2015 Kawasakis

[landman]

Originally Posted by ponch

And the H2, no? Looks like Kawasaki will have something to show this year.

yes THE h2,a new versy,an updated W800 and some sort of new 250 c.c. bike.
I am hearing that the concourse will be a substantial change as the fjr did
manage to steal some market share although the concourse still outsold it by
a 3 to 1 margin.

[johnberryus]

This weekend in San Mateo, CA and the factory reps confirmed that the Nomad is NO MORE!!!
The Vaquero is the replacement and the wife fell in love with the new Vulcan S 650, enough so that we may be buying one and she is begging to get back in the saddle on my Sporty to get some practice in. I have not seen her this excited about riding since her major accident in 08.

[redjay]

I am not really surprised they dropped the Nomad. I dont think they sold many 1700 Nomads compared to Vaquero and Voyager sales. I think they should drop the Vaquero name and call it a Nomad !

[johnberryus]

Originally Posted by redjay

I am not really surprised they dropped the Nomad. I dont think they sold many 1700 Nomads compared to Vaquero and Voyager sales. I think they should drop the Vaquero name and call it a Nomad !

I like that idea.

[ponch]

Originally Posted by redjay

I am not really surprised they dropped the Nomad. I dont think they sold many 1700 Nomads compared to Vaquero and Voyager sales. I think they should drop the Vaquero name and call it a Nomad !

Kawasaki made some expensive mistakes and continues to do so. Like I said earlier in this thread, it's like they are in contraction with the Vulcan brand may be managing it out of existence. The big 4 sell more bikes overseas anyway and smaller ones at that. With the baby boomers starting to go away, may be they see their fortunes in smaller sportier bikes for the millenials and other markets. Even so, they haven't kept up with some of their other bikes too, like the C14, which is due for an update. Today's market is very fast changing and keeping the same model untouched for years doesn't work so well anymore. Even the supercharged ninja os a bit of a yawn.

[redjay]

I think Kawasaki tried hard to get a new large cruiser to the market and came close to it with the Voyager and Vaquero. What do a lot of people do to their Nomads, add a fairing and a trunk. The Voyager had that.
The issues with the 1500-1600 Vulcan driveline are documented. Kawasaki went with a belt on the 1700's. There were complaints about that. The guy with the highest mileage 1700 (402,000kms and counting) has not had to do cam chain extenders, bevel gear drive, cam plug leaks, driveline universal joint, final drive leaks or add a fuel processor to cure pinging.

I think the biggest complaint when the Voyagers came out were that they did not have Nomad bags. Then there was the complaint that there was too much plastic on the 1700's, a lot of people did not like the belt drive and on and on it went. The "heat issue" also deterred some potential buyers. Where better to find the problems with a new model than on a forum ? This forum also probably deterred some potential buyers.

Having owned an 05 Nomad and a 2010 Voyager I know which was the better bike, for me.

The biggest detractors of the 1700's are the people who never owned one and base their opinions on them from a brief test ride, no test ride at all, or what they have read on a forum.

I enjoyed every one of the 25,000 kms I put on my Voyager. I only sold it because it was getting too heavy for me.

[johnberryus]

Originally Posted by ponch

Kawasaki made some expensive mistakes and continues to do so. Like I said earlier in this thread, it's like they are in contraction with the Vulcan brand may be managing it out of existence. The big 4 sell more bikes overseas anyway and smaller ones at that. With the baby boomers starting to go away, may be they see their fortunes in smaller sportier bikes for the millenials and other markets. Even so, they haven't kept up with some of their other bikes too, like the C14, which is due for an update. Today's market is very fast changing and keeping the same model untouched for years doesn't work so well anymore. Even the supercharged ninja os a bit of a yawn.

Agreed, all of the Vulcan models were very unimpressive (with the exception of my wife absolutely excited about the Vulcan S, which comes stock with dealer adjustable ergonomics to fit riders better and @ 498lbs. is a dream for her to handle), the line up is pretty much unchanged and sitting in between the Honda's, the BMW's, and the Harley's left a lot to be desired.

[ponch]

Originally Posted by redjay

I think Kawasaki tried hard to get a new large cruiser to the market and came close to it with the Voyager and Vaquero. What do a lot of people do to their Nomads, add a fairing and a trunk. The Voyager had that.
The issues with the Nomad driveline are documented. Kawasaki went with a belt on the 1700's. There were complaints about that. The guy with the highest mileage 1700 (402,000kms and counting) has not had to do cam chain extenders, bevel gear drive, cam plug leaks, driveline universal joint, final drive leaks or add a fuel processor to cure pinging.

