Vulcan 900 Engine Problems

[ryanf@mac.com]

I have a 2006 Vulcan 900 with 800 miles. I have had an engine problem since I first purchased. My bike looses power, the engine is still running, but it feels like it is not getting any fuel. It will occur at differet gears, sometimes and high speeds, but mostly at lower speeds or after coming to a stop and beginning to take off again. I've taken it in twice and they keep blowing me off. They even got the problem to happen for the tech but just played with some wires. I still have the problem. Does anyone know about know issues like this? Thanks!

[Lobocop]

Ryan, if your bike is still on warranty, they have been able to duplicate the problem, but haven't fixed it or tried the process of elimination, I would be running that bike back in there and telling them to get it fixed.

[cruznut6]

Ryan

Make sure you keep the work invoice(s) showing the problem and what was done to fix the problem. Take it back again and demand to talk to the service manager or better yet, the dealership owner. Most states have a Lemon Law that protects the consumer. If they can't fix-it on the third try, tell him you'll contact your lawyer and will want a new replacement for yours. If you don't want to hassle with that dealership again, call around for an authorized Kawi dealer near you and see if a real professional shop can diagnose the problem. It sounds like an ECU problem, but could be as simple as contamination in the gas tank.Good luck!

[VulcanRev]

Were my 900 doing that, I'd demand a fix or a new bike, no run-around. Seems many folks have forgotten the customer-supplier relationship. You bought the bike to ride, not to sit at the dealers witrh their fingers up their nose wondering what to do! Start climbing up the ladder of the dealership to the owners, use letters, emails, Better Business Bureau, etc. As the customer we have lots of "tools" available to us to remedy that relationship I spoke of. Use them to your full advantage.
Sorry--had too many challenging visits with the dealers round here, that's why I bought my bike at a shop that is nealy 70 miles from here even though there are many other shops in the area.

[VRider]

Ryan,

I remember reading and article in Motorcycle Cruiser mag. where they did long term testing on a VN900. The test rider experienced a situation two different times where he said the engine dropped to one cylinder for a brief time and then just corrected itself. He had no explanation for it and the problem did not repeat itself.
I had a similar occurrence last summer where my VN900 did the same thing. I didn't realize what it was at the time, but it suddenly lost power (felt like the engine was bogging). The situation lasted for about 30 seconds, and then just went away. However, it was a bit unnerving since I was in some traffic and was totally unable to accelerate during the 'event'.
I suspect this was the same problem as experienced by the test rider at Motorcycle Cruiser.
Keep us posted on what happens in your case, and I would be interested to hear if anyone else has experienced this situation.
I have put 6,500 Km on my bike and this only happened the one time. Obviously, I hope it is also the LAST!