Clutch Slave Cylinder. Loose Screws Master Service and Bleed 2003 Kawasaki Vulcan 1600 Project

[@mykcullup]

So Kawi discontinued parts up to 2011. Got to find someone who can still get the parts. But i love mine, stripping it down and making some upgrades this winter.

[@coreybihl7488]

to open the bags without keys push down and towards u and the bags are flexible enough to open like that had to do it on my 02 vulcan with same bags

[@ronniec8038]

Good call on the brakes brother. Hope air in the line was the issue. Sounds like it, being intermittent. Yes! That little seal on the rod. lol. Don't remember what it's called. Man, this makes me miss my Vulcan. Great bikes. That weight, 800+ pounds, makes it a smooth ride on the highway. But you will feel the weight when trying to push it around. Looking forward to hearing this one run.

[@mcycleshawn]

Thanks for the info on this one. Happy to have you along for the ride! Hopefully we can fire it up soon!

[@Mustangg16]

Is there first bike that you have worked on?

[@mcycleshawn]

This is the first Kawasaki Vulcan 1600 I’ve had to repair

[@fitzstermoto]

I've never ridden the Kawasaki cruiser bikes but have heard great things about them! That clutch is looking pretty "clutch" ... (DOH!) ... LOL!!! Great video and looking forward to seeing this on the road! Have you taken it for a rip yet? BTW, when you were pumping the clutch lever while the slave cylinder was unbolted, I was like, "No, don't do it! It's under pressure and is going to pop/fly out lol!" Just be careful because the sides of those pistons are very sensitive to damage/scratches which can definitely cause issues or tear a seal down the road.

[@mcycleshawn]

I am hoping to NOT break down with this beast on the road! I’ll give it a good check before we go down the road. I wish I had caught the piston before it hit the ground!! 😂

[@pd8559]

Fuel Injection on motorcycles is kind of a lie. It’s not direct injection into the cylinder like with cars and instead is port injection into the manifold just like carburetors do. So you get none of the benefits that fuel injection brings to cars outside of the convenience of cold starts and you get all the problems of the extra sensors and computers when something goes wrong. They work great until you get a check engine light then you are kind of screwed you have to take it into a service center to get fixed for service fees. If you change the air intake or exhaust system and want to tune it you cannot, so you either pay hundreds to someone to reprogram it or spend hundreds on plug in pig tails to sit between the ECU/ECM to falsify some of the sensor data to force it to use a new map. And speaking of map there is nothing in your bike that’s been tuned for optimum performance. One single motorcycle somewhere in the world was tuned and the map for it created. Then a million copies were made and the map just copied into them. So they have somewhat good enough tuning for all the factory parts installed and bit removed for customization by owners yet. If you borrow the o2 sensor used in FI designs and just install a plug in your carbureted bikes exhaust and install the o2 sensor and hook it up to a meter you can quickly and perfectly dial in the tuning of any carbureted bike with any customizations you may have done to the air intake and filter to the exhaust system. And keep customizing to your hearts content, you can always dial your carb in to any new setups. But if the bike comes with it enjoy the FI system until it breaks. Suzuki for instance has a cheap plastic Idle Speed Controller on their “fuel injection system” carb body. Once that goes bad your entire bike is just about a write off. You can’t replace it with a new one because it’s factory married electronically to that FI unit. You have to spend over $400 to buy a custom computer to reset and re-marry the FI system and even then it usually does not work. Take it to suzuki dealers and $1,000 later they used their computer to reset and re-marry it and then you drive away and it still doesn’t work and you are stuck with the infamous idle problems of bad Suzuki fuel injection systems for life. Who wants to buy that bike from you after it gets into that state? 🤣 In a rethink some folks not all will see it might be better to go back to carburetors if the only other option is to have a dead motorcycle that not even the dealers can ressurect and fix.

[@ronniec8038]

@P D, yup, I agree. I don't like all the electronics on bikes. The stuff you mention is a nightmare. Damn.

[@fitzstermoto]

That model Suzuki sounds exactly like the 1992 Saab 9000 EFI - I'm a huge Saab fan (older ones) but the 1992 9000 Turbo model specifically came with an electronically controlled throttle body that has to be programmed and calibrated with the computer in the car. Because of this, you can't really get a used one if it fails and a new one is $1,500 then another $200-300 to have it paired and calibrated. Gotta LOVE technology ... LOL!

[@mcycleshawn]

So still to carbs as long as possible. Also try to stay away from fi Suzuki