Engine Swap

[AFBubbleChaser]

Has anyone looked into swapping in an actual 500 Ninja in? If I'm understanding what Kawasaki did correctly then it should be an almost direct swap. Then we'd have the ex500 rpm's, torque and Hp. Thoughts?

[Triangles]

It is possible but you would want to use the stator cover (left side engine cover) from your Vulcan 500 as it supports the clutch lever. You would also have to swap out the ignition module depending on what years of engine you are swapping. IIRC the ignitor's are not compatible with the different pickups on the different flywheels. Besides the cosmetic differences the only difference between the two engines is the ninja has longer duration cams and higher compression pistons. Ok and I forgot slightly different flywheels due to ignition timing differences.

The Vulcan engine is tuned for more low end torque at the expense of total HP and higher revving. For a measly extra 10hp or 20hp depending on which vulcan you have, I would think a ninja 650 transplant would be more worth the effort although more challenging due to EFI.

By the way the first gen EN500A has the same pistons as the ninja, only the cam's were different. This engine has about 50HP. The second Generation EN500C has about 40HP with even milder cams and slightly lower compression pistons.

Swapping in cams, flywheel and ignition module will have you pretty darn close to a ninja engine without having to swap. If you've got the EN500A just swapping the cams would have you 99% there. If you need more information I have plenty and can be more detailed.