VN900/LT Delphi - Knowledge Base

Recommended Front Tire: Tire : D404 TT | Size : 130/90-16 | PSI/Loaded : 34 [Click for Info]

Recommended Rear Tire: Tire : D404 TT ^** | Size : 180/70-15 | PSI Rear/Loaded : 38

O.E. Replacement Front Tire: Tire : D404 TT | Size : 130/90-16 | PSI/Loaded : 34 [Click for Info]

Thanks to Mike, VN900LT, we found this article regarding proper tire pressure from Dunlop, maker of the standard tire originally stocked on the VN900.

Follow pressure recommendations shown on the Dunlop Motorcycle Tire Application Guide. Contact Dunlop if year and model are not shown on the current guide and the owner's manual does not list pressure settings for Dunlop tires.

Keep in mind that hard cornering, passengers, heavy loads and sustained high speeds will require higher pressures (up to that indicated on the sidewall).

CHECKING TIRE PRESSURES IS THE MOST IMPORTANT TIRE MAINTENANCE FUNCTION YOU CAN PERFORM.

For high-speed, fully loaded or dual-riding touring motorcycle applications, inflate front tires to maximum recommended by vehicle manufacturer for Dunlop fitment and rear tires to maximum load inflation pressure on sidewall. Rear touring tires must be inflated to a minimum of 36 psi for light to medium loads and 40 psi for dual riding and other loads. Never exceed maximum load indicated on tire sidewall or vehicle capacity load found in owner's manual.

Under inflated tires can result in imprecise cornering, higher running temperatures, irregular tread wear at the edge of the contact patch, fatigue cracking, overstressing and eventual failure of the tire carcass.

Over inflating tires does not increase load carrying capacity, but will result in a hard ride and accelerated tire wear in the center of the contact patch.

Check cold tire pressure frequently with a good quality gauge that holds a reading, and always before extended trips.

Loss of pressure may occur due to worn out or badly seated valve cores. Check valve cores. If necessary, tighten for correct seating, or remove and replace them. A metal or hard plastic valve cap with an inner gasket should be used and installed finger tight to protect the valve core from dust, moisture and to help maintain a positive air seal.

Repeated loss of inflation pressure may result from undetected tire damage. Visually inspect tires for punctures, cuts, abrasions, cracks, bulges, blisters or knots. It will be necessary to dismount the tire to complete an inspection for internal damage and any need for repair. See the Tire Repair section. Only certain punctures in the tread area may be repaired, and only if no other damage is present.

Tires with non-repairable damage must not be used again. Damage caused by impacts, penetrations or continued under inflated/overloaded use is progressive and can result in sudden and complete tire failure and accident.

Always seek expert inspection of the dismounted tire following curb, chuckhole or other impacts, evidence of penetration beyond the tire surface, bulges or low pressure. Do not continue riding on such tires.

Inspect your tires frequently for damage and always heed warning signs such as vibration, handling instability, rubbing or tire noise that occurs during operation of the motorcycle.

Lowers

Ok folks here is the scoop on the Memphis shade lowers. They do work as is but! I even used one of my stock nomad lowers and re drilled out the holes to fit the M/S brackets and compared them side by side on the bike. They both looked good but the M/S looks like it sat out a little wider and would provide better coverage. Being that said my old NOMAD LOWERS ARE thinner and I thought for sure they wouldn't hit the crash bar but they did. Ever so little but they did. As a matter of fact the M/S do hit the new cobra engine guards as well. Here is what I did. I just moved them (rotated) them forward and just below the turn signals. I kept turning the bars back and forth readjusting the lowers till they would just miss the engine guards and then I locked them down. Do they line right up with the shield no but they don't look bad either heck no!.

The only thing I'm running into is you have to relocate your horn on your engine guard when you install the guards right! So the small bolt that is tightening the lowers to the forks on the left side hits it when you turn the bike off and let the forks turn left ALL the way. What I figured out is if you reuse the old horn bracket and take two washers and a bolt it to the engine guard it will move the horn over to the other side so problem solved. Very easy!

The big test was the wife riding it to test it. She always says there is to much wind coming from under the shield that would whip her long hair around even with a helmet on. So we just get back from a test ride and she says problem solved. No more noise, wind buffeting, she say it calmed right down even at 75 MPH, said it was great. Whew made the little lady happy. So well worth the effort.

Tachometer

Here is the scoop on getting a tach for the 900s (this information is gathered from other sources).

Like the Vulcan 2000, and the Suzuki C50 Boulevard, the 900 is equipped with a single-fire ignition system ...meaning that it only fires on the exhaust stroke opposed to dual-fire systems that fire on both the compression and exhaust stroke. Apparently, most tachs are for the dual-fire systems and putting those on a single-fire system will only read only half of the rpms.

Baron makes an adapter that *might* work (it supposedly does for the VN2000) with any of their tachs.

Can't say I've heard of anyone trying it yet on the 900 ...but that should be what you need.