I think the biggest complaint when the Voyagers came out were that they did not have Nomad bags. Then there was the complaint that there was too much plastic on the 1700's,
a lot of people did not like the belt drive and on and on it went. The "heat issue" also deterred some potential buyers. Where better to find the problems with a new model than on a forum ? This forum also probably deterred some potential buyers.

Having owned an 05 Nomad and a 2010 Voyager I know which was the better bike, for me.

The biggest detractors of the 1700's are the people who never owned one and base their opinions on them from a brief test ride, no test ride at all, or what they have read on a forum.

I enjoyed every one of the 25,000 kms I put on my Voyager. I only sold it because it was getting too heavy for me.

There's nothing mechanically wrong with the voyager, but the expectations when getting into that class of bike go up as well did the price over time. If you compare fit, finish and construction of the voyager with other touring bikes, there is a lot left to be desired. IMO, the voyager should have been based on the C14, not a vulcan, but that's me. On top of that, I have no idea where they got their design cues from. The John Hoover vulcans were classic looking.

[ponch]

Originally Posted by johnberryus

Agreed, all of the Vulcan models were very unimpressive (with the exception of my wife absolutely excited about the Vulcan S, which comes stock with dealer adjustable ergonomics to fit riders better and @ 498lbs. is a dream for her to handle), the line up is pretty much unchanged and sitting in between the Honda's, the BMW's, and the Harley's left a lot to be desired.

I am partial here with BMWs. The problems with them though is that they tend to be tall. Taller than cruisers, but they aren't cruisers. The other thing is cost. They are going to be more expensive than a lot of other bikes. The R1200R and R Nine T weigh about the same, but offer a lot more. Cost more too. An F700GS might be another choice, it's cheaper, but the other boxers, one water cooled and one not, have a lot more character. It all depends on what you want and what you can spend.

[johnberryus]

Originally Posted by ponch

I am partial here with BMWs. The problems with them though is that they tend to be tall. Taller than cruisers, but they aren't cruisers. The other thing is cost. They are going to be more expensive than a lot of other bikes. The R1200R and R Nine T weigh about the same, but offer a lot more. Cost more too. An F700GS might be another choice, it's cheaper, but the other boxers, one water cooled and one not, have a lot more character. It all depends on what you want and what you can spend.

I am totally digging the BMW's, however the wife says they are not as comfortable for her, her favorites so far are the Goldwing and the Harley Ultra.

[ponch]

Originally Posted by johnberryus

I am totally digging the BMW's, however the wife says they are not as comfortable for her, her favorites so far are the Goldwing and the Harley Ultra.

For a touring bike, that's a different story. If I rode two up a lot, I would get a Victory Cross Country or may be a Limited. If I was to get a new bike now for myself, the new RT would be on the list, so would a Victory CC. If I had the dough, so would a K1600GT. May be some form of HD too, but that's it. The goldwing doesn't fit me right and if I was going for a high tech touring bike, that wouldn't be it. It's a generation behind. That said, most bikes need seat work to make them good over the road, so that needs to be taken into consideration with any purchase.

[landman]

I am just waiting for kawi to release their new c14.can you say 2016 30th anniversary edition concourse c14 ? I plan to also test the bmw r1200rt and triumph trophy.

[Jared]

I was really hoping Kawi was going to make some bigger changes within the Vulcan bagger line-up. Sad to see the Nomad disappearing.

[Yellow Jacket]

And that's why Kawasaki asked Trip to change KawaNOW to Vulcan Baggers Association. They knew then they were going to dump the Nomad line.

(No inside knowledge, just my gut feeling.)

[johnberryus]

Originally Posted by ponch

For a touring bike, that's a different story. If I rode two up a lot, I would get a Victory Cross Country or may be a Limited. If I was to get a new bike now for myself, the new RT would be on the list, so would a Victory CC. If I had the dough, so would a K1600GT. May be some form of HD too, but that's it. The goldwing doesn't fit me right and if I was going for a high tech touring bike, that wouldn't be it. It's a generation behind. That said, most bikes need seat work to make them good over the road, so that needs to be taken into consideration with any purchase.

We haven't spent enough time looking at the Polaris line up for touring, the only reason we bought the Nomad was we had shifted to almost exclusively to two up riding and touring around California, and it has been serving us well, but it's getting up there in mileage so something new is in order.

I was very impressed with all the features of the K1600 line, but I have a lot of research left to do. The limited is by for the front runner for both of us, especially the new for 2015 "Low" model which fits me perfectly, I'm kinda short :-).