Hi, I am new to this group and hope I'm not asking questions that have already been asked. If I am I am sorry and would appreciate where to find the answers. Well a friend of mine has an 04 or 05 Vulcan 800, he wants it a little louder without changing the factory exhaust so I said about punching holes in the baffles like I did on my 06' Sportster but he said the mufflers are welded fast?? I dont know because I didnt really get to look at it closely. Can it be done?? Secondly the bike is all stock and he put a K&N filter on it to see if that would stop the popping in the carb and he said it made it worse. I told him he needs to drill out the plate that covers the air/fuel mixture screw and turn it about a half a turn because from factory I am told they are only turned out about 1/4 of a turn but he wont let me do it until he hears something from someone who has done it. He was going to take it to our local Kawasaki dealer but after having two new tires put on and they let the jack down before the front wheel was out and smashed the front fender while he was standing there and he got home and the rear axle nut was hanging there by about 3 threads, he doesnt care for our local shop. Not saying all dealers are like this but he would like some input from someone who has been there and done that!! Not that I blame him. I have been to many Honda, Suzuki and now Harley forums with the bikes I've had and found that people on hear have either done it, had it done or know an easier way of doing it. I GREATLY appreciate any suggestions or feedback you may have whether good or bad.
Thank You in advance!
Jake in Pa.

 

Welcome to the forums....

I don't know why you wouldn't be able to knock some holes in the baffles???? I am not sure tho...

You are right about the AF screw adjustments on the carbs. They usually do not come adjusted very well from the factory, and they should be adjusted to help with elevation changes, etc...

I bet somebody on here knows better than I tho....

GL enjoy your stay....

 

The "popping " on the VN800 is caused by a LEAN air/fuel mixture when starting a cold engine. An engine which has sat ovrnite or out in real cold air temp. The CVK G2000 single barrel carb has a brass plug covering the A/F mixture screw.
The KHI factory setting is typically 1 1/2 turns open (especially California models) and this causes LEAN mixture with cold start backfiring.
Remove the air filter assembly. With a small mirror look up under the carb. See the brass plug. Get a 90 degree angle drill ( if you dont want to pull the carb) and drill a 1/8' hole thru the THIN brass plug cover. Use a WOOD screw and pliers to pull the brass plug cover down & out. LOOK !
There is the A/F screw. Count the turns to close in to stop. Then back out 3 full turns. Replace Air filter assembly. The bike now runs slightly richer.
This ALSO helps to stop the problem of inner exhaust pipe cracking at the top exhaust flange (Yep check it out) caused by extra-lean exhaust temp.