Risers

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Belt Tension

__________________
Vulcan Mojoman~*~*~*

Step by Step - How adjust the tension on the VN900 Belt Drive:

The following was provided by Mike (vn900lt) from the Yahoo! VN900 Forum -

Vn900 Drive Belt adjustment

Disclaimer: A certain technical ability is needed to perform this repair. (lefty-loosey, righty-tighty). Do not perform this repair if you are not able to loosen or tighten things properly. I can not be held responsible if your rear wheel passes you on your way to work….lol, Mike, VA

Tools needed or recommended: Wrenches, 22mm, 27mm, 2x14mm, 10mm, and 12mm.

A pair of needle nose pliers and a pair of regular pliers.

An extension to connect to your 27mm to get some leverage.

A flashlight (unless it’s very bright in your garage or outside)

A Hammer (always good to have a hammer…..use may vary)

A cup of coffee if done early in the morning, “Brain” are you awake yet?

1) Start by securing your bike. Both wheels on the ground, side stand out and transmission in 1^st gear! Do not jack your bike up for this! To wobbly and not necessary.

2) If you have the LT or saddle bags remove the bag on the right side (throttle side)…Not absolutely needed but makes access, adjustment and visibility much easier.

3) Find the rear axle nut (27mm). It has a cotter pin going through it to secure the nut to the axle. The cotter pin is bent apart and needs to be straightened and compressed to be removed. It is recommended to replace the pin but is not absolutely necessary if you can straighten it without breaking it.

4) Remove the cotter pin and put it in a safe place. Loosen the 27mm nut with a wrench and an extension as needed. It may be necessary to hold the axle with the 22mm wrench from the left side (clutch side) while loosening or tightening to keep it from spinning. Do not remove the nut completely; just loosen it where you can turn it by hand.

5) Behind the axle nut (towards the rear) you are going to see the belt tensioner, one on each side of the motorcycle. Look at them closely to understand what you are going to be doing. The axle goes through the belt tensioner on both sides and the tensioner is guided through the swing arm at the rear and tightened or loosened by the pair of double stacked 14mm nuts. The nut that touches the swing arm tightens or loosens the belt. The second nut gets counter tightened against the first nut to secure the adjustment. The adjuster has a notch on top that lines up with notches in rear swing arm. Make sure to note your starting point!

6) Locate and understand all the components before you proceed.

7) Start by loosening both outer 14mm nuts. Use both wrenches and break the nuts apart. Loosen the outer nuts 5 or 6 turns away from the inner nuts. Loosen the inner nuts 1 turn on both sides. Sit on you bike and push down on it (flex rear swing arm) this is going to assure that the rear moves slightly. Get of you bike and check the belt tension. I adjusted my belt to have a 25mm deflection. I checked it by looking at the little cutout window in the lower belt cover. Pulling the belt down it should move to the bottom of the window. Pushing it up it should move to the top of the window. Some effort should be required.

8) Should this be “your” desired tension we can start tightening things back up. If you are using different specifications continue to make adjustments until you are satisfied!

9) Counter tighten the two 14mm nuts on both sides (make sure not to move the inner nut since this will change your adjustment!!!

10) Move your bike forward 10ft and back again. Now check how the belt is riding. It should be riding against the outside of the sprocket. If it doesn’t you will have to tighten the right side (throttle side) and loosen the left side (clutch side) slightly!! That adjustment will turn the wheel so very slightly to the right and cause the belt to ride towards the outside of the sprocket. (Note: this is a very minor adjustment, do it in very little increments). Recheck the belt alignment by moving your bike back and forth. Repeat this process until proper belt alignment is achieved awhile keeping an eye on your overall belt tension. It is preferable to have the belt a little looser as it tightens up when you sit on the bike. (If somebody can assist you by sitting on the bike it will give you a better end result). Again counter tighten the 14mm nuts when the adjustment is complete. Perform a final check. Move your bike, check alignment and tension.

11) Tighten the axle. Make sure it’s tight because the brake caliper is attached to the rear axle. The caliper will shift forwards and backwards with a loud “clonk” when backing up and moving forwards and applying the brake. (trust me…..:) when tightening the axle nut make sure that on it’s final turn it aligns with the whole in the axle so that the cotter pin that you removed at the beginning and put in a safe place (remember?) can be reinserted. Make sure to spread the cotter pin after you reinstall it so it doesn’t fall out.

There is very little room between the axle nut and the stock muffler. Go easy not to scratch up your muffler……


Adjustment Markings for Drive Belt	14mm Nuts Counter Tightened	Left Side Assembly 22mm needed	Metal Splint, remove before loosening	Right side 27mm wrench needed	Little cut out window, 25mm top to bottom	Belt needs to ride outside of sprocket

Thanks again, Mike (VN900LT)

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Spark Plugs

From: SilentShot at http://www.KawasakiMotorcycles.org

If you are looking for Spark Plug for VN900, this may help you.

The service manual said NGK CPR7EA-9. When I look for it, practically nobody has it. Dealer needs to requested and others not found it, but if you ask for NGK 3091, guess what?, you get it. It happened to me, the last store I visited, ran the extra mile, call for support and found it. They ordered because is not a stock item, but they got it early next day, for my surprise the box said NGK3091 and under that # it said CPR7EA-9.

