RoadVitals

2014 Kawasaki Vulcan 1700 Vaquero Owner Complaints

Reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers, shown in full

Data refreshed

Complaints on fileComplaints are reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers. NHTSA does not verify most reports before publishing them, and a complaint does not establish that a defect exists. Volume is influenced by how many of a vehicle were sold, how long it has been on the road, and how much attention an issue has received.
1
Latest Jul 4, 2016
Crash or fire reportedComplaints whose submitter recorded that a crash or a fire occurred. These are the reporter's own answers on the NHTSA form, not verified findings.
0
Filed in the last 12 monthsReports filed with NHTSA in the trailing 365 days. Recent volume reflects attention and vehicle age as much as anything else.
0
Reports on file since Jul 4, 2016

What this page shows

Our database holds 1 NHTSA owner-reported complaint for the 2014 Kawasaki Vulcan 1700 Vaquero. Each one is a report filed by an owner or driver and published by NHTSA without most of them being verified. A complaint is not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. Narratives are shown exactly as filed.

Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.

Complaints, most recent first

Showing 1–1 of 1

BrakesElectricalExterior lighting
Filed Jul 4, 2016

I EXPERIENCED A COMMONLY-REPORTED (SEE INTERNET OWNER GROUPS SUCH AS "REDDIT", "WWW.VULCANFORUMS.COM", "THE VULCAN BAGGER ASSOCIATION", ETC.) CRUISE CONTROL AND BRAKE LIGHT FAILURE DURING THE WARRANTY PERIOD. THE SWITCHES LOCATED UNDER THE VARIOUS CONTROLS OF THE MOTORCYCLE (CLUTCH, FRONT BRAKE, REAR BRAKE) ARE NOT SEALED AND IN INCLEMENT WEATHER CAN BECOME CORRODED AND FAIL. WHEN THESE SWITCHES FAIL, A NUMBER OF ISSUES ARE DESCRIBED BY OWNERS; SUCH AS CRUISE CONTROL FAILING TO DISENGAGE, CRUISE CONTROL FAILING TO ENGAGE, AND BRAKE LIGHTS NOT ILLUMINATING. THE LATTER WAS MY ISSUE. TWO SWITCHES HAD FAILED (CLUTCH AND FRONT BRAKE) AND A THIRD HAD BECOME DIRTY (REAR BRAKE) AFTER A RECENT TRIP. I DON'T KNOW HOW LONG THEY HAD FAILED; I ONLY NOTICED IT DURING A ROUTINE PRE-RIDE SAFETY INSPECTION, IN WHICH I NOTICED THAT THE BRAKE LIGHT WOULD NOT ILLUMINATE WHEN I APPLIED THE FRONT BRAKE. IN ADDITION TO ISSUES WITH CRUISE CONTROL FAILING TO DISENGAGE, THE GREATEST SAFETY ISSUE IS THAT DRIVERS BEHIND ME WON'T KNOW I'M APPLYING THE BRAKES. WHEN THESE SWITCHES FAIL, THEY FAIL WITHOUT ANY WARNING OR FEEDBACK TO THE RIDER, UNLESS THE RIDER EXPLICITLY CHECKS THE REAR TAIL-LIGHT FUNCTION AS I DID. I HAD THE VEHICLE REPAIRED, UNDER WARRANTY, AT JIM TRENARY MOTORSPORTS IN WASHINGTON, MO, WHICH INCLUDED REPLACING PART NUMBER 27010-1232 (FRONT BRAKE LIGHT / CRUISE CONTROL SWITCH), AND REPAIRING TWO OTHER PARTS (CLUTCH AND REAR BRAKE SWITCH). THE VEHICLE WAS STATIONARY WHEN I DISCOVERED THE PROBLEM, HOWEVER THE PROBLEM PERSISTED WHEN THE VEHICLE WAS IN MOTION. AS MENTIONED ABOVE, THIS ISSUE IS COMMONLY REPORTED ON ONLINE COMMUNITIES AND INTERNET MESSAGE BOARDS; MOST COMMONLY RELATED TO THE CRUISE CONTROL SYSTEM. HOWEVER, AS THE CRUISE AND TAIL-LIGHT SWITCHES SHARE A HOUSING AND ARE A COMMON PART NUMBER; THE ISSUE CAN BECOME A SAFETY ISSUE UNBENKNOWNST TO THE RIDER.

NHTSA ID
10882427
Incident
Jun 20, 2016
Mileage
6,500 mi

Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.

Data sources

Data on this page last refreshed .