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From the first time I saw a Kawasaki Nomad I knew it was the bike I wanted. I have never been the guy that desired a Harley, nothing against them, just never been a passion of mine to own one. In March of 2005 I finally decided the time was right. I picked up my brand new 2005 Kawasaki Nomad in late March, my buddy bought a Vulcan Classic at the same time and we were off.
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Modifications / After Market Accessories:
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Kuryakyn ISO Grips back to top
The grips are actually a very easy install. I was not concerned with saving the old ones, so basically just cut the old grips off the bike. I cleaned off the bars to get rid of any old glue, and test fitted the new ones. I had to cut a spacer for the left grip to trim it out based on the stock location of the switch housing. Once I had the grips fitting the way I wanted and had marked the position I wanted the pads on the new grips to be, I removed the grips and applied some grip adhesive to the inner edge of the grip. I figured that as I was sliding the grip on, it would push glue along the entire length of the bar and secure the grip to the bar. It worked like a charm.
The new grips are a bit larger in circumference than the stock grips. This is great for people with larger hand size like me. I really like the look and the comfort.
I also added a pair of Kuryakyn Throttle Boss' to the bike as well. These provide the ability to release the grip on the throttle for a bit while riding and still maintaining your speed. I added the pair to balance out the look on the bike.
I also added a color trim ring between the ISO grip and the Throttle Boss on each side for a little different look.
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Edmonds Lowers back to top
One of the main complaints that Nomad riders have is helmet buffeting. The cause seems to be air coming under the windshield and over the top of the tank from what I have read. There are a few people that make replacement lowers for the Nomad, and you can make them yourself if you have the time and equipment.
I ordered mine from Edmonds Enterprises. Of the companies I looked at I thought these were the better looking ones. The other advantage is that this company also makes saddlebag shelves for the Nomad and I wanted to get those as well, so save on shipping and get both at the same time.
Install is simple, remove the two bolts from the existing lowers and replace them with the new ones. You cannot find an easier install.
The effect was immediately noticeable. At speed there was considerably less turbulence behind the shield and holding my had just at the front of the tank while driving there was much less air allowed over the top. Highly recommended upgrade.
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Rifle Windshield - custom size back to top
Helmet buffeting is a common problem on the Nomad and many other bikes. There are couple causes that I have read about, the first is the lower deflectors on the front forks, the second for taller riders is the windshield.
I searched for a replacement windshield, something that would be a bit higher than the stock shield. I finally found a cost effective solution in the Rifle Kawasaki Replacement Windshields. You can order these in several different sizes as well as custom sizes. The only note I have on the ordering process is that the 'stock' size on the web site is not for the 2005+ Nomads. Starting in 2005 the stock windshield is larger that the 'stock' size they have lists. I believe they list stock size as 18.5" from the top of the headlight cutout. Rather than order the stock +, I opted for custom size to insure I got the size I wanted. I measured my windshield then used that in the order, ordering a 2005 stock height +3.
The windshield arrived well packed in great condition, the only problem was the post office not bothering to tell me it was here, and having to wait an extra week to 10 days, therefore missing a trip that I was hoping to use it on, until they finally sent me a final notice to pick it up. At least I got it I guess.
Installation is a bit tricky. The shield itself is a bit wider than stock, the bottom is shaped differently and with the size I ordered, it sites at the lowest position for adjustment the Edmonds Lowers no longer fit. They are a bit too tall for the new shield. The hardest part is getting the front and back trim pieces to line up with the new shield. Make sure the shield is on a soft, non-scratch surface while attempting this or you may just damage the new shield. Once this is done it bolts right up to the bike.
I likely ordered this around 0.5-1" too tall, but it drastically reduced the amount of air hitting my helmet causing the buffeting at speed. It reduced the headaches/fatigue I experienced on longer rides from this buffeting a great deal. I highly recommend the Rifle Kawasaki Replacement Windshields
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Stock Seat Replacement -- Mustang Seat -- Day-Long Touring Saddle back to top
The Nomad was perfect from the start for cruising around town and a little bit of highway cruising in the area, but if became very clear that the
stock seat on the Nomad had to go. I could ride at most 45 minutes before severe pain made riding very uncomfortable, and many times unbearable.
I did some research and the Mustang seat seemed to fix the problem for a lot of riders experiencing the same problem. I ordered the Mustang seat
from Cruiser Customizing and thought the problems were over. I was very disappointed that
my ride time only increased to at most an hour and a half.
