1600 nomad to Voyager conversion

[Kawi_addict]

I have a 1600 nomad that I love. Killer bike plenty of power super smooth. That being said I do enjoy more gauges and wind protection. I wanted a full front fairing. I wanted it fixed I absolutely love the Voyager and the vaquero. With it costing 500 plus dollars to get your hands on a good fairing with stereo and speakers and all the add-ons. I decided I wasn't going to do it. Then I met a guy on a Facebook group with a crashed Voyager. Talk to him and started buying everything I could. I got all of his parts broken interfering all gauges lights wiring you name it super cheap. Then I got the wiring harness cheap enough. Started working my factory harness into the Voyager and getting as many features working as possible. Then welded the tab to the neck almost done Loving how it looks can't wait to ride it

https://photos.app.goo.gl/JsfAr8yNu4HFq9N57

[Kawi_addict]

I will be removing the tank, fenders, bags etc to get it all to match the black gray and green striping

[andyvh1959]

Cool project. The speedo, odometer, directionals, fuel gauge hi-lo beam should all communicate to the Voyager gauges. But the gear shift indicator won't work unless there is a way to get a signal from the VN1600 shifter to the gauge set. The tachometer in the Voyager gauge set may be a trick to get working unless it just needs an inductive signal from one of the coil wires to a spark plug.

Do you plan to do anything with the fuel tank gauge set? On my my project I think a fuel fill door from the right car could be adapted in place of the Classic round gauge set. Then the center console on the tank could become a compartment for wallet, sunglasses, cell phone, etc.

[Kawi_addict]

Yes that is exactly my plan to use it as a compartment or holder of some sort.....
Still trying to figure out the tachometer I could care less for fuel or water temp guages (they work btw) but I really want that tach. I love the look of the Voyager and vaquero so I'm pretty spyched in it

[Kawi_addict]

https://photos.app.goo.gl/udWZ8gRmeYhbKd1g6

[andyvh1959]

So cool to see you got the gauges working on the Classic. That confirms what I suspected for my project. How much work was it to get most of the gauges working? Just a matter of knowing which wire to splice into on the Classic harness? I have the Vaquero gauges, and a wiring harness for the Vaquero fairing. So I hoped I could blend the Vaquero harness into the Classic harness to make it all work. I just prefer having the gauges up where they are in my field of view (like on my BMW) rather than down on top of the fuel tank. For the tach I'll have to look at the Vaquero wiring diagram to see where the signal comes from to tell the gauges the engine speed. I wonder if its a camshaft or crankshaft sensor that sends a signal to the tach, or perhaps a signal off one of the coils.

I bought my Classic used and the PO had installed an aftermarket tach that must read an inductive signal on one of the plug wires. I'd assume the Voyager/Vaquero uses a engine speed signal from a cam or crank sensor.

For the tank console door, some cars have a round plastic gas fill door, like a Hyundai Tucson. Get the door with the hinge and mount it into the console bezel. A plastic door can sized down to exactly fit the opening in the bezel. Then chrome wrap the door, or apply some type of stick on stainless steel fuel door overlay. Could even use a thin piece of stainless steel and two faced tape to bond the S/S onto the door. With some careful trimming, and polish the stainless it could look close to stock and match the tank console. That would be a handy fuel tank top compartment.

I also have a pair of Mean Streak fuel tanks I got cheap for $30. My plan is to use them, cut into strips to have a buddy of mine modify my stock tank for increased volume. I hope to get another gallon of fuel capacity. The frame mounted fairing will hide the taller tank enough to not be noticeable. Would be great to get the fuel capacity up to near seven gallons.

[Kawi_addict]

Hey I tried to respond to your message but it said your inbox was full. if you go to the Kawasaki voyager's Facebook page they have a sticky that is the entire wiring harness like the the whole service manual so I was able to see which wires going into the gauge mean what from the troubleshooting guide and then I went to the nomad page on Facebook and they had the same thing and you know it's wire means this so that wire means that and yeah it was all pretty much plug and play The only ones I don't have working right now are the water temp and the tech I'm going to run a coil seed wire from the coils to each one of the four wires I have left coming out of the Voyager harness at the gauges and see if one of those kicks on the tachometer in theory it should work...... To anyone struggling to read the extreme run-on sentence I just made I'm using push to talk in my car sorry for the horrible punctuation

[andyvh1959]

Yup, I just got a pdf of the Vaquero wiring diagram from another member on here. I have the factory manual for my 1600 Classic so I planned to do like you did. But i don't have the entire VN1700 manual, so thanks to the link to find it on Facebook. I wonder if the tach gets info from a crankshaft or camshaft sensor instead of a inductive coil pickup. I'm thinking Kawasaki did something from a sensor to avoid possible electronic noise from an unshielded wire off a coil.

