In Your Opinion Nomad vs Harley

[elvis]

Originally Posted by gcsteve

The guy I used to work with used to take a month off work and just ride by himself. It was before cell phones and internet. He would ride, stop stay in motel get six pack, wake up and ride some more. I don't even think he brought a camera.

my kind of guy, but I enjoy seeing my wife on my rear view mirror and taking photos.

[manban9888]

Originally Posted by elvis

my kind of guy, but I enjoy seeing my wife on my rear view mirror and taking photos.

I'm the same way. If I'm on one of my bikes I'm happy but love feeling my woman snuggled up on me on a long ride. Harley, Victory, Nomad, blah, blah,blah....pick one and ride and you can't go wrong. My 08 Nomad and 98 1500a are perfect for me so when the time comes I'll give Kawasaki the 1st and long look. There's a really good chance I'll be on another Nomad but I KNOW I'll be on 2 wheels w a smile on my face

[glwilson]

Strangely enough... the bike I miss the most was my Vulcan 500. I bought it from my secretary with 175 miles on it -- so I could just mess around on the backroads.

Sold it for a song... needed more room in the garage.

Now I miss it. It was a high-rev motor on a small frame that you could literally just throw around like a toy (compared to a bagger) -- an absolute riot for no more than it cost. I would take that bike over a Sportster any day.

Some days I just wish I could hop on it again because it was so easy to do. No lugging around a 900 lb. bike for a short ride.

By the way... it was the best bike I ever owned as far as reliability. Never once had a problem with it -- however going more than a few hundred miles was a killer.

[blowndodge]

Originally Posted by schoeney

I think we all "get it", pay more you get more.

I agree the 1700 line is lacking but what is worth the 8k difference to get an HD? Not enough IMHO.

Victory or Honda appears to have more to justify the price difference. Of course you need to compare similar models.

Throw Dave's experience in, other's like him, the Consumer Report's survey, and I think you just don't maximize value with an HD, nor do you get the best bike.

But the question was Nomad or Harley. Give me the Nomad and $8,000 !

Schoeney that's exactly it. I could afford a 45K sedan. I'd rather have a 32K sedan. I drive a car to go to work, stay out of the rain, take loved one's or family on a vacation. I don't need what a 45K offers to get the job done.

However I ride a motorcycle to "live." Motorcycling is a "hobby" I enjoy. It's that ideology that allows me to justify spending 8K more on my victory. It's the interactive process with the iron horse to keeps me alive at heart.

When I got into golf in high school I used store bought $89 clubs and that was good enough at the time. As I became better and better and made the college team the cost of custom fitted clubs went through the roof! My game had become good enough ( +1) that I needed the precision that swing weight, flex point, counter balanced grips and size and shaft flex allowed me to fine tune my game. My hobby of playing golf at that level required it.

Motorcycle, to some of us, have the same "fine tune requirement" as well when it comes to our motorcycles. To take longer and longer trips in comfort we decided to spend the money. Like Greg said we still remember our past bikes with fondness!

[ivan]

I think Harley makes great bikes. They greatly improved their quality and have features that most other brands simply don't offer.
Personally I could not find a Harley with enough leg room to feel comfortable. My Nomad had the most leg room of all bikes I sat on back in 2006. This is the main reason I bought it. I had to raise the seat height to be able to ride it anyway.
Last year I sat on my friends Kawa KLR-650 and fell in love with it. I would have never believed I would buy a bike like that but there is one in my garage now. It's extremely comfortable and handles great. My Nomad feels like a school bus after riding the KLR. So the Nomad hardly gets used anymore unless my wife wants to ride with me.
It's not the brand that matters but the bike itself. You need to feel comfortable riding it. If Harley feels that way then get one! Life is short, might as well enjoy it.

[ndbigfish]

Originally Posted by IntheWind

What struck me the most about these bikes was how cheap (tacky) the Nomad appeared to be compared to the Harleys. Not only are the Nomad bags downright ugly (which I know is a matter of opinion), but the amount of plastic (fake chrome) was embarrassing. I can't speak about comfort or performance because I didn't take any of these models for a ride, but I can say that I wouldn't even bother to take the Nomad for a ride. The Harleys may be overpriced (and I think they are) but the Kawi 1700 line is outclassed by HD by a long shot.

Kawi took a nosedive in 2009. One could make a very strong case that the '08 Nomad was easily comparable to (if not better than) an '08 Road King. Not so in 2013. In the last 5 years as the Harley touring models got better (better frames, bigger engines, oil coolers...), the Kawi Vulcan seems to have gone the route of the K-Mart special.

