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the 1500 vulcan time bomb , do you have one?

7510 Views 10 Replies 8 Participants Last post by  RichLockyer
Hello to all riders who have a plastic oil pump gear ,would anyone know the % of failures for this gear problem ?, Apparently the reason it fails is the CLUTCH SPRING TABS extend through the bottom of the clutch basket ... and make contact with the plastic gear , keeping it from rotating ,, causing it to strip the teeth ..... Anyone know if the tabs extend through the clutch basket from clutch wear ? maybe some preventive maintenance will safe the trouble of splitting the motor to change gear to metal
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That is not correct.
The clutch spring is on the opposite side of the basket.
The clutch plates extend slightly, but are on the perimeter... the POG is completely behind the basket.
The only thing that extends out the back of the outer housing are the actual coil springs that make up the slipper part of the assembly.

If what you are saying were true, then there would also be problems with the factory metal oil gear, those that had the POG and were repaired by the dealer, or those that have done the JOG (Judge's Oil Gear) mod as a preventative repair before the POG fails (and I highly advise doing that).
The JOG mod can be done without splitting the case.
+1
It is not QUITE being treated as a recall campaign, but it's going further than a TSB (which would not be free out of warranty), and they are doing the modification for free after failure.
The problem is, if you have any additional damage (which is likely) they will not repair that for free, so immediate shutdown on failure is imperative.
These are all carb'd bikes, so there's no ECU to kill the system on an "oil light"... if you're watching, listening when it happens, you'll be fine, if not, $$$$.

The JOG can be done with the engine in the frame, bike on the sidestand... it's just a few steps further than a clutch replacement (maybe not a bad idea to change 'em while you're in there, the Barnett kit is "only" about $120 and BTK will ship you a Meanstreak spring for around $30).

The factory/dealer mod requires splitting the case, either before or after failure.
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On getting in touch with Judge, be patient. He spends a lot of time on the road and is very slow at returning emails.

Sadly, a partner who machined parts for the oil gear and clutch washers was killed in a house fire almost a year ago, but he was not the only source... just the one that was easiest to get in touch with.
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