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Noob needs some help!

2K views 17 replies 6 participants last post by  Windsma 
#1 ·
My Stepfather just suffered a stroke and i need to get his 90's 750 Vulcan running to sell.

It has been sitting for 10 years.
The tires are always up, the battery looks newer (on charge now)
Its VERY rusty around the speedo gagues and other places.
I know ill need to drain the gas etc..
Im not sure about draining the carb. Is there a How to/ DIY here for bringing it back to life.

I restore old chevy's but this is my first newer bike that i will be working on.

Please tell me what i need to do and what its worth.

i think the mileage is around 1800 miles. ( the white gauge dial is 1/10 of mile right?)

Pics when its a bit cleaner.
 
#2 · (Edited)
I'm sure others will be here to the rescue soon, I would drain the gas and there should be an outlet at the bottom of the carbs, put some fresh gas in along with seafoam. then I think before I cranked her I would drain about 2 quarts of oil out and put new in along with some seafoam in the oil. crank her a few times without starting it to get some oil on all the parts. if it does start let her warm up real good then do an oil and filter change.
I believe ol hoss has a link to ten things a new owner should do or you can find it in the verses. wait for a little more input from others here before you start it. 10 years is a long time.
 
#4 ·
while you have the tank off I think in the verses it will tell you how to clean and seal the tank, sounds like it could be some rust. fuel lines are a cheap and easy fix, mark them and take them to autozone and have them cut you some new ones to size, you probably dont want to use the old dry rotted one anyways.
there are many many members here including myself that use seafoam regularly, it helps clean the carbs and removes tarnish from your cylinders, especially as long as its been sitting.
not sure where everyone else is tonight, its beautiful, probably out riding! on a good night you would have 20 replies by now. I'm sure you will hear a lot more by tomorrow!

Too bad you are thinking of selling the bike, you could have a really good versatile bike and get 50 - 60 mph. pays for itself in no time.
as to its value, there is a kelly bluebook for bikes, just google it. as for the rusted guages, keep an eye on ebay for used parts, 1986-2006 the bike hardly changed at all so parts come up all the time pretty cheap, there is an ebay direct link to vulcan 750 parts towards the bottom of the forums!
 
#5 · (Edited)
Welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear of your stepfather`s stroke. There are a lot of good folks here willing to help out if they can. I will give you a couple of links to the Vulcan Verses. The first is just the table of contents: http://www.vn750.com/forum/verses.php
Clean rust from tank, and treat to prevent reoccurance of rust: http://www.vn750.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1153

Link to pics of carb in gallery: http://www.vn750.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11672
Look for the carb drain port and screws in the "Carb parts 101, properly labeled" series. Open and drain the carbs, then spray in enough carb cleaner to fill the bowls, close the screw and let soak for an hour. Drain and repeat a few times until you think all the crud and varnish is out.

Link to more pics you may find useful: http://www.vn750.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=962
http://www.vn750.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=962

Remove the petcock from the bottom of the tank to see how much rust, varnish and crud is in the tank and on the screen/filter of the petcock. There is no point incleaning the carbs, without cleaning the tank and replacing fuel lines before putting fuel back in them.

The petcock only allows fuel out when vacumn is applied to the center nipple, as when the engine is running. The two nipples on each end supply fuel to either the front or rear carb.

While you are doing all this, check the battery to see if it will still hold a charge. Probably not if it is ten years old. Try charging it at a LOW RATE of 1.4 amps (1/10 of the rated capacity of the batterys 14 amps). An automotive charger that doesn`t have a low setting, will overheat your battery plates, warp them and short out the cells internally. You may need a motorcycle specific charger or "tender".

If you need a new battery get a Maintenance Free - Absorbed Glass Mat type.
You are not going to want to ride on those ten year old tires, no matter how good they look. Dry rot and sidewall cracking will have made them unsafe.

I hope between wib`s posts and mine you have enough ideas to get started. lance will show up soon, and give you a more detailed plan of attack on your resurection of the Vulcan project. Good luck with everything.
 
#6 · (Edited)
Welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear of your stepfather`s stroke. There are a lot of good folks here willing to help out if they can. I will give you a couple of links to the Vulcan Verses. The first is just the table of contents: http://www.vn750.com/forum/verses.php

Clean rust from tank, and treat to prevent reoccurance of rust: http://www.vn750.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1153
Link to pics of carb in gallery: http://www.vn750.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11672
Look for the carb drain port and screws in the "Carb parts 101, properly labeled" series. Open and drain the carbs, then spray in enough carb cleaner to fill the bowls, close the screw and let soak for an hour. Drain and repeat a few times until you think all the crud and varnish is out.

