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Hello All, New Nomad Owner Here

1K views 8 replies 6 participants last post by  patrickreed653 
#1 ·
Hello Everyone,

Just got back into the saddle and purchased a new to me 2005 Kawasaki Vulcan 1600 Nomad with just over 53,000 miles on her for $3,800. I'm rather new to the cruiser world and am coming from the Sport Touring world of bikes. My last bike was a 2003 Honda VFR 800. As much as I loved that bike, I am at the point in my life where speed is not the main thing that I am looking for now, I am wanting to sit back and enjoy the ride.

A good buddy of mine was trying to influence me to the Darkside with getting a Harley, but I just do not have the money to afford a Harley at this point in time. I was really drawn to the Nomad due to the similarities between it and the Harley Davidson Road King. My buddy had one and let me take it for a spin and I instantly fell in love, but again just could not justify the cost of what Harley's are going for today.

Looking forward to talking more and definitely learning more for all of you through the forum and with any help or issues that I have with the bike.

So far I am very happy with the purchase and looking forward to putting quite a few miles on her during the course of the upcoming riding season here in Wisconsin.
 
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#2 ·
Welcome from Kennesaw GA!

I test rode a Harley when I test rode my Voyager. I'll admit that the Harley was nicer, but it wasn't $10k nicer. Now that I'm not riding them back to back, I don't miss anything that the Harley offered. Good choice in my opinion.
 
#3 ·
Welcome to the forum from Atlantic Canada and congrats on the new ride. Love to see a pic. My dream bike was a Road Ling but like you, it wasn't really in the budget. I was looking for a Yamaha Road Star when I stumbled across the ad for my Nomad. I immediately loved the looks and after reading a few reviews I took the eight hour drive to look at it and it followed me home. I definitely made the right decision. This thing handles great, has plenty of power on the highway, and those hard bags were a very pleasant surprise at how much they can hold. Long story short - I'm not using this as a stepping stone to a RK. I'll be hoping to find another one, or possibly a Vaquero if I ever manage to wear this one out.
 
#4 ·
Welcome to the forum from North Carolina. Congratulations on your new ride. Post us a picture when you get a chance. Here is a link to the factory repair manual so you can become familiar with your new bike and what maintenance is required at your mileage. Thanks again for becoming a member of the forum. Be well and Ride Safely.

 
#5 ·
Thanks for the digital link for the Factory Service Manual Tourer! One of the first things I did was order a physical copy of this that I just recieved a fews days ago from Amazon, but having a digital copy is great to have as well. I appreciate it. Working on uploading pictures of the bike as we speak!
 
#6 · (Edited)
Here are some pictures of the bike. So from what I have researched I am now the third owner of this bike. Bike was originally titled in Connecticut, then found it's way over to Illinois for a few years and then was traded in to a local used motorcycle dealer in Southeastern WI. The previous owner actually wrote a letter that was included with the bike going over the maintenance and mods that he had done to the bike during his time of ownership which I thought was really awesome!

Here are a list of the Mods Done:

Vance & Hines Full Dual Exhaust System
K&N Air Filter
Power Commander III with recent tune on it last Spring
Barnett Carbon Fiber Race Clutch
Boss Audio MC400B Bluetooth Speaker System
Blue LED Lights under both Saddle Bags
Brand new NGK Plugs and Wireset
Newly installed Progressive Rear Shocks that replaced the original air suspension (less than 1,500 miles on rear shocks)
Less than 3 Year old Shinko 777 Tires Front and Back

Really was happy with the bike and how well it was taken care of. The letter also referenced the previous owner only ran conventional oil in the bike as well. I do plan to do some upgrades (LED Headlight and Driving Lights, LED Turn Signals, LED Tail Light, Driver Backrest, and possbily some version of a cruise control on the bike) here in the near future. As you can tell in the pictures either the original owner or previous owner put some God awful skull stickers on the front forks and rear fender which will also be coming off as well. I do have the original emblems and wasn't sure why they were removed, but I am looking into figuring how out to but them back on the tank as well. Otherwise, most of the mods that I would have wanted to do are already done.


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Sadly though, literally a day after riding the bike (I might have put 60 miles on her) I walked out the garage to hop on the bike to go for a ride and I found this :mad::mad::mad:

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As you guessed, both of my front fork seals are leaking. So back to the dealership I went with the bike and I am still waiting on it at this point. They also found that the upper and lower head bearings needed to be replaced and upon further inspection found out that the radiator was leaking as well.

I guess the bright side to all of this is that the dealer is covering the cost of parts and labor to take care of all of this considering that I only had the bike less than 48 hours for all of this to happen. I'm guessing with the age of the bike and the fact that these are all wear items that they were things I would have needed to go over and potentially take care of on my own, so while I am not thrilled that I haven't had the bike for almost 3 weeks now, I'm not complaining too much as they are fixing all of these items for free. I think my biggest gripe is that they are replacing the radiator with a used one they purchased off of Ebay. They claimed a new oem radiator is $500-$600 and the used one is only $170 and since they are doing the repair free of charge, its at their discretion what they choose to put on the bike.

For the time being I am going along with it, but I am definitely going to be talking with them about all of this when I do get the bike back, which if all goes well is suppose to be by middle of next week (Fingers Crossed) I will keep all of you posted as I find out new information, but overall I am still happy with the purchase and looking forward to putting many miles on this bike in the upcoming riding season.
 
#7 ·
Looks good. I agree about the decals. Some people like to debadge their bikes so I'm guessing that's why the tank emblems are missing. You can probably find some on eBay if you want to put them back.

When I got mine the front tire was badly scalloped and the price reflected that. The previous owner said it had a slight speed wobble at a certain speed which he attributed to the tire so I replaced it right away. That seemed to fix it - for a while. Then one day I took my hands off the bars at 50 mp/h and I was barely able to grab them again it was shaking so badly. So after some research the symptoms all pointed to steering head bearings although they seemed ok by trying to tug on the front wheel and letting the bars go side to side. I'd never done the repair before but I tore it apart and while the top one was rough, the bottom was badly pitted and rusted. Replaced them and that took care of the wobble.

Out for my first ride with a buddy a few days after the repair and at a stop he noticed red fluid running down one fork. Yup, fork seal leaking and someone had used transmission fluid instead of fork oil. So, I tore the front end apart again and learned how to change my fork seals. Neither were terrible jobs but if I could have someone do it for me for free I would happily let them...lol.

Its good that the dealer is doing these repairs without you having to fight for it. The parts aren't expensive but there is quite a bit of labor. A used radiator isn't ideal but look at it from his perspective. He's probably losing most his profit on the sale from doing the repairs so he's going to try to not go in the hole. I'd be hesitant to get a new one for mine at that price and would most likely get a used one too.

It's too bad it's in the shop so soon after you got it but once you get it back you're really going to love it. They are great bikes and all those upgrades will only improve upon that. I'm on my third year with mine and I'm still very happy with it. It's all the bike I will ever need. Enjoy!
 
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