Still looking for a comfortable solution, I added
Airhawk seat cushions and sheepskins. The ride time increased a few minutes and the
recovery time after getting off shortened, but still not what I wanted. The two 1,500+ Km trips we took this summer were great, but the seat on
the longer days made them less than enjoyable.
I am hoping my next purchase will solve the problem. I will have my new Day-Long saddle from Russell
Cycle Products (RCP) in the next few days. Many riders that have experienced the same things as me with the stock and Mustang seats seem to have
solved the problem with this seat. These seats are custom built to you and your passenger's height, weight, riding position, etc. People rave
about the product. The look is different, but comfort is a must for me riding on longer trips.
I received my Day-Long Touring Saddle from Russell Cycle Products on March 7, 2009. I could not wait
to unpack it and get it installed. I was very hopeful that the new seat would provide the comfort I longed for on the Nomad. I installed the seat
as soon as I got home, and climbed on the Nomad, all I can say right now is I am very optimistic. The seat seems to have great support and just
feels different than any other seat. I spent quite a bit of money on this seat, almost 3x the cost of the Mustang, but if it does what people say
it does, allows them the comfort to ride all day, it will have been worth every penny.
Update March 21, 2009 - I rode approximately 130 KM on March 20th and then Shelley and I went for another 270 KM ride on the bike on March 21st. The RCP seat takes a bit of getting used to. When my legs are down the sides of the seat that flare out dig into the back of the legs a bit. Not a big deal, just takes some getting used to. The first 130 KM ride on the 20th went really well. I did the entire distance and had no lingering pain like I had starting around the 100 KM mark on the Mustang and stock seats. On the 21st we went out and did a longer trip to test it out. We rode straight through with a quick stop to top the tank off around 170 KM in. We arrived home with no pain issues that had plagued us from the start on the other seats. Shelley did get a sore back, but I believe that is more related to the location of the Tour Pak. I am going to move the Tour Pak back 1". The only other thing is that it is quite a tight fit on the back with the backrest installed. I am going to try and block it so it moves forward an 1 or so and see if that gives her a bit more room.
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Custom World International Billet Light Bar back to top
When I decided to add running lights to the Nomad I started looking for a light bar that I liked. I had a specific look in mind, actually based on my buddy's installation of one on his H-D Fatboy. With his light bar, the spotlights are above the signal lights, and I liked this look. I almost ordered the Cobra light bar based on the picture on the Cruiser Customizing web site, but as I was reading the reviews, the picture is not accurate, the signal lights actually stick out the side on the Nomad version, NOT what I wanted. I looked for several weeks for one that would give me the look I wanted, with no success, then I came across the CWI Billet Aluminum Light Bar. The CWI Billet Aluminum Light Bar is actually not truly a light bar in my opinion, but it accomplishes the same thing, adding spotlights to the front of the bike. The kit contains two lights and two mounts with longer bolts to replace the stock ones. The bars mount to the same location as the upper 'lower' wind deflector bolt and the lower windshield mount bolt. Installation is simple, remove the two stock bolts and bolt the lights on. There is also a plastic washer included for the forward mount point that is used.
Wiring these lights in is a bit more involved. I originally purchases a wiring harness / relay but was not impressed with the quality and operation of that unit, so I ended up using a
Custom World 'smart switch' to make things 'easy'. The smart switch works fine, however, the instructions for wiring it in mean that if you forget to turn off the lights when you park the bike, they will stay on, killing the battery. The switch activates the lights by flipping between high and low beam on the headlight (or can be wired to low and high so the lights are on with the high beam). This does work, but not what I wanted. I decided to pull the smart switch and install a standard automotive relay. This process sounds much more complicated than it is when you look into it. I used Gadget's Fixit Page for a great source of reference. Below is the basic wiring diagram from his site:
The wiring is fairly basic. The CWI lights I received have two wires coming from them. One is for the light itself, and the other is for the indicator light on top of the light, these two are simply tied together. The lights are grounded internally so there is no ground to connect. From there, you follow the diagram above. Post 85 on the relay goes to a good ground, post 30 goes to a 12V source, in my case I connected this to the positive terminal on the battery, putting a 10 amp fuse inline between the battery and the relay. Post 87 gets run to the running lights, this will power the lights. Post 86 I ran to the headlight bucket and tied it into the low beam wire in for the headlight. What you end up with is running lights that will come on when the headlight does, not when the key is turned on, drawing power when the bike is not running. I also put a SPST (Single Post Single Throw) switch in the line from the headlight so I can override the power to the lights and turn them off if I wish. The end result is the relay is activated by the headlight, but the lights are actually powered from the battery, meaning I am not overloading the headlight or other circuits on the bike.