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Oil Change

Here are some instructions for those of you that want to try and change the oil yourself on your new Vulcan 900. You can save yourself a little money and give yourself confidence to work on your own bike. Plus it gives you the satisfaction of knowing you did it yourself and it’s done right.

I did skip one thing on this oil change and that was taking out the oil screen to clean it. I had no need to do that since it was done last time at the 600-mile dealership service. The dealership stated it was clean. When I do the oil change next time I will add that step to the instructions then. It is recommended to be done at least every other oil change and very important for the first few oil changes to get debris out of the crankcase.

This oil change was done at the 2300-mile mark. We are switching to fully synthetic this time for our own reasons. There is a lot of debate about oil so I just want to say for argument purposes this is what I like to do when I change from regular oil to fully synthetic oil.

Make sure to replace the crush washer with every oil change. I do that just to be safe to know it won’t leak. For a part that costs about $1.99, you can’t go wrong. You can see the washer in this picture between the bolt and the bottom of the pan. Now allow the oil to drain into your oil pan while you perform the rest of this procedure.

Put a little oil on the oil filter (black o’ring) to lube it up and pour a little oil inside the filter. This helps when taking it back off on your next oil change. Tighten the new filter back on as tight as you can by hand. Then take your oil wrench (or whatever tool you’re using) and turn it ¼ turn more to make sure it’s on snug. Do not over tighten. Now just put everything back on as you took it off. Now put the DRAIN PLUG BACK IN.

Now it’s time to add oil. Find the oil fill hole on the left side of bike. Start adding your oil. I used just about 3-1/2 quarts of oil to fill it to the right spot. Put the oil filler plug back in and fire up the bike. Let it idle for a few minutes. Then turn the bike off. Level your bike. You may need a second person to get it level to check it or tie the bike down in an upright position. If you try and check it on the kick stand it will be way way short of oil when riding it. Now look at the oil sight glass (left side bottom of motor) to see and make sure it’s at the right level between the marks on the sight glass sides. You can see the marks in the picture. Try to keep the oil between those marks.

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Exhaust

The following article was submitted by Mike, forum member VN900LT. His objective being to improve the sound of his bike by modifying his stock set of pipes.

Disclaimer: Your exhaust system is a noise canceling emission control device. Modification such as drilling, cutting and the removal of any components from your exhaust system is unlawful in most jurisdictions and therefore at your own risk!

Your exhaust system will be damaged if you decide to modify your exhaust based on the following description!

Intent: I want a louder exhaust system that sounds more like it’s connected to a V-Twin engine then a Volkswagen Bug engine!

Since acceptable sound pitch and volume levels are in the ear of the beholder I have broken this into 3 steps.

The first step adds very little noise but gives the exhaust a throatier sound under acceleration.

Take a 7/8” Bi-metal Hole Saw; mount it with a pilot drill to a 1 ft extension and electric drill. Insert the hole saw into the 1” pipe (the baffle) protruding the rear of your muffler until you feel resistance. Start drilling at slow speeds until the screen is cut. The pilot drill will assure that the hole saw stays centered and it catches the screen that you are cutting.

The second step is the more labor and skill intensive level that also requires a few more tools.

Drill out the 3 Rivets that hold the black oval cover plate to the baffles, remove cover plates

Take your “Dremel” equipped with a cut-off wheel and remove the back section of the cover plate mounting support. This is needed to gain access to the area where the baffle will be cut.

Take your reciprocating saw equipped with a by-metal blade and insert it between the muffler and the baffle; cut the baffle as shown

Caution: This is not an easy cut! You want to stay close to the slash cut of your muffler but you do not want to touch your muffler with the blade or with the saw. I used a small piece of 2x4 as a spacer between the saw and the muffler. This will keep the saw away from the muffler, stabilize the saw and keep the blade from hitting the inside of the muffler wall. (There is no picture of this balancing act – sorry)

Not hard to take the tank off and it gets easier after you do it once. I'll make a list per the service manual (with a few tips from me):

4. Remove the plastichrome speedo cover (push forward fairly gently...there are two grommets holding it) and disconnect the meter connector, fuel level sensor connector, and breather hose.

8. Look under the left side of the tank and you'll see an orange plastic joint lock. Put a flat head screwdriver under it and gently turn the screwdriver to pop it off the fuel hose joint.

9. Pull the fuel hose to the rear to disconnect it. (there was just a bit of gas in the hose but you might want to have a rag handy to wipe up any gas spilled)

10. Remove the tank (I always set the tank on the ground with wood holding up the front and back of the tank so any fuel pump parts don't rest on the floor)

That should do it. Just reverse the directions to re-install it. There's no problem if the tank is pretty full as long as you know that it'll be fairly heavy. No need to empty the tank. Actually, a buddy of mine removed his tank when it was empty and he wasn't expecting it to be so light so he dropped it! Custom painted tank in a Star Wars theme. Ouch!