Hi, need some help in trouble shooting my bike. The fan does not run when it gets hot, and it has been hot enough to run. Any recommendations, the fan does works, just will not come on. The parts are expensive and want to replace the part that is causing it. The bike is a 1996 Vulcan 800 Classic. Thanks for anyones help out there.

 

Welcome to KF. An easy test is to test your thermostat. By pass it, does the fan run? Then replace the stat if you know the fan runs.

 

Yep, It's usually the thermostat. It's on the back side of the radiator at the top right side.
It's got 1 wire on it. (there's actually 2 sensors there, but the inner, closer to the hose connection, is the warning lite sensor) Pull the connector off, and using an extra piece of wire, ground it to the "frame". The fan should come on. If it does, replace that sensor (also called the "fan switch") $30 to $50.

Now, if the fan didn't come on, try grounding in different spots on the frame, 3 or 4 times. If the fan still doesn't run, check the fuse. Inside the fuse panel cover, there's a list of what fuse does what. And never use a bigger fuse than you take out.