Drive train failure

[vvbluerider]

Beware Vulcan riders, the front drive pulley on my bike was destroyed, in turn destroying the output drive shaft, supposedly because the pulley nut became loose.

To replace the output shaft requires a full motor teardown. So much for riding with this much fixing!

If anyone else encounters this failure please advise.

[redjay]

It has been mentioned by others on the forum that have had this issue.

The pulley nut should be checked on a regular basis.

Try doing a search using the Search feature for threads about this issue.

[vvbluerider]

This warning is not issued in any service manual that I am aware of and I know of no other bagger on the market that requires riders to check the tightness of a front pulley wheel nut.

[redjay]

The 1300 Yamaha V Star has the same issue of the front drive pulley coming loose.

The same bike also has a rear wheel bearing failure issue that is not mentioned in the service manual.

Send a PM to gv550. He had the same issue as you on his Voyager.


http://www.vulcanbagger.com/forums/member.php?u=1286

http://www.vulcanbagger.com/forums/s...ion+issue+1700

[vvbluerider]

A rear wheel bearing failure is nothing to a major transmission drive shaft failure. A wheel bearing can be replaced in less than an hour whereas the spline failure on the output shaft is going to cause you some serious loss in ride time along with at least a $2,500 repair bill. Finding a shop to do the work is another major hassle as most dealears have no experience in cracking a crankcase on this model bike.

Kawasaki needs to offer remanufactured motors to customers who have this type of failure. One big plus of owning a Harly is they offer rebuilt motors.

[redjay]

I would suggest you find a used motor on Ebay or similar.
There are a couple of forum members that could rebuild your engine.

Racnray and Dragonlady. Racnray is in Florida I think.

Send them a PM ?

Where are you located ?

[mbarr10]

Originally Posted by redjay

I would suggest you find a used motor on Ebay or similar.
There are a couple of forum members that could rebuild your engine.

Racnray and Dragonlady. Racnray is in Florida I think.

Send them a PM ?

Where are you located ?

Yes Racnray is in Florida, sent him my 2nd gear on a total warrantee tranny rebuild to undercut it so it did not happen again.
Good guy to deal with. 5 stars on service and conversations.

Have you looked into an Extended Warrantee?? sometimes you can pull it off

[vvbluerider]

Thanks for your suggestions. I am going to tackle this rebuilt by myself since I live far away from any civilized metro areas. I did purchase a used motor on Ebay thinking I could avoid the ordeal of an entire engine teardown. The motor I received was a pre production engine and would not fit into my frame. So much for the easy road.

I couldn't believe these engines would be 'circulating' in the market. Another example of the mess you can get into looking for a simpler solution to a major problem.

Stuck riding my Harley FLHTCI with 98,000 miles that still has the original pulley and belt. I thought I would buy a Kawasaki to avoid all the fixing that I had to do on the Harley. Guess I win the fool's award!

[mbarr10]

Originally Posted by vvbluerider

Thanks for your suggestions. I am going to tackle this rebuilt by myself since I live far away from any civilized metro areas. I did purchase a used motor on Ebay thinking I could avoid the ordeal of an entire engine teardown. The motor I received was a pre production engine and would not fit into my frame. So much for the easy road.

I couldn't believe these engines would be 'circulating' in the market. Another example of the mess you can get into looking for a simpler solution to a major problem.

Stuck riding my Harley FLHTCI with 98,000 miles that still has the original pulley and belt. I thought I would buy a Kawasaki to avoid all the fixing that I had to do on the Harley. Guess I win the fool's award!

Sorry to hear about the issues. once you work thru them you should be good to go for sometime. Only reason I purchased the 1700 was the 1500 I had for 9 years and close to 50,000 miles only needed a temp sensor for the radiator fan. That was it in all those years and miles. 4.5 years with the 1700 and The tranny was my fault. Other than that an oil seal on one front fork Was it so far and 13,000 miles.

[Ponitail]

Welcome to my world! I have a 2013 Voyager I purchased new which now has over 67K on it. 10.7.20 I started hearing a grinding noise and couldn't get up to speed. My brother came and picked it up, took it to his house. Couple weeks later we tore into it and discovered the spline and pulley were stripped. Working around machinery my entire life and being a welder/machinist professionally for 18 years I say there is no way this should happen. My dad thinks that the output shaft may not have been heat treated properly. Anyway, I contacted a dealer. Sent him pics of the damage. He said he would contact Ma Kaw on my behalf. I was calling him monthly, trying to stay in contact but not hounding him. The last time we spoke, he claimed he was still waiting for a response from Ma Kaw. He claims they're having trouble getting parts to repair bikes that have been in their shop for six months, claims all this is covid related. BS. This is a dealership that has been in business for 45 years. However, I haven't spoken to the guy since January. He will not answer or return my calls anymore. Since I already missed out on about 2500 miles of riding last fall I purchased a used Street Glide and I love it. The Voyager is sitting at my brothers house. Someday I'll have to decide what to do with it. I've already done over 6K in mods and custom work and for what it's worth I don't really want to put any more money into it. My brother has the same bike, we bought them together the same day. He only has 25K on his and was offered 6500 on trade for another bike. Well, that sums up my rant. I wish you luck. Keep the rubber side down and ride on.

[gv550]

This is a well known problem with all belt drive Kawasaki bikes going back 15 years or more, and other brands.
With vn2000 models the shaft can be replaced without removing or disassembling the engine, vn900 and 1700 is complete disassemble.
The nut does not come loose, the cause is loss of preload due to the tab washer failure, and pulley begins to wobble and wear the splines away.
Although not listed as required maintenance, the pulley should be removed, splines and threads cleaned and lubed with molybdenum disulphide grease, new tab washer and torque the nut to spec. After my spline failure I did this maintenance annually and the bike went trouble free for an additional 500,000 kms and still going.
Do not ever reuse the tab washer, and don’t use locktite on the nut.

[ballbreaker]

So if I understand you correctly gv550 Kawasaki has had this well known problem for the last 15 years on the VN 900/1700 and the tab washer failure is the problem and Kawasaki has not mentioned the problem and has not recommended yearly maintenance on this problem or had a recall to fix this problem as well as the second gear failure. Good to know we have great dealer and customer service to help us out.

[gv550]

There was a recall (or maybe just a service bulletin) for vn2000 addressing spline failure.

[ballbreaker]

Good to know if you own a vn2000. After reading this whole thread I goggled it and could not believe the 900's with washer failure and totally stripped splines as well as the 1700's in classics, voyageur and like me the vaquero. My dealer still calls them bulletproof with no problems whatsoever. Go figger. Thanks for the info

[redjay]

Yamaha's with belt drive can have the same issue.