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Cobra True Dual Exhaust with Billet Tips back to top
A friend of mine bought a '05 Vulcan Classic at the same time I bought the Nomad. After riding with him, his always had a bit nicer sound. He then went to the dark side and bought a Harley Fatboy, promptly replacing the stock pipes with Vance & Hines Big Shots I believe. The Harley was now very loud compared to stock, a bit too loud for my tastes, but still pretty awesome. Then the shots about how you can't even hear my bike started. Bowing to the peer pressure I decided to upgrade the pipes on the Nomad in the spring of 2008.
Looking around, there are several options for the Nomad, but I focused on what seemed to be two of the more popular choices, the Vance & Hines Bagger Dual Exhaust or the Cobra pipes. I seriously considered the V&H pipes, but after reading some reviews and looking at several pictures relating to the reviews, I did not care for the heat shield on the rear cylinder. You can see in the following picture that the heat shield is basically too short, it should wrap around the pipe a bit further so the actual header pipe does not show. It would be less visible with the floorboard down and the bike sitting level, but I would know it is there.
Given this issue (some may call it a flaw, depends on your opinion I guess), I decided to go with the Cobra pipes. I chose the Cobra True Duals with Billet Tips. There are several options to choose from, but I preferred the billet tip model. They were a bit more expensive than the others, but I think the look is very nice.
I installed the pipes in about 2 hours. Removing all the stock exhaust parts can take a bit of time. I was careful to not damage any of the parts in case I ever put the stock ones back on. The hardest part of the actual install was the lack of a center stand on the bike. Blocking the bike always makes me nervous and the blocks always seem to be in the way, but it helps. I really need to get a center stand for the bike though. I had no real issues installing the pipes. I used new exhaust gaskets for the install and all the parts fit very well.
The Nomad can definitely be heard now. The sound is awesome, definitely louder than stock. It has a nice deep rumble, but not so loud it wakes the neighbors. I did not make any other modifications to the bike initially, I was still waiting for the Power Commander to arrive. I had no issues with the stock setup and the pipes on the Nomad, but I did not run that way too long before adding the Power Commander.
The only issue I had was a persistent rattle in the pipes. This rattle started out to be faint, but over the next while it got progressively worse. I could not find the source of the rattle. I re-tightened all the heat shields, checked the connections at the heads, but could find nothing. I dropped the bike off at the dealer for an oil change before a trip in July 2008, I had them check everything over as well. They tightened the pipes and were confident that the problem was solved. The 1500+ Km trip we took after that proved it was not fixed.
Frustrated I replaced some of the heat shield clamps, one was stripped from being over tightened, still no luck. Then by chance I was walking by the bike, working on my wife's bike and bumped the left side muffler, and it moved considerably. I checked the other side and there was no movement. The problem all along was the clamp on the left side that attaches the muffler to the header pipe was back too far on the muffler. it was tight, but was not clamping down on the header pipe, allowing the movement and the rattle. Fixing that clamp location, fixed the rattle. It was driving me insane, but I am happy it is fixed.
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Show Chrome Accessories Chrome Radiator Mesh Radiator Grille back to top
When I first started looking for accessories for my bike, I noticed several people had a nice radiator cover on their bikes on-line. I saw several different models that I like, one had V-Twin spelled out in the grill, and then I found this one, the Show Chrome Accessories Chrome Radiator Mesh Radiator Grille.
Most places I have found this grille it does not list it as fitting the Nomad. There are several versions of this grille so you want to make sure the one you are looking at is actually manufacturer part number 81-103.
The install of this accessory is fairly straight forward. It comes with the grille, four chrome screws, four spacers and 6 small rubber pads. Start the install be removing the stock radiator shroud. This is accomplished be removeing the 4 hex screws that hold it in place. Once it is removed, I placed the 6 rubber pads around the perimeter of the stock black grille that stays on the bike. These pads are to keep the chrome grille from rattling against the stock grille. THe instructions say to start at the top and put the top screws in first. This is an important step, doing the top first gives you just enough room at the bottom to get the spacers in. The only problem I had was the head of the chrome screws is small enough to fit through the holes in the actual grille when the angles are right, so be careful not to drop the new grille. I put a bit og blue locktite on the first two screws and put them through the top holes in the grille, placing the spacer on the back site of the grille. I then held the grille in place while I barely started to thread the top two screws in. Once they were started I repeated the process on the bottom two and then tightened it all up.
The end result is quite nice. It really changes the look of the bike in my opinion.
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Pictures:June 24, 2005 |
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