Charlie's Texas Nomad (quite long)

[cyclecat]

Charlie finally got the Nomad home that he bought out of Texas; we picked it up at the border on Tuesday and have had 3 days to examine and tweak things. Since the trucking company told Charlie the driver dropped the Nomad, we knew there was damage but we were not expecting the amount of damage done. Having said that, we have now discovered that the amount of damage could not have been done by 'dropping or laying over' a Nomad. All the damage is under the left hand side of the Nomad - the bottom outside corner of the Bagger is scraped and dented, the back corner and back hinge on the hard bag is scraped as well as the handle and the trim strips, the bottom corner of the curve on the rear bag guard is scraped, the engine guard is scraped and dented on the bottom curve, the top of the lower (aftermarket and quite wide) is broken off, the grip is slightly scratched, the highway peg is scratched, and the bottom of the foot board is scraped. By assessing the damage we pretty sure the Nomad was laid down while moving and skidded a ways along the pavement. Charlie priced out replacement parts at the local dealer and the bill is $3000; one hard bag, with the trim, is $1685 in Canada. Now he waits to see if the trucking company is willing to fork out that kind of money; if not, all of the damage, other that the bag handle and the trim strips, is basically under the Nomad so it will not even be noticed.

We have also discovered that the aftermarket risers are for a Honda VTX and hit the nacelle 3/4 of the way into a turn and have dented the nacelle quite badly. On top of that, whoever made the lowers did not cut out a notch to clear the engine guard and they hit also. We think the combination of the risers and the lowers hitting, caused someone in a parking lot, making a tighter turn that everything would allow, to go down and do the damage.

We also now know the Nomad was owned by a woman, it was repossessed, sold at an auction, and originally came from Nebraska. This Nomad was made into a solo so Charlie had to buy a pillion and sissy bar. The pillion was on but the sissy bar is being shipped separate. I took the Nomad for a ride and noticed the ride is a bit rougher on the rear end than my Ruby and there is a slight vibration on the front end. The tire pressure was low so we brought it up to where it should be, and there are quite large weights on the rims so we are going to pull them and put dynabeads in both tires which should improve the ride.

We pulled the hard bags and that's when we discovered the 11" Progressive shocks that have lowered the rear end by at least 3/4 of an inch if not more. Now Charlie is a big man - 6'2" and 260 - so the Nomad being lowered means his knees are bent quite a bit and with him on the Nomad, high speed bumps might be an issue. Charlie might be looking to put original air shocks back on the Nomad over the winter but I will let him address that one on the forum at a later date.

I found the weirdest thing - the fast idle know was tucked up under the tank, hanging over top of the spark plug wires instead of in the bracket.

We stupidly did not print off the advertisement for this Nomad off the Internet but I can remember a lot of what I thought was aftermarket chrome accessories being listed, are actually stock. Not having a 1600, I wasn't sure what was stock and what wasn't until Charlie got the Nomad here. Fortunately, the Nomad has Baggers, larger lowers (we will cut the notch and fix them), a throttle lock and brand new Metzler's, front and rear, so that saves a ton of money.

Now a question - the rear Metzler is radial, made in Germany, and the front is a bias made in Brazil. I have seen warnings on the forum about the Brazil tires but can't remember what was said. Can someone remind me what's wrong with them?

[skeeter]

So the trucker decided to take her for a spin? Was it on a pallet or shipped loose? If on a pallet or in a crate, how did the package look?

Just curious.

Oh, and just who was the shipping company?
So many questions....

[MikeInFla]

I assume the trucking company has insurance. If not I would get a lawyer and make sure they cover the $3000.

Do you think the damage was there before the trucking company picked up the bike or do you think they caused all of it?

[ringadingh]

Unless Charlie or the shipper purchased extra insurance, all he will get is a max. of $2.00 a pound on the shipping weight in Canada. And he will have to fight for it. I know as this happened to me, and my neighbour is in the trucking business, who told me to stick to my guns as they have to pay that amount as a basic claim.
It sounds like the bike wasn;t described very accurately when advertised, all of those things you describe should have been disclosed. Id call the seller and tell him he lied in his ad.
The Brazilian Metzelers are not as good as the German ones in my opinion, Ive had a wobble problem with the ME880's that only a Dunlop solved.
With a few mods Charlie will have a nice ride that suits him, He may be able to find someone to trade him shocks, so he can get the stock one back and raise the bike so it fits him. I hope he makes out ok and enjoys the bike.

[cyclecat]

Trucking company was Allied Van Lines, but the driver that brought it to the border is not the driver that picked it up in Texas. The truck driver did report to head office he "dropped" the Nomad when he picked it up; maybe drove it around to get it on the pallet and dumped her in the process. Hopefully,Charlie will at least get enough money to replace the hard bag; the rest of the damage can't be seen.

The Nomad was tied onto a pallet with 4 ratchet tie down straps. I think the trucking company causes more damage to motorcycles than they say since the other bike being unloaded at the same time also was damaged. The guy picking it up said it was a private deal and the original owner said the bike had no damage. But who knows, people lie if they think they can get more money.

The dealer swears the Nomad was in mint condition, but again who knows, he also says he didn't know the driver had dropped the Nomad in their parking lot. All we know is the driver said he damaged the Nomad, head office phoned and told Charlie they would pay for the damage, and sent him the claim forms.

Compared to what Charlie was riding before he is very happy with his new Nomad. The riding position alone was worth the wait for him. Unfortunately, his first 2 bikes had a mono-shock so he says the Nomad is rougher on the highway, but he will get used to it real fast.

I thought the ride with the Progressive shocks was almost as good as the stock air shocks but Charlie will probably be looking to make a deal with someone on stock air shocks and the Progressives sometime over the winter.

We will take off the wheel weights and add the Dynabeads and monitor the front tire for a wobble since I have already noticed a bit of a bounce that should not be there.

[ells]

Re the Brazilian Metzelers - Mine didn't wear near as well as the German or older ones I had. There were a couple reports of separation but nothing pervasive. Metz did respond that they were seeing no excessive problems with any of their tires but that most failures were being caused by incorrect pressure.

[kudzufarmer]

a quick note on the lowers....I just put a set of chucksters lowers on my nomad.....the cost was $38 including shipping....very good job and direct bolt on including cut outs for the crash bars........not sure you will be able to cut notchs and repair broken lowers and have it look right.......might want to check these out.

[cyclecat]

If we can't redesign the plexi, I'll make leather lowers, but we've worked with plexi before and it's not that hard.