Link to more pics you may find useful: http://www.vn750.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=962


Remove the petcock from the bottom of the tank to see how much rust, varnish and crud is in the tank and on the screen/filter of the petcock. There is no point incleaning the carbs, without cleaning the tank and replacing fuel lines before putting fuel back in them.

The petcock only allows fuel out when vacumn is applied to the center nipple, as when the engine is running. The two nipples on each end supply fuel to either the front or rear carb.

While you are doing all this, check the battery to see if it will still hold a charge. Probably not if it is ten years old. Try charging it at a LOW RATE of 1.4 amps (1/10 of the rated capacity of the batterys 14 amps). An automotive charger that doesn`t have a low setting, will overheat your battery plates, warp them and short out the cells internally. You may need a motorcycle specific charger or "tender".

If you need a new battery get a Maintenance Free - Absorbed Glass Mat type.

You are not going to want to ride on those ten year old tires, no matter how good they look. Dry rot and sidewall cracking will have made them unsafe.

I hope between wib`s posts and mine you have enough ideas to get started. lance will show up soon, and give you a more detailed plan of attack on your resurection of the Vulcan project. Good luck with everything.
 
#7 · (Edited)
Thank you that is very helpful.

I had the petcock/fuel selector out. It has the varnish effect on it, can i replace the screens? I took apart the petcock (pro not the best idea) but i wanted to make sure its clean. I figured the vacuum "pumped" the fuel, but i also thought gravity would drain the tank. The diaphragm looks fine but if i can replace it cheap i want to do it now.
The fuel lines are gonna be replaced.
The tank has small rust spots that i can see thru the cap. What should i do to "coat" it? I didnt see any rust flakes from the old fuel or around the petcock.
Ill try the seafoam.
The batt is gone, i tried the trickle charge and it has several dead cells.

Im a large guy and look kinda funny on this bike or i would keep it.

here is my old triumph (more my style)
 
#8 ·
#10 ·
For the rust around the gauges, use the 3M 320 grit (super fine) sanding sponges. When I first got my bike there was a lot of gunk in various places, either surface rust or some yellowing crap, and the 320 not only took it off, it left a good finish. THere **were** some spots where it scratched the finish, but overall it was great for removing the rust.
 
#11 ·
for little rust on chrome, a brilo or sos pad works best.
The rust on the rings has taken over. I will have to sand it down and painted black.


Under the tank there is a fuel sending unit. It has a nipple like a vent hose attached to it, but I dont see the hose?
 
#17 ·
for little rust on chrome, a brilo or sos pad works best.
The rust on the rings has taken over. I will have to sand it down and painted black.


Under the tank there is a fuel sending unit. It has a nipple like a vent hose attached to it, but I dont see the hose?[/QUOTE]

That nipple is for the carb vent hose. It "t" off from the carbs. In most cases that nipple is not used, the hose goes to the right side air filter.
 
#12 ·
Where is your bike located? I'm on the lookout for a project/parts bike so I can have one for 2 up riding and one to bob down to a mean solo scoot.

Maybe you can move it w/out the hassle of fixing it up?
 
#13 ·
Im in Greensboro NC.

I put a new battery in.. (Its weak so I put it on 2amp charge)
drained the carb bowl, which was empty, but did the carb cleaner flush.
Replaced the fuel and vac lines.
Put the tank back on.
My brother was beside me so......
I spun it over a few times to make sure the pistons were not locked up.
They are not, and i got a poof so compression sounds good.

Where should the oil level be to show full?

I still have a stupid question about the odometer
Its just hard for me to believe that he only drove this thing 1800 miles.
what does this say to you.. 1800 or 18,000
 
#14 ·
thats right 1849.1 or 1800 miles, sweeeeet.
on the shifter side of your bike towards the rear wheel you should see a little window (glass) that has the oil level mark, it should be just to the top of it, but not all the way, should be a mark there, I go just above it.
 
#15 ·
got any pics of the bike?
 
#16 ·
and what year exactly is this bike? if you dont have the title it should say on the sticker on the neck behind the headlight. mine is stamped 10-85 which makes it an 86. just curious.
 
#18 · (Edited)
I put everything back together
found the oil window (its clean and full)
flushed the carbs w/ the carb cleaner trick
choked it...
spun over about 5 times and
VROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!

very cool
I ran it for a min then shut it down.

I then noticed the carbs were leaking like crazy. Like the float was stuck or something.
Now that i know it runs good, ill take the carbs off and clean them.

This thing was very dirty when I first started, its been under a carport, near a lake, for 10 yrs w/o moving. The front tire is flat. The dirt was kind of a protective layer so the paint still looks awesome the rust is an issue and ill have to take care of it.


I only have a crappy camera phone but add a lil rust to this pic and its identical. Pretty sure its a 92
 
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