alleged mileage

[voyager]

Stopped for a coffee at the local bike hang out in my area ( Tim Horton's ) and chatted with a couple who rode a 85cu HD ( don't know the model, but a lot smaller than the Nomad ) and her, a 900 2008 Kawi. Both were claiming 50 to 60 mpg on either of their bikes. So I was a little bit shy to say that the Nomad gets around 35-40 on a good day. Why such a difference?, aside from the weight difference it sure seems Kawi could have squeezed a few more mpg out of these bikes.

voyager

[dogdoc]

been cussed a million times here but "no" Nomads are not for mpg. Sorry

[glwilson]

They might have been pushing it a bit on their mileage. I assume others may agree with me. We'll see.

To know one of the reasons for a mileage difference... just pick up the 900 in your right hand; and pick up the Nomad in your left. The heavy one isn't getting the mileage trophy. As Doc said; Nomads aren't for mileage -- sorry to say. I get 43 MPG on mine when cruising.

[skeeter]

I get 42 on a regular basis and I'm real comfortable.

[ells]

50+ on my 800B, 42 or so on the Nomad when hi-way cruising.

We struck up a conversation with a guy with a Victory Vision in Durango on our Colo. 550 ride and he claims to be getting 49 mpg, or so his on-board computer showed. The Vision is about 850 lbs and 105 cubic inches - with good aerodynamics!

[aj]

Its going to be interesting to see if we get more posts like this as fuel costs more and the cost of living tightens. :-/ :-/ :-/
In the end its a style thing, and I recon the Nad has buckets of style!

[cactusjack]

Most newer Harleys and Victory have 6-speed gearboxes, that's an advantage over the Nomad.

[bigjohn]

True on the style. Mine gets about 38 to 40 on the road. Pulling the trialer it drops considerably, somewhere between 35 and 25.

[damark115]

I look at this different. My P/U gets about 13mpg on a good day. I have saved a considerable amount of cash driving the nomad. If I wanted super mileage I would have bought a moped.

[beezer]

Originally Posted by skeeter

I get 42 on a regular basis and I'm real comfortable.

+1

[tkd]

I've only been around town and mixed, but I average about 36 in a mix, so I'm guessing and or hoping that it should jump to the low 40's when and if I ever get it on the road.

[scott2007nomad]

I used to get 40 in town and 60 on the highway on my '79 Honda 650.
I'll take the consistant 36 to 41 I get on the Nomad, two up, any day!

I get great mileage if I keep it around 65-70 (mid 40's). If I cruise at 80-85 it dropps a lot (low 30's)

I like the shaft drive on the Nomad, however this feature no doubt contributes to it's lower fuel mileage. I have read that there is a 15% frictional lost for every 90 degree change in power transmission of a geared shaft drive. The Nomad has two such changes, once at the front bevel gears, and again at the pinion and ring gear.
A chain drive looses much less power to frictional losses, and the belt is supposed to be best in this regard, perhaps 98% efficient.

The Harley's are belt drive, a so is the Vulcan 900. Some say the big 2000 Vulcan gets better mileage then the Nomad and it is also belt drive.

[ells]

Originally Posted by shilohsam

I like the shaft drive on the Nomad, however this feature no doubt contributes to it's lower fuel mileage. I have read that there is a 15% frictional lost for every 90 degree change in power transmission of a geared shaft drive. The Nomad has two such changes, once at the front bevel gears, and again at the pinion and ring gear.
A chain drive looses much less power to frictional losses, and the belt is supposed to be best in this regard, perhaps 98% efficient.

The Harley's are belt drive, a so is the Vulcan 900. Some say the big 2000 Vulcan gets better mileage then the Nomad and it is also belt drive.

Good point. I've heard about a 20% loss for a typical shaft drive and don't know how the Nomad might vary from that, but belts and chains are much more efficient.