Little Put Out with the Nomad

[curtcold]

I've owned motorcycles my whole life. I bought my 06 Nomad mainly to ride to work and for trips with the old lady. I pretty much had Honda's, except for a stint with a 85 Ninja. Since I bought the Nomad with 5k miles on it, I've had to.....replace the rear main seal because it was leaking up the drive shaft, replace the clutch spring, Gas guage led quit working, replaced 3 Headlight bulbs, not to mention the pinging in the motor from running too lean when it's "too hot outside" and now I have a gas leak, which is from a weld in the tank being busted.

I thought Harley's were the bikes that "Always had to be worked on" Just frustrated that I rarely had to do any work on the bikes I had before, and bought the Nomad for comfort and no more carb rebuilds. Waiting to see if Kawasaki is gonna cover the weld break in the gas tank....just kinda frustrated with only 45k miles on the bike.

[Jared]

Originally Posted by curtcold

I've owned motorcycles my whole life. I bought my 06 Nomad mainly to ride to work and for trips with the old lady. I pretty much had Honda's, except for a stint with a 85 Ninja. Since I bought the Nomad with 5k miles on it, I've had to.....replace the rear main seal because it was leaking up the drive shaft, replace the clutch spring, Gas guage led quit working, replaced 3 Headlight bulbs, not to mention the pinging in the motor from running too lean when it's "too hot outside" and now I have a gas leak, which is from a weld in the tank being busted.

I thought Harley's were the bikes that "Always had to be worked on" Just frustrated that I rarely had to do any work on the bikes I had before, and bought the Nomad for comfort and no more carb rebuilds. Waiting to see if Kawasaki is gonna cover the weld break in the gas tank....just kinda frustrated with only 45k miles on the bike.

Sounds like a dud to me. Must have been made on Friday.

I've owned three Nomads and haven't had a single one of the problems you're mentioning.

[manban9888]

I've had 4 Kawasakis w 2 being big Vulcans and they have been great bullet proof bikes. My Nomad is so good that I will always have a Nomad. Sounds like you have one of the few troubled ones.

[cnc]

It does sound like a lot of issues. Replaced the headlight bulb 3 times? Are you maybe handling it with your bare hands? Oil from you hands will cause hot spots and cause premature failure on any halogen bulb.

[chainsaw]

Time to buy that Harley. We don't have those kind of problems.

[redjay]

The gas tank leak is possibly a known issue and if so Kawi will cover it. Rear drive seal replacement, and clutch spring at around 40,000 miles are also fairly common. Sounds to me like you have a Nomad with all the known issues. The cam chain extenders will be next.

[cactusjack]

Originally Posted by chainsaw

Time to buy that Harley. We don't have those kind of problems.

You tell 'em, Al!

Woops, I gotta get back to working on my Harley!

[landman]

Originally Posted by chainsaw

Time to buy that Harley. We don't have those kind of problems.

you know better then that al.

[billmac]

Originally Posted by chainsaw

Time to buy that Harley. We don't have those kind of problems.

Shame on you Al. lol Guess I better run out and get me one.

Both of my Nomads needed clutch springs early in their life so I gave them Barnett springs. Both of my Nomads pinged some when hot outside, so I solved it with a TFI. I think these two problems are fairly common.

[IntheWind]

Originally Posted by curtcold

I've owned motorcycles my whole life. I bought my 06 Nomad mainly to ride to work and for trips with the old lady. I pretty much had Honda's, except for a stint with a 85 Ninja. Since I bought the Nomad with 5k miles on it, I've had to.....replace the rear main seal because it was leaking up the drive shaft, replace the clutch spring, Gas guage led quit working, replaced 3 Headlight bulbs, not to mention the pinging in the motor from running too lean when it's "too hot outside" and now I have a gas leak, which is from a weld in the tank being busted.

I thought Harley's were the bikes that "Always had to be worked on" Just frustrated that I rarely had to do any work on the bikes I had before, and bought the Nomad for comfort and no more carb rebuilds. Waiting to see if Kawasaki is gonna cover the weld break in the gas tank....just kinda frustrated with only 45k miles on the bike.

My '06 1500 Classic had 59,000 trouble free miles on it when I traded for the Nomad. I replaced a clutch seal, that was it. The bike was a joy to own. So far my Nomad (which only had 1,150 miles on it when I bought it in August) has been trouble free too. I won't know until next summer if I got a good one or a problem child.

I don't have much patience with things that break down. I lose my trust in them pretty quickly and move on to something else. Good luck.
_________
IntheWind
'08 Nomad

[curtcold]

I always wear gloves while handeling replacement bulbs, not quite that dumb. I'm just a little peeved that I had almost zero shop time on my other older bikes, and so much more with this one. Yes I never had issue with the Ninja, and only a few with the Goldwing, but with the cost of tires and shop pay, It seems I could just commute with a 40mpg car and be better off, although, no where near as enjoyable....

[Pretzel]

Originally Posted by curtcold

It seems I could just commute with a 40mpg car and be better off, although, no where near as enjoyable....

It's not so much the miles per gallon, but the smiles per mile.

[Cajunrider]

Originally Posted by curtcold

I've owned motorcycles my whole life. I bought my 06 Nomad mainly to ride to work and for trips with the old lady. I pretty much had Honda's, except for a stint with a 85 Ninja. Since I bought the Nomad with 5k miles on it, I've had to.....replace the rear main seal because it was leaking up the drive shaft, replace the clutch spring, Gas guage led quit working, replaced 3 Headlight bulbs, not to mention the pinging in the motor from running too lean when it's "too hot outside" and now I have a gas leak, which is from a weld in the tank being busted.

I thought Harley's were the bikes that "Always had to be worked on" Just frustrated that I rarely had to do any work on the bikes I had before, and bought the Nomad for comfort and no more carb rebuilds. Waiting to see if Kawasaki is gonna cover the weld break in the gas tank....just kinda frustrated with only 45k miles on the bike.

My pinion seal began leaking before 6,000 miles, was replaced and again at 36,000 miles. Didn't do anything with the seal the second go round. Traded it for a Harley.

[plumber63]

Originally Posted by chainsaw

Time to buy that Harley. We don't have those kind of problems.

Yea just a bunch of different ones.
It amazes me how many harley owners are on this site. won't they let you on there sites?
Or is it when you want some intelligent information and insite you come here.

[Dave]

Originally Posted by plumber63

It amazes me how many harley owners are on this site. won't they let you on there sites?
Or is it when you want some intelligent information and insite you come here.

Maybe they were here from the start.

Maybe they've previously owned a Nomad back when this was KawNOW and have developed some close freindships with other members.

Maybe in the course of time, they've moved on to other bikes but stuck around because of that friendship.

Maybe Trip does not mind former members here, except Chiropractor's from San Diego.

Maybe other members on this site don't mind the "Harley" riders showing up to thier rallies and having a good time with them.

Since you're new, I'm going to let you know a secret. Not only are there guys on this site that ride Harleys, there's even members that ride Goldwings, BMW's and even Spyders.


But what would I know, I'm just a member that rides a piece of junk Harley and paid top dollar for that, too.


Dave