1997 Kawasaki Vulcan 1500 Recalls

No recalls on record Updated July 2026

No NHTSA recalls on record for the 1997 Kawasaki Vulcan 1500. That means NHTSA has no open safety campaign for this vehicle — it does not guarantee the absence of problems. Owners have filed 8 complaints with NHTSA, most often about the power train. Last updated July 5, 2026.

Complaints by component

POWER TRAIN:MANUAL TRANSMISSION
2
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
2
ENGINE
1
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE
1
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:GASOLINE
1
SUSPENSION:FRONT
1
Total complaints8

What owners report

Verbatim reports filed with NHTSA, lightly edited for readability and with personal information removed.

“Https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?p=kawasaki+vulcan+plastic+oil+pump+gear&fr=yhs-att-att_001&type=att_pc_homerun_portal_bucket_anim_nogl&hsimp=yhs-att_001&hspart=att&ei=utf-8 kawaski motorcycles have a plastic oil pump drive gear that strips and causes the motor to seize whil driving. No recall.…”

ENGINE · reported 2020-03-30

“Tl* the contact owns a 1997 kawaski vulcan 1500 motorcycle. The contact stated that whenever he shifted into second gear, the vehicle would slip out of gear. The dealer was contacted who stated there was a recall undder nhtsa campaign id number: 97v233000 (power train: manual transmission) but the…”

POWER TRAIN:MANUAL TRANSMISSION · reported 2011-04-12

“Dt: the contact owns a 1997 kawasaki vulcan. He states that nhtsa recall campaign 97v233000 concerning manual transmission was issued. The consumer called kawasaki and they stated his motorcycle was not included in the recall due to vin, although the vehicle was having the same problem as stated…”

POWER TRAIN:MANUAL TRANSMISSION · reported 2005-03-22

“Oil light came on while warming motorcyckle up, contacted dealer by phone. Dealer asked type motorcycle year and milage after being told the information I was informed kawasaki used a plastic gear in oil pump and failure happen around that mileage. Dealer charged me $384 and took 9weeks to repair.…”

UNKNOWN OR OTHER · reported 2002-05-25

“Oil light came on while warming motorcyckle up, contacted dealer by phone. Dealer asked type motorcycle year and milage after being told the information I was informed kawasaki used a plastic gear in oil pump and failure happen around that mileage. Dealer charged me $384 and took 9weeks to repair.…”

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE · reported 2002-05-25

“Plastic gears in oil pump of 1500 vulacn..... The motorcycle doesn't work. Kawasaki said will not replace without estimate. At 69.00$ a page... *jb”

UNKNOWN OR OTHER · reported 2000-10-27

“Loud noise, missing nut bolt on the left front spindle/axle *ak”

SUSPENSION:FRONT · reported 1997-04-02

“When driving the motorcycle stalls and backfires. Owner has been told by the dealer that there was a recall and that the parts are on back order. *ak”

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:GASOLINE
Sources & methodology

Recall, complaint, and investigation records from official NHTSA datasets (FLAT_RCL, FLAT_CMPL, FLAT_INV), synced weekly. Counts reflect NHTSA records for the 1997 Kawasaki Vulcan 1500 as of July 5, 2026. Complaint narratives are consumer-submitted and unverified. This page contains ads and affiliate links. Full methodology.