[sundance]

Had a disturbing thing happen last week. I was riding my '97 Vulcan 1500 Classic with wife on back, and was traveling approx 30mph, when I heard a racheting sound(akin to missed shift rattle), 2 loud clunks, and the the rear wheel locked up ! There I was, in the middle of the road, unable to budge the bike. The shift lever will move, but does not change anything. I have not yet looked at it, it's been raining & I have no garage. Has anyone out there heard of this happening? or have any suggestions/info they could share? This could have been alot uglier scene had I been going 65mph, as I had been just minutes before this happened.

 

[QKENUF4U]

bummer man, glad you where not going 65mph like you had been. would have been a bad scene :shock:
its not gonna be good news about the tranny, your gonna have to pull the motor (after your 100% positive its the tranny) and pull it apart till you find the problem or send it to a shop for the same.
not much you can do cause it happens.
good luck :wink:

 

[tnhunter]

before I tear into it I would disconnect the drive shaft and make sure that is not the problem.

 

[sundance]

Agree on the driveshaft, thanks. As I am only a minor league backyard mechanic w/out a manuel, and never messed with shaft drives before, what is the procedure for pulling the driveshaft. I will take it to the shop for the tranny work, but would like to pull the shaft so I can move the bike without a winch!!

Thanks

 

[QKENUF4U]

its really not as simple as that. you need a manual so you can look and see what needs done.
the easiest thing that i can think of for you is ........
remove rear wheel
pull entire hub/driveshaft off/out of bike
put RIM/TIRE ONLY back on bike with axle. it will atleast allow you to move the bike around.
good luck

 

[T-man]

Sundance: this is a major bummer. You got the bike home so I guess you can get it to some friends garage (you really need to be inside). AND, you need to jack up the rear wheel and remove it. Keep the bike on the front wheel and band the front brake so it will not move. You'll need to disconnect the rear exhaust pipe to allow removal of the rear brake mounting bracket (you do not have to disconnect the hydraulic line to the rear brake). Once you slide the drive axle out, you can move the wheel toward exhaust side and disengage the splined hub from the wheel.
Once you have the rear wheel off, you will have to remove the 4 fasteners holding the rear end gear unit - I believe the rear shock mount will need to be also disconnected. Once the rear end unit is off, check to see it is not the culprit (due to a jammed gear or bearing, etc.) If you still have to go further and remove the drive shaft, you will need to pull back the rubber cover over the forward part of the drive shaft and push in a small spring loaded pin that keeps the drive shaft from sliding out. Once you have the pin pushed in, the shaft should slide out and you should be able to remount the rear axle and wheel to roll the bike.
I may have left out some auxiliary removal item, but this is basically it.

T-man

 

[mediaq]

Transmission lockup

Before you do anything, take a look at this.

Safety recall # 97V233000

http://www.recall-warnings.com/auto-content-12419.html

Good luck.