Is yours too loose?

One of the things that needs checking on every new Vulcan is the drain plug under the radiator. If you've never checked yours, go take a 14 mm wrench and give it a little twist. (Easy now! It's a thin radiator!) I'll bet yours was pretty loose, huh?

Everyone who comes over here to show me their new Nomad gets theirs checked for free, and the dang things are always very loose right from the factory. They have a rubber gasket to seal them, so be careful not to over-tighten. You'll rip the rubber and then it will leak. But go try this and I think you'll agree that it was loose enough to scare you into tightening it some more.

The manual says 65 in-lb (which is about 5 1/2 ft-lb) and I know mine was nowhere close to that. I didn't throw a torque wrench on it either. I just snugged it up 'til it felt right. Feel free to use a torque wrench, but don't expect to get a valid reading from something like this, having a rubber gasket, being lubricated by coolant, and having such a low value to boot.

Do expect it to be loose though.