For the water temp (which I'd like to have) should be able to use the sensor from the VN1700 and find a spot somewhere in the 1600 cooling system to install it. Could braze up a piece of copper tube to fit the upper radiator hose, and add a small pipe thread port or metric thread port off the side for a temp sensor. DragonLady58 on this forum has all kinds of experience with added gauges and sensors on his built Vulcans.

I also plan for a digital voltmeter or a small analog style round voltmeter to add on my 1600. I plan to have a bunch of electrical add ons, and I need to be certain the stators are always putting out enough to keep up with the demand and keep the battery up.

For that center console door, I mentioned the Hyundai Tucson because it has a plastic round fuel fill door. Just a matter of sizing it down to the right diameter to fit the console opening. Then get some stick on stainless or chrome fuel fill door overlay to shine it up to match the console. Or paint it and put a Vulcan badge on it.

I did a Pacifico fairing on my buddies VN900, so I know I can make it fit. But for my bike I plan to mount the fairing with a bracket off the chassis steering head, and a brace at the back of the fairing under the fuel tank. For my gauge install I'll make my own mount and bezel to fit around the Vaquero gauge set to mount it into the Pacifico fairing. I like the vintage late 70's look of the Pacifico and it suits the lines of the Vulcan, almost like a vintage Vaquero. Good luck with your project and keep the updates coming. If you check out my post for the VN1600TCMS you'll see pics of my project plans.

[Kawi_addict]

Sweet we're going to have to exchange ideas and pictures as we make progress

[Kawi_addict]

The two photos that I posted of the wiring diagram will get most all your functions working. On the Voyager and vaquero I'm pretty sure they ran the tachometer through the can module so it picked it up off the same computer that's running the cruise control and all kinds of other stuff I'm going to see if I can cheat and just run a coil pulse wire

[andyvh1959]

That makes sense. I studied the 1700 manual a bit and I see a lot of gauge functions go through the ECU. I plan to have cruise on my bike eventually also. The old Voyager 1100 had cruise which was a stepper motor, ECM, control cluster for the left handlebar and a console for the center of the tank. Those parts are all easily found on ebay fairly cheap. I bet the newer Voyager follows the same logic, so the old Voyager cruise may communicate to the indicators in the new Voyager gauge set.

The old Voyager ZG1200 cruise had a main power switch for the cruise on the center console. Easy enough to use one of the current switches on the 1600 tank console, or add a switch in one of the holes for the turn indicators or high beam on the console. The RH switch cluster for the old Voyager had the set/decel/resume/accel switch built into it. Just do an ebay search "cruise, Voyager, 1200" and they all come up. The cruise control stepper motor has a cable you attach to the current throttle cable connection on the throttle body. Since the 1600 has a double cable throttle it will pull the RH grip up or down per the control. The ZG1200 had four carbs versus the 1600 throttle body butterflies, so it should have plenty of strength to open and move the throttle butterflies on the 1600. It will take some study of the ZG1200 manual and careful ebay shopping to get all the main components, but so far I have seen them all on ebay. I have cruise on my BMW 1200 and it would be really nice to also have it on my Vulcan. I think it can be done with all Kawasaki factory parts and for less than $200.

A neat trick with the old black handlebar clusters: use Easy Off over cleaner to remove the black color. Then buff out the material to make it shiny and just paint in the colors for the colors with a small brush.

[alwhite00]

Looking great. Great project.

[Kawi_addict]

Thanks

[andyvh1959]

Forgot to ask. Did you have to drill/tap the frame around the headstock to attach the fairing mount bracket? Or did you drill the frame near the headstock to run longer bolts through the frame for the fairing bracket?

[Kawi_addict]

I welded a bar to the kneck with two holes in it to go into the bracket. I wish I had seen the no-glide brackets first would like to build those but oh well this works great and it was super cheap