Exhaust sound powercommand? Need opinions

[Kaiser81]

Well, I'm back. Cleaned throtitle body. Was pretty dirty. Plugs looked good but I adjusted fuel, mid, and throttle just to tinker around. Bike does seem more responsive now. But still doesn't sound right and still has that high poppy sputtering sound. Grrr

[cnc]

Can you post a video with sound of the bike running, revving a little and backing off?

[DragonLady58]

What CNC said! Also, have you removed the exhaust system recently? How long has it been doing this popping sound? Something recent?

[Kaiser81]

Plugs look good. The exhaust was off the other yr when I swapped my pipes with my dad's to compare. Ive had the bike for 3 yrs. Always kinda sounded like that. The red flag was when I was hearing other vulcans soundid a lot different and better than mine.

[DragonLady58]

OK, when you installed your exhaust back on, did you use new exhaust gaskets? Also, did you put a extra washer under the acorn nuts that tighten the flange down to the heads?

[Kaiser81]

No I did not. Baskets looked in good shape. But I guess that doesn't mean they could be bad.

[rolfe]

Not having a FI 1500 but was interested in your question.

I did search the internet and located this and just do a google search and type.

"causes of backfire Kawasaki Vulcan forum"

then look at the date and you should see Aug 20 1012

click on it and then look for Chi-Rider and his reply.

Very Interesting Reading

Keep us posted

Originally Posted by Kaiser81

Hi everyone! Need some feedback. Bought my 1500fi a few yrs back. Really didnt notice it till I was riding next to my buddy's 1500 and my dad's 1600. My bike doesn't have that low thump sound. It's more like the oposite end. It's like a higher POP POP POP loud lawnmower sound even when I downshift. The guy I bought it from had put on a PowerCommand3 on it along with V&H straightshots and a K&N breather. He said a shop did all the installs. Along with that, the bike does want to start hard. Hangs up about half crank sometimes. Good starter and new battery. Any thoughts? Do I need to have the bike re-tuned and or dyno? Would be nice if it had that nice thump like my dad's and buddys. Bike runs fine. Gas mileage could be better and the throttle responsee is OK once it warms up. Thanks all!

[Kaiser81]

Will do

[DragonLady58]

Also, we need some additional info, has coasters been installed and the smog shit taken off and disabled? To help us diagnose your problem, its best for us to have too much information, than not enough....

[Kaiser81]

Hi everyone. Sorry for the delay. Cleaned out throttle body. DEFINATELY needed it. Bike seems alot more responsive. Changed the settings on my Powercammader3 also, that may have helped. It was running a bit lean. I fooled around with it. Put the fuel at the 3/4ish mark. The bike starts a lot better now so that's a plus. Tinkered with the mid and rpm settings. I think I was kind of guessing so I didn't move them too much. Bike has a faster idle now and bike sounds like an even fastee poppy sound. Especially the sputtery sound on decel. I was reading on another board about possible leaks behind the throttle body or intake? It would be good to also note my buddy picked up on it and I didnt notice. He thought it sounded like it was sucking air.

[DragonLady58]

Spray your intake manifold with some carb cleaner, while your engine is idling in neutral, if its leaking, it will go into a high idle....every place you spray and hit the vacuum leak, it will idle up. Use the carb cleaner with a straw on it.
I'm pretty sure the popping sound may be your exhaust gasket on one cylinder, possibly both....
Also, on alot of vulcans, just using the acorn nut on your exhaust flange, sometimes doesn't have enough travel to put the exhaust gasket inside enough to seal off. Sometimes, you have to put a washer or 2 under the acorn nut to make it seal off completely.....
I would go over the exhaust system really good, that rear cylinder pipe might even be cracked further down, if its been running lean for awhile....

[cnc]

Originally Posted by DragonLady58

Spray your intake manifold with some carb cleaner, if its leaking, it will go into a high idle....every place you spray and hit the vacuum leak, it will idle up. Use the carb cleaner with a straw on it.
I'm pretty sure the popping sound may be your exhaust gasket on one cylinder, possibly both....

I'm going to second that, leaking exhaust is my bet.

[Kaiser81]

Thanks. I'll try to check this weekend and see what kind of findings I get.

[Kaiser81]

Hi guys. Sorry about the long break. Winter having another kid. Been busy lol. You know how it is lol. Anyways, back to the problem at hand. Sprayed some carb cleaner around on the left side. And It bogged down the engine to where it almost cut out. What exactly does it do? Thoughts? Plus I still need to check exhaust gaskets since I had the exhaust off.

[VulcanE]

A couple of points/observations
1) I see your injectors are orange, is that the norm on 1500s? Cause on the 1600s (Classic & Nomad) they are blue, and on the Meanstreak they are orange.
2) this one is on the sound.............. I designed and made the first 4 sets of Ultimate Baffles, a set for me and 3 other sets for friends. All 4 bikes were 1600 Nomads with Vance & Hines exhaust, 3 of the bikes all sounded the same, and the other had a higher pitch to the exhaust note. The 3 that sounded the same were running a TFI fuel processor, and the other was running a PC III (power commander III). My bike has a Thunder/Stealth intake, and the other 2 that sounded like mine, one had the first Chuckster BAK, and the other had the Hypercharger. The one that sounded different had the Hypercharger.
So in conclusion, the only different sounding bike, had the PC III.
I'm interested in the injectors too.