Abilene, TX

[ms14796]

Greetings and Salutations from Abilene, TX. Home of the largest wind farm in the US.
I have been back in the saddle now since I obtained my first POS 1981 Virago 750 in 2005. After 2 months and a lot of overhaulin, my wife and I took our first ride up Ogden canyon and over Trappers Loop in Utah the first week of October. Since then we have relocated to Abilene, and the Virago is gone.

In 2007 I replaced it with a lightly used C50T and rode to Biloxi, MS and back (1600miles). I knew I would eventually need a bigger bike for those long cruises so in 2009 I stumbled onto my current V-Star 1300T. Over the years I stripped the leather off and painted the bags, added a tour pack, Ultimate seats w/backrest, passenger foot rests and engine guard covers. Last August my brothers, both nephews and I rode the 1000 miles (one way) to Sturgis and back. I logged 3800 miles in 8 days due to a side trip to Emporia KS with younger bro.

Recently my brother-in-law decided to sell his 07 Nomad 1600 for a measly $6000. I flew down to Biloxi, MS in March and rode the bike back to Abilene in 55 degree weather. A bit chilly but doable.
How do I like the bike...it's different! Compared to my 1300 it's like going from a Porsche to a Buick. It took me a bit to figure out the difference until I compared the specs. 1300 has a short stroke engine and puts out 78hp and a butt load of torque. I can go from a standing start to 80 in second gear all while hanging on for dear life . The nomad on the other hand seems to think about it for a second before taking off and when the RPM.s come up it sounds like something is coming loose in the engine. At 57hp I can understand why... it just doesn't seem to have the grunt power of the V-star. Cruising is a different issue though. At highway speeds (75-80 in Texas) it's great; gas mileage not so much. I miss the 45-50 of the V.
So I like the V because it's stretched out, low to the ground and packs a wallop in town or on the road. On the other hand the Nomad is more sedate, smoother ride and the engine purrs along at highway speeds like...well like a Buick. I especially like the large saddle bags and the fact that I now have a fuel gauge so I can judge distances. Problem is I get the same mileage out of the 5 gallon tank I get out of the V's 4 gallon tank roughly 140miles before the light comes on.
As soon as I got the bike home I went on this forum and checked out all the mods. I already drilled out the baffle and then went right back and installed a custom baffle of my own making. I was getting a loud booming riding in town so I took a 12" piece of 1 3/4" exhaust pipe, drilled vent holes 6" up from one end (baffle), cut the pipe down so 1" was showing out the end, polished the tip and welded the pipe back into the exhaust. Now the bike has that deep rumble I was looking for without the booming. I took the steering head apart last weekend, re-greased the bearings and torqued the nut down to increase the damping on the steering. Now no more slop. I also cut new larger acrylic blades to replace the smaller stock wind deflectors.
I ordered a Harley knockoff King tour pack with lights which should be here on the 21st. In the meantime I'm ordering a set of 12" progressive shocks to lower the bike so I can get both feet flat on the ground. At 67" I am a wee bit short for the nomad where the V fits me fine. I already took the front forks down 5/8" on the tree so that the overall height will drop once I get the shocks mounted.

I'm a bit ambivalent about the bike...I think I was expecting more from it and was a bit disappointed which the actual results. I'm still trying to wrap my head around how a bike with a bigger engine can produce less power than my V that's 250ml smaller. I've been doing a lot of city riding to work to get used to the handling...torqueing the steering down really improved low speed handling. I think once I lower it an inch it will sit better for me especially with my wife on back. It does handle better in slow city riding around corners than the V. I have to slip the clutch a bit on the V to keep from lugging the engine whereas the Nomad just chugs along with no problem. I still like the ride and plan on keeping the bike as a long distance tourer while using my V for in-town daily work rider. Now if I could just figure out how to fit the 1300 engine into the frame of the Nomad...I'd have a Frankenstar!

Check out my rides on Facebook community page, https://www.facebook.com/pages/Texas...ation=timeline