Drifter question.

[Top Cat]

I know this is the Nomad garage but didn't know where to post this.
Is the plastic oil gear Nomad specific or did the Drifters of the same years have them also. If I'm correct the '99 and 2000 are the years they were in the Nomad.
Thinking of buying a 1500 drifter if I can find one reasonably priced.

[redjay]

Hi. I thought they were only in the 99 Nomads, could be wrong.

[recumbentbob]

I believe only the drifters have been immune as they had the steel gear put in them.

[audiogooroo]

Yep, steel gear went into all of the Drifters, and all of the Nomads starting in 2000. The 99 is the only Nomad that came with a plastic oil gear.

[Top Cat]

Thanks guys. So not even the 99 Drifters had the POG, correct?

[audiogooroo]

Originally Posted by Top Cat (TC)

Thanks guys. So not even the 99 Drifters had the POG, correct?

That is correct. For some reason, Kawasaki put the steel oil gear in the first year Drifters (99), but kept the plastic one in the Nomad. Go figure.

[Top Cat]

Thanks audio.

[rewindgy]

Except the 800 Drifter's - they had the POG.

[Jared]

Have you thought about adding a skirted fender to you nomad?

[Top Cat]

Not really Utah. That photoshop looks good but the real thing would need some cutouts for the disc brakes and I don't think that would look good. It would disrupt the flow of the fender.
I always liked the Drifter and need another bike to keep my Nomad and Cindy's Shadow company in the garage

[fish]

Originally Posted by Utah Motorcyclist

Have you thought about adding a skirted fender to you nomad?

that would be the best of both worlds :)
After seeing TCs fishtails I just knew he was a drifter man

[jobear]

Originally Posted by Top Cat (TC)

That photoshop looks good but the real thing would need some cutouts for the disc brakes and I don't think that would look good. It would disrupt the flow of the fender.

I made that concept picture, years ago using cut-n-paste in MS Paint, to see what my Nomad would look like if I installed a Drifter front-end onto my Nomad and repainted the bike in the black and grey paint theme. I did accomplish the swap but went a slightly different route of using a front-end from a from a 1500 Vulcan Classic, a Harley Road King headlight nacelle and a steel (Gilroy) Indian Fender.

If I were to add an Indian fender to a stock Nomad front-end, I do not think it would be too difficult for a body shop to mirror the left side of the fender (brake rotor clearance bulge and brake caliper cutout) for the right side of the fender as well. The new (Kings Mountain) Indian motorcycles have dual front disc brakes and they do offer front caliper covers as an option. I've installed a caliper cover to hide the brake caliper both times I've done this modification to my bike but will have the current caliper cover altered a bit, soon, to flow better with the skirted fender lines.

If you would like covers that bolt on without modification, I thought the Custom World International caliper cover worked quite well with the Indian fender. They make these covers in pairs for the Nomad. You can see one installed on the left side of the fender (with the previous front-end) in this picture of my bike parked on the beach in Daytona.



I have everything quick detachable, so I simply removed the Batwing fairing, engine guard chaps, driver's backrest, passenger seat and passenger backrest (taking the bike from full two-up, touring mode and putting it into solo seat, beach cruiser mode) for the photo op. Since installing the Harley Fatboy front-end, I still need to repaint the new front fender in the two tone, black and grey theme (like I had done with the previous Indian fender) but I've been holding off until I'm ready to repaint the entire bike. The Indian front fender I currently have on my bike is powder coated (wet black) until I get around to painting it and the bike :-)

[Top Cat]

Looks great jobear. I like the rubber fork gaiters too. Nice touch.