Bikes change. Harley is not what it used to be, and unfortunately neither is Kawasaki.
_________
IntheWind
'08 Nomad

Finally someone said what I was thinking. The change on the 1700s has me looking at other bikes for my next purchase. Check the lid of a 1700 Nomad/Voyager bag against the lid of an HD sometime. 40 or 45 percent of the storage is in the lid and flimsy; Wow! The trunk is no better. Check the quality of the chrome and paint. Personally I think Kawasaki tried to make an improvement with the Vaquero and offer something different, all be it suspiously similar to a Street Glide. I don't know what happened with the other models. I didn't care for the 1600 but I will not be an owner of a 1700. There is no comparison of fit and finish when compared against a HD. Kawasaki paints its bikes like "How about something with silver". Kawasaki should be able to look at the bikes on this forum and the light bulb should come on about what the market segment is after. I guess it is the difference in business models as there is no HD Heavy Industries. I have checked the Wing, but I'm just not ready to leave a twin yet, but 118 bhp is the siren's song. Victory may be the way out or maybe I'll just keep saving my allowance and hope my 03 will last like Quinton Grubbs. Rant over - thanks.

[mcmscott]

New member so forgive any thing I have to say
However I ride a 07 nomad, rode it from coast to coast and back by myself, great bike. I have customized it somewhat to my likings, if I believed the HD was worth that much more I would have bought that.
With that said, the whole "Harley" mentality is nothing more than horse sh....
Had a couple of die hard Harlyites checking out my nomad. Both saying it was a very nice bike, but the batwing fairing I have does not compare to an original HD part. Exept they both were looking at a genuine HD part.
My point is, HD is a great bike, so is Kawi, Yamaha ect, Don't buy into you have to have what other people say you have to have

[Loafer]

mcmscott, skip over to the new members thread and intro yourself.

Tell us where you are from, where you like to ride. Thanks Gerry

[cnc]

Originally Posted by blowndodge

Schoeney that's exactly it. I could afford a 45K sedan. I'd rather have a 32K sedan. I drive a car to go to work, stay out of the rain, take loved one's or family on a vacation. I don't need what a 45K offers to get the job done.

However I ride a motorcycle to "live." Motorcycling is a "hobby" I enjoy. It's that ideology that allows me to justify spending 8K more on my victory. It's the interactive process with the iron horse to keeps me alive at heart.

When I got into golf in high school I used store bought $89 clubs and that was good enough at the time. As I became better and better and made the college team the cost of custom fitted clubs went through the roof! My game had become good enough ( +1) that I needed the precision that swing weight, flex point, counter balanced grips and size and shaft flex allowed me to fine tune my game. My hobby of playing golf at that level required it.

Motorcycle, to some of us, have the same "fine tune requirement" as well when it comes to our motorcycles. To take longer and longer trips in comfort we decided to spend the money. Like Greg said we still remember our past bikes with fondness!

Man I'm proud of you Brad, you used that phrase in a serious post.

[blowndodge]

My pills are kicking in Norm!

[psychocycle]

Loved my 2002 "Blondie" and have also loved every bike I ever owned but change is good! I have always loved the ride of the HD Road Glide so when the time came for a change it was a Road Glide. In 2012 I put on 20,000 km in less than 3 months. A couple of 1,200 km days, I never could ride that many kilometers (in comfort) on my Nomad. There are a lot of great bikes out there, I hope to have a chance to enjoy as many as possible. Enjoy your ride and keep an open mind.

[elvis]

Originally Posted by psychocycle

....when the time came for a change it was a Road Glide. In 2012 I put on 20,000 km in less than 3 months. A couple of 1,200 km days, .....

Now that's very impressive. Many would cover 20K km in 2 years or so, did you live on the bike during those 3 months?

[psychocycle]

Originally Posted by elvis

did you live on the bike during those 3 months?

Haaha, no but with such a short riding season, as soon as June appears on the calendar, it is time for the first long road trip. 2012 was an excellent trip down through New Mexico, 8 States and 9,000 km's in 14 days. Got back home and decided to ride to Toronto, Ontario and go riding with my brother for a couple of days (attached picture). Went to Toronto through Canada and back home through the States, another total of 9,000 kms. Since the Toronto ride was on my own schedule I put in some long days in the saddle. Then add in some one/two day trips into BC and before you know - 20,000 kms. This year will probably be similar.

[elvis]

Originally Posted by psychocycle

2012 was an excellent trip down through New Mexico, 8 States and 9,000 km's in 14 days....

Wow, those are some good looking tourers, I assume the Road Glide Ultra* is yours. We also did a 9,000 km trip to NM in 2012 which was great.

Hope this year will be similar for you. For ourselves, I'm keeping my fingers crossed, hope to get lucky again....

* I went back and forth between an Electra Glide Classic and a Road Glide Ultra, and purchased the former.

[IntheWind]

Originally Posted by psychocycle

Haaha, no but with such a short riding season, as soon as June appears on the calendar, it is time for the first long road trip. 2012 was an excellent trip down through New Mexico, 8 States and 9,000 km's in 14 days. Got back home and decided to ride to Toronto, Ontario and go riding with my brother for a couple of days (attached picture). Went to Toronto through Canada and back home through the States, another total of 9,000 kms. Since the Toronto ride was on my own schedule I put in some long days in the saddle. Then add in some one/two day trips into BC and before you know - 20,000 kms. This year will probably be similar.

Is the Road Glide more comfortable than the Street Glide? Does a fixed fairing make that much difference?
_______
IntheWind
'08 Nomad