'07 Nomad 1600 - Maintenance/upgrades - results

[HappyHoovy]

Originally Posted by Caveman

I figured it was time to revive this thread, as I've done more work on the bike this year. I've been able to ride quite a bit over the last 6 months, riding out to San Diego, another ride to Laughlin and even one up to Ely, NV.

Since the last updates, here are some of the things I've done:

- Swapped out the front wheel for the 18" HD Street Glide wheel (see the thread on that if you're interested.. Very nice upgrade. I love the look and the ride is great.

- Scrapped the Shinko tires and put on Commander II's. Great decision.. This is a much better tire. The Shinko's are still fine for the price, but ride feel of the Commanders is more to my liking.

- Installed a Baron's Big Air Kit and removed all of the reed valves, emissions crap, etc. GREAT upgrade. I already had a right side air cleaner on the stock intake, which was great, but the Baron's is a noticeable improvement over that setup. Love it.

- Installed cam chain extenders... Man, that was way easier that it looks. I did them at 37k miles on the bike & the extenders were all the way out.

- Did a complete drop of the swing arm & drive shaft, Lubed everything, shimmed the swing arm (there was a lot of play).. BIG improvement in the handling.

- Almost forgot to mention: the two tubes at the back end of the tank that used to connect to the separator/emissions crap, are now just connected together instead of being capped off. Surprisingly, the nagging pressure build up issue in the tank is gone! I rode earlier in the week in 100 degree weather, stop and start, for a good part of the day. No issues.

- Installed new Cobra True Duals Billet Tip.. Looks & sounds great. Got a great deal on eBay.

I'm glad that you like the Baron Big Air Kit. I just ordered one for my 2002 Vulcan 1500 Nomad FI today. What style did you get? Is it much louder than the stock air intake? I ordered the "V twin 90 c.i." style (model # BA 2070-11). http://www.phatperformanceparts.com/...ba-2070-11.htm

Do you have any installation tips? What setup do you have on the left side of your bike?

Thanks,
Jon

[Caveman]

Hey Jon,

I picked up the black one & have the Chuckster's decorative plate on the left side - photos below. You will hear the whoosh of air as the engine gulps instead of gasping like it did with the stock setup. The Baron's kit removes all of the emissions crap & the bike will sound better overall.

When you Dremel the crossover tube, take your time & it'll be easy.
The coaster plates are a breeze to install as well. I used new gaskets, though I heard many have reused the old ones without any issue. I'm old school, so I like new gaskets and a little gasket shellac.

Originally Posted by HappyHoovy

I'm glad that you like the Baron Big Air Kit. I just ordered one for my 2002 Vulcan 1500 Nomad FI today. What style did you get? Is it much louder than the stock air intake? I ordered the "V twin 90 c.i." style (model # BA 2070-11). http://www.phatperformanceparts.com/...ba-2070-11.htm

Do you have any installation tips? What setup do you have on the left side of your bike?

Thanks,
Jon

[HappyHoovy]

Originally Posted by Caveman

Hey Jon,

I picked up the black one & have the Chuckster's decorative plate on the left side - photos below. You will hear the whoosh of air as the engine gulps instead of gasping like it did with the stock setup. The Baron's kit removes all of the emissions crap & the bike will sound better overall.

When you Dremel the crossover tube, take your time & it'll be easy.
The coaster plates are a breeze to install as well. I used new gaskets, though I heard many have reused the old ones without any issue. I'm old school, so I like new gaskets and a little gasket shellac.

Thanks Caveman, I love the look of your Chucksters decorative plate!

[Jim1955]

A ton of great info Caveman, appreciate it. No mechanic here but will follow in your footsteps with the plugs, oil, filters and cleaning of throttle body.

[Caveman]

I'm glad the info is helpful.. It's a great bike and worth the effort.

Originally Posted by Jim1955

A ton of great info Caveman, appreciate it. No mechanic here but will follow in your footsteps with the plugs, oil, filters and cleaning of throttle body.

[blowndodge]

I'd be careful about how much your torquing that steering head bearing. It's not designed to be torqued so tight that it acts like a steering dampener. Those bearings don't take the load in that direction well. They're for side to side load and not clamping load.

[Jim1955]

On the steering stem bearing nut adjustment issue, would a symptom of needing this be added vibration on the footboard? I've noticed this in the last few weeks and was wondering if these two things are related?

[redjay]

How old are your tires ?

[Jim1955]

I bought the bike two months ago, it's a 2007 with 5500 miles, had it checked out by a kawasaki dealer, original tires said they were in great shape, no need to worry about them. I only noticed the vibration recently, thought these bigger bikes were all like that.

[recumbentbob]

Your tires are at least 9 years old and need to be replaced because of age.
I wouldn't ride on 9 year old tires.

Sent from my ASUS_Z00TD using Tapatalk

[hammer]

New rubber time.

[Jim1955]

I appreciate the advise and understand the reasoning, I asked the same about the tires when I bought the bike, but was assured they were still good tires but............. My question is are the comments solely because of the age of the tires, or will replacing them stop the vibrations I think I feel on the foot boards?

[recumbentbob]

I posted my reply to replace tires based on age.
The dealer looked at the tread and did not look at the date code on the tire. Or take into fact they were the original tires.
Makes me wonder about that dealer.

Those tires are old and probably dry rotting inside.
If you have a tread separation or blowout at 60 MPH life will get very interesting very fast.

Also with such low miles on a 9 year old bike it sat a lot and one or both tires may have a slight flat spot in them.

Besides the safety factor new tires may eliminate the vibration you feel.

[JD Hog]

Because of the age of the tires alone I would change them. That may or may not solve your problem but for your safety that is money well spent. The cost of an accident because of tire failure will be far higher than the cost of new tires.

Try new tires and see if your problem is fixed, if not you will not have wasted your money on them as they should be changed regardless.

[Jim1955]

Taking the advise, looking into costs now. Hopefully this will solve my vibration issue, increase my knowledge, and possibly save my life. Again thanks, this is why I looked into a forum like this before I bought the bike.