Just bought 03 Nomad and have questions

[karospirit]

I recently purchased an 03 Nomad 1500. Since this is my second bike, and the first one was an air-cooled 650 I don't have a way to compare if it sounds right or not.
1. At about 45 mph the engine seem to make a grinding noise. It is not there at any other speed. Is that a normal noise or do I have to have the dealer check it out?
2. When I shift from 1st into 2nd gear, it makes a klunking noise. The previous owner said that it has always been like that. is that a normal occurence in the Nomad or is something wrong with the clutch?
3. When I press the clutch, the bike squeaks. It also squeaks in idle speed. What can I do about that?
4. How do I check the air suction valve? My manual doesn't talk about that

I do have more questions but I don't want to make this posting too big.

The bike was one of those that was diagnosed with high oil pressure. The shop the bike was brought to didn't know what to do about it and rebuilt the whole engine. The rebuilt engine has about 2000 miles on it.
Thanks
K "Cougar"

[cactusjack]

Welcome to the Nomad Nation from the Grand Canyon State!

I can help you with #2: Yes, they pretty much "clunk" from first into second. I have an 07, which bought off the showroom floor, and it has always done that. Not every time, but often.

How many total miles on your '03? That may help with your other questions.

[phenrichs]

First, Welcome and congratulations on your Nomad!
I owned a vmax (v4 engine) before this and had many of the same noise concerns. These very large v-twins are naturally noisy compared to the multi-cylinder and smaller v-twins.
Here is a link to Gadget's site. http://www.gadgetjq.com/gadgetsfixitpage.htm
There is a lot of great information for new owners regarding sounds and maintanence and many more topics. I am sure others will chime in with more detailed information regarding specific details but that is a good place to start.
You have definitely come to the right place. The people here are great and really know the Nomad inside and out, literally.

Congratulations and Welcome

[lomax]

......Cougar .Welcome and congrats on the new to you Nomad. CJ is right about the 1st to 2nd shift. They all pretty much do that. Try bringing the RPM up a bit higher before the shift and some have said putting a little preload on the shifter just before the shift does help. Not sure about your grinding noise at 45 mph. Grinding noise at any speed is not good. Be sure not to lug the engine. I would prabably have someone look into this. Check to see if the squeak is comeing from your clutch lever. Mine is actually squeaking a bit now and will need to have some lubrication. Try to isolate what area the squeak is at. Never heard of the air suction valve. The 03 bikes had a recall because of the high oil pressure. They were changed from a spin on oil filter to a cartridge type to prevent damage to the filter. Many have switched back to a spin on with no problem. Why was the engine rebuilt? Just curious. Others will chime in with some info soon, I'm sure. Enjoy your new bike and show us a pic when you can. :)
Mike

[moenko]

Welcome from Connecticut :)

[karospirit]

Thank you all for your quick reply! I am happy to hear that the klunk on the clutch is a normal sound!

The engine was rebuilt because the shop didn't know what to do about the oil pressure. The guy I bought the bike from had the bike in the shop for a whole year. He didn't care cause he bought a Gold Wing.

They put a new oil pump in and whatnot. I dunno if I have a cartridge or spin filter. It's round and screws right in...

What does it mean to not lug the engine? does it mean I should shift to a higher or lower gear to prevent lugging?

I will check out the website soon...
K "Cougar"

[bigdave]

Welcome from Western North Carolina

[waterman]

Welcome Karo.

Lugging is keeping the engine RPM low while working the engine hard. Generally to high of a gear. An example of this would be in 5th gear going 50 mph going over some rolling roads. When going up a hill the engine will work hard as it doesn't have the rpm.

[phenrichs]

Regarding the clunk...
I have heard that people change oil and switch to full synthetic and the bike runs cooler and shifts smooter. I haven't yet but this fall the oil change will be to Mobil1 vtwin syn

[karospirit]

Oh, and the bike has now 17000 miles on it. The 15000 mile service has not been done

[karospirit]

The bike runs on synthetic oil...

You're generally going to get less clunk between gears if you can richen up the off-idle/cruise mixture a little. That means you'll have a slower RPM drop between gears.

You'll get more clunk if the u-joint, driveshaft splines, or final drive gear oil is going dry. This is the mileage where some defective u-joints have been showing up, so I'd definately get that service done. Make sure the swingarm gets greased too.

[rksaw]

Welcome to the forum Cougar,
You will definitely find some great answers on this forum, and I hope that you get all of your issues resolved.
Rich

[socwkbiker]

Welcome cougar, glad to have you here. I'm glad you brought up question #1. Recently I've been hearing the same thing and have been wondering what is causing it. Hopefully we'll both get an answer here.

[billmac]

Welcome to the forum. #1 don't worry about your new ride. Its a Nomad. These V twins are like you described. It could be worse, you could have all the V-twin symptoms and be overheating too, if you road one of those other brands of V twins.