choking the engine and waiting just over a minute were the only two things that seemed to help start it.

Any helpful diagnostic ideas that I can try at home? I have general metric tools but am not a mechanic. Also any metric dealer is 45 miles away. I can't restart it that many times to get it to a real mechanic.

My initial thought was the gas filter but it seems too early for that and waiting 1 minute should make no difference. Would bad gas separate from the good, leaving the lighter (bad) gas on top?

Any ideas for the non mechanic rider?

[pchast]

How do you know the tank was 1/3 full. did you rely on the gauge that could become bad............

I got bad gas the last time I filled and had to change out the gas filter. Have you checked it?

[flw]

I know the gas volume by the trip odometer and I can see the gas in the tank.

What part of the ignition system could it be? Can that part work intermittently ?

[RhadamYgg]

I had an issue in a great beast of a car - 1980 Ford LTD - big 8 cylinder engine - stopped completely by a clogged fuel filter.

On the one hand it was terrible being stranded on the road.

On the other - at least it didn't cost me a few hundred dollars to fix.

Still annoying though. Never had an issue like that on my modern Honda cars I've owned. Not sure if modern bikes would still have that significant of an issue with fuel quality.

RhadamYgg

[pchast]

Hi,

Look, I'm no mechanic either. I've worked on MG's that I've partially restored to drive and can tell you from that. When its an electric wire or connector, the problem can be intermittent. But this sounds like its likely a fuel problem. Have you just changed anything?

You talked about a problem that happened once. Its been a couple of days. Has it happened again the same way or have you left it parked? It doesn't seem like a carb. could hold 30 miles worth of gas in its float bowl.

If it just doesn't restart and run for more than a minute for you I'm tempted to say that you need to start taking the fuel system apart. But first, Change that filter even if it looks still clean.

Now, is there gas through it?

Then pull a plug wire and try to see if you get a spark against the engine casing when attempting to start. You may need a dark area to see the spark. Don't hold the wire with your fingers. Then you will have more direction about where to start tracing things back...

Let us know how you do.
Luck,
Pete

[flw]

The bike has been parked the past two days. Due to time issues.

I have drained the float bowls and both were ran clean.

Today I was going to unplug and replug every connector I can find and use some contact cleaner as well.

Any ignition connections that are difficult to see that I might miss? (Kawasaki Vulcan 500 LTD 2007 10K miles.

Thanks for you input. Dan

[Tennif Shoe]

water in the gas?, vaccum on petcock may be cracked?, spark plugs? kinked fuel line? bad fuel line? pull petcock see if it clean (may have trash in tank)? hmmmm just thinking outloud here

[flw]

So far I've done the following and gone on 3 trips of 20, 40 and over 60 miles with no repeats issues since that fateful day.

Drained both carb bowls.

Fill tank with two gallons of new fuel from another station.

Rmoved seat and tank, uplugging and replugging every electrical connection I could find. I also used contact cleaner.

I guess I just have to hope it has been "fixed" but my faith is shakey though since I still have no real idea what is was. Yet is did happen 3 times on the same ride each incident about 1 or more miles apart.

Here's to Hope....

[Gunslinger]

Sounds like you fixed it and it didn't cost you a bunch of money which is nice.

Another thing to check if it happens again is the kickstand switch. If the switch is defective it will close (open?) the circuit and not allow the bike to start. The connector is located on the frame near the radiator. Make sure you have a good connection there.

I'm not aware of a fuel filter on the Vulcan unless they are referring to the petcock filter screen. I think that would definitely cause the problems you describe.

[flw]

I didi cycle the kick stand switch many time with no effect either way.

I have thought about disabling the switch all together as its more of a problem then a real help.