'07 Nomad 1600 - Maintenance/upgrades - results

[Caveman]

Hi guys/gals,

I've been enjoying my Nomad since buying it a month ago. Many of you have read my thread about the Iridium Spark Plugs:
http://www.vulcanbagger.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=41830

That prompted me to start a new thread describing the little things I'm doing & how I feel it affected performance & reliability.

To start, this is a 2007 Nomad 1600 with just over 27k miles when I bought it a month ago. The bike shop mechanics went through the bike, changed the oil, filter, etc. before sending it out the door. It ran fine when I picked it up. With that being said, I'm particular with the way my vehicles run. I like to spend money on items that will improve how it runs overall, including mileage and performance. I won't sacrifice reliability and mileage for performance gains. I also don't want to spend a ton of cash for little to no improvement.

The first thing I did was research on the different new plugs. It's been a while since I did my own wrenching. I decided on the NGK Iridium Spark Plugs as you'll see in my thread here:
http://www.vulcanbagger.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=41830

In the first month I put about 900 miles on the bike & the only thing that I did was run two tanks with Seafoam and change the plugs. The plugs alone made a significant difference. For me, it was money well spent. I will change the plugs every year, even though many people will say it's a waste of money. It's $28 for peace of mind.

Now that I'm in my second month & am very comfortable with the bike, here's what's next:

A few days ago I cleaned the throttle bodies. I used a combination of spray carb cleaner, clean shop rag, tooth brush, qtips and a little bit of Seafoam. They cleaned up nicely. There was mild to moderate buildup and was easily removed. It took about 45 minutes overall, as I took my time and cleaned it well. I also left the throttle wide open for about 10 minutes before I put the covers back on to make sure any remaining fluid dried up.

Results: Improved idle, even had to lower the idle speed a bit. It even sounds a little bit better. Overall performance feels about the same, possibly slightly better but it may just be my perception is a bit jaded since I know how clean it is now. I will likely do this twice per year since it's easy and very inexpensive.

Next up: K&N Air Filter, model KA-1603. It just came in & I'll be putting this on the bike later today. I'll report back with the results.