Kawasaki vulcan won't shift into upper gears above neutral.

Find safe area w/o traffic. Reach 50 mph, then gently apply rear (only) brake and feel if shaking reduced through 45mph. Then it's rear wheel. Don't recommend trying this with front brake.

Hello,

Have a helper lift the rear wheel of the bicycle slightly off the ground.

2
Kneel beside the bike and turn the pedals slowly by hand. Using the shift lever, adjust the front derailleur so that it rests at about the midpoint of its movement range.

3
If the initial problem is that the chain won't shift onto the largest rear gear, locate the two small side-by-side adjustment screws on the rear derailleur. Turn the left (or upper) adjustment screw counterclockwise a quarter turn with a small Phillips screwdriver. If the initial problem is that the chain won't shift onto the smallest rear gear, skip to step 6.

4
Continue turning the pedals and shift through all the rear gears. If the chain will still not go onto the largest rear gear, shift the chain back down to the smallest rear gear. Turn the right (or lower) adjustment screw clockwise as far as possible before the chain begins to click or rattle.

5
Shift through the gears again to test. If necessary, turn the left (or upper) screw counterclockwise another quarter turn.

6
If the initial problem is that the chain won't shift onto the smallest rear gear, begin by turning the right (or lower) adjustment screw counterclockwise a quarter turn. Shift through the gears to test.

7
If the chain still won't go onto the smallest rear gear, shift the chain to the largest rear gear. Turn the left (or upper) adjustment screw clockwise as far as possible before the chain begins to click or rattle. Shift through all the gears to test.

8
Follow steps 1 through 7 for the front derailleur, which operates on exactly the same mechanism as the rear derailleur (you still lift the rear wheel in step 1). There are two side-by-side adjusting screws that control alignment.
If otherwise,
Tighten the high gear screw, the one that hits a cam when you shift to the smallest sprocket, until you can no longer shift into high gear. Put the shifter in high gear position and while turning the pedals, unscrew the high gear screw until the system engages high gear again. Shift between high gear and the second smallest several times, backing the screw out a little more, just until the derailleur shifts smoothly.

2. Tighten the low gear screw until you no longer get first gear. Repeat the process for this low gear limit - back the screw out just until the bike shifts smoothly from the second largest to the largest sprocket.

3. If you cannot engage high or low gear, or if the above technique does not work for high or low gear, the cable may be improperly adjusted.
Shift into high gear and push the shifter all the way to the end of its travel. Loosen the cable inner wire anchor bolt. That's the bolt with a hole through which the derailleur control wire is clamped. Pull the slack out of the wire, and retighten the anchor bolt.

If your bike has index shifting, you'll find an adjusting barrel either at the derailleur or the shifter. The adjusting barrel is a hollow screw at which the cable outer housing stops, but which the inner wire continues through. Fine adjust the cable tension by turning the adjusting barrel until the clicks on the shifter correspond with proper shifting at the derailleur.

If your bicycle does not engage high gear, or is slow to engage high gear, even though properly adjusted, the cable is probably the culprit. Replace the sticky or rusted cable, and the problem will usually go away.

If you have done everything right, but the bicycle does not shift reliably, the most common reason is that the chain and freewheel are too worn to work properly. If you replace one, you must replace both. A new chain on an old freewheel or visa versa usually skips, and the new part wears out very quickly.

Another possibility is a bent derailleur. The guide pulleys, those little wheels that take up the chain slack, must pivot on the same plane as the freewheel sprockets. Derailleurs become bent when the bike falls over on the right-hand side. Whenever you set a bicycle down, or put it in a car, set it on its left side to protect the derailleur. You can sometimes straighten out a bent derailleur by simply bending it back and readjusting the limit screws.


Hoping this will help to solve the problem, do take care....

The bike has a bent shift fork. The engine must come out then gets flipped upside down to remove the bottom half of the crankcase. This allows access to the gears and shift forks. The repair is not recommended for the home mechanic. Please rate my answer. Thanks.

Put the chain on the gears, loosen the back wheel at the axle and pull it back - that's how you take up the slack.

Either the tiny shift spring under the rear cover is broken or the shift linkage gear next to it is out of position. If this is the case there is no way to put the bike in neutral without removing the engine and taking off the rear cover to fix the shift linkage ( first gear lock up can happen if the shift gear pops out of place during reassembly. Always check your shifter is working correctly before bolting down the rear cover.).
If your only problem was a broken clutch cable you could shift the bike to neutral with the motor off and push it around on it's wheels. If the problem is inside the motor and it has to be moved right away put a furniture dolly under the rear wheel and keep a block of wood handy to place under the side stand to park the bike until it can be taken off the dolly.

check to see that lever isn't fouling anywhere on the way up, you may have to re-position the lever on the splines to sit lower

Rock the bike back and forth, to loosen the clutch plates taking the load off the gears so you can shift up.