Newbie fixen to bite the bullet

[scott2007nomad]

Hello,
I've done some searching and tried to read as much as possible but I would appreciate your input on the following.

I just "won" a 2007 Nomad on Ebay and will be picking it up this Saturday, 3/29.

I haven't seen it in person so I'm flying by faith here.
It's a 2007 Kawasaki Nomad 1600 with 7,700 miles.
Appears to be in good condition.
It also appears to be all stock, without modifications.

I would like to hear from you more experienced owners as to what to look for when I picking it up besides the obvious like bald tires?

Are there any special places to look for fluid leaks?
What about other signs of abuse?

I think I got a good deal, but in a way, that makes me more nervous.

Thanks,
Scott

[lomax]

Scott
Its always a bit nerve wracking when you buy a bike basically "sight unseen" . Hopefully the seller has a good feedback rating and thats pretty much all you have got to go on except his written description. I have bought two bikes from the states, one from Ohio and one from Mississippi, and had them shipped to Canada. Neither of these were from ebay. Both from private sale and I kind of sat on pins and needles waiting to see them. Both came as described. Being that the bike you bought is fairly new with very little miles, chances are good it will be as described. Aside from giving it a real good look around when you arrive, there isn't a whole lot else you can do. Hopefully the seller will give you service records. But if there is nothing obvious that you can see wrong, chances are good that you can get on it and ride it home without problems. Check the air pressures in the tires, and other obvious stuff and ride er' home. These bikes are almost bullet proof. Congrats and enjoy your new ride!! :)
Mike

Look for signs that it's been crashed and "fixed". One obvious sign is wear on the bolt heads/allen bolt holes of the front end & front brakes. The most common crash on a big bike like this is running into the back of a car and bending up the front fender, wheel, forks, lights, windshield etc. If the front fender looks absolutely new without a bit of tar or dirt stuck to the underside, there's another clue it's been in a wreck.

Look for heavy scraping on the underside of the front floorboards, or any misalignment of them: signs that it's been down. Look for any misalignment of the chrome covers on the front forks, as well as any dents hidden on the back side of them: particularly dents that appear to be made from the inside out. That's evidence of the forks being bent & replaced.

The real danger here is that a hard smack can be fixed to look OK by changing parts, but can have hidden damage to the frame that makes the frame weak or the bike steer funny.

Otherwise, at 7700 miles, a Nomad engine will be barely broken in, and if the owner hasn't unduely abused the clutch or ground the transmission, you're gonna be OK there.

One word about transmissions. The Nomad doesn't shift smoothly from 1st to 2nd unless you either shift while you are just barely rolling and hardly under power, or you wind it up to 4000 RPM or more. Then it shifts like butter. That 1-2 shift takes practice to get smooth & if it seems rough it's probably the rider rather than the bike.

Also, this bike has a device called the Positive Neutral Finder. If you are stopped in first or neutral, you can only shift between first or neutral untill you get rolling. If you stop in 2nd or higher, you can shift down to neutral by rocking the bike a bit, but once in neutral or first you can't get back up until you are going.

That feature has stumped several experienced riders who'd never been on a Nomad.

First of all, welcome to the site. With 7700 miles it should have had a 600 mile service, and two oil changes. One at 600 mile service, and at least one since then. I would be very surprised if the bike has any issues at all. I have an '05 with 38000 miles and it has been rock solid.

[ringadingh]

Welcome aboard; more than likely you got a decent bike, just give it a real close inspection like the other guys said and check all your fluids and tire pressures. Hopefully you asked a few questions before you bid on it, and got some straight answers. Like Caddmann mentioned, check to see if it has been in an accident. There are quite a few members here that live in Texas, if some are close they may be able to give you a few pointers in person.

[dakals]

Welcome from Wisconsin!!!!!! Good luck with the pick up!!!!!

[mercianbike]

Nomad's have a two year warranty that is transferable to a new owner by Kawasaki at no charge. I would get yours transfered right away. There is also an official Kawa dealer in Colorado selling four year extended warranties for $355 on eBay. Do a search for "Kawasaki 4-year extended warranty". There are strong opinions on both sides as to whether extended warranties are worth the money. I figure $355 to carry you into 2013 isn't a bad price.

My transmission shifts smoothly at all speeds and rpm ranges. Don't know if I was just lucky or maybe the synthetic oil I added has kept it smooth.

You will find this forum incredibly useful. Use the search engine (icon on top of page) except change the default of last 7 days to something like 300. You will find answers to most everything.

Keep us posted.

[ells]

Welcome Scott and congratulations on your purchase. We understand your situation and good chance you'll be in fine shape. Nonetheless, might be a good idea to be prepared to walk away from it if you find something you really don't like, maybe along the lines of what CaddmannQ mentioned. This is perfectly acceptable if it does not meet any claims made about its condition once you see it. This is a long-shot, but perhaps if you mention the location of the bike maybe somebody here could get a quick look at if for you, like I said a long shot but wouldn't hurt.

[cactusjack]

Welcome Scott2007Nomad to the wonderful world of the Nomad, from another guy named Scott who also has a 2007 Nomad with 7100 miles on it. I have not had problem one with my bike.

At 7700 miles, yours is barely broken in. Inspect the areas those who replied before me suggested. Feel free to post any question about your bike in this forum. There is an amazing resource of information among the members here. There's no such thing as a dumb question here.

Kick back, enjoy all that KawaNOW has to offer and fetch yourself a cold one from the fridge. More importantly, good luck with your new bike and ride safe.

My opinion on extended warranties: I bought a Kawasaki because I didn't want to rely on warranties. (My last one was bulletproof.) I didn't buy the warranty, but then I am fairly experienced, I've got lots of tools, and I'm prepared to do major work on a bike. I have had some minor issues. I don't know if a warranty would have covered them all or not.

If you are not prepared to wrench on your bike, seriously, get the warranty. Nomads tend to have very, very few failures, but when they do it can be very expensive. It's a gamble, but if you have a real issue that warranty could pay 10-to-1 easily.

[misunderstood]

Welcome to the jungle.

[mrfuni]

Welcome Scott, great bunch of people here that are more than willing to help. Let us know how the bike is...Joe

[BandC]

Congrats on the new Bike!! You'll like it!

[lonewolf]

welcome from minnesota! you wont regret havin a nad !

Very few of us ever regret having our Nads.