The following questions and answers were taken from my Kawasaki website and placed here. Feel free to email me any questions you might have. They may be included here.

Engine/Engine Guard Related

Question: I noticed that you have a pair of engine guard chaps. What brand did you get and do they really help?
Answer: I was a little skeptical when I first bought the engine guard chaps. The brand I bought is called Sage Brush and they are available on the web at http://www.sagebrushdesigns.com/ for about $75.00 plus shipping.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that do really block the cold and help keep your feet dry while riding in the rain. I feel they were worth the money, however, due to loosening of some of the stitching, I had to take my pair of chaps to a local upholstery shop to have the stitching reinforced.

Question: About engine guard chaps...
Answer: I also have a pair of the Sage Brush chaps and found them to be very good. However recently at a bike rally, I saw a nomad with a one piece chap from Airlite www.airlite.ca which I must say are far superior to Sage Brush. Much heavier material and the one piece design is way easier to install then the Sage Brush with the clips/snaps that your have to contend with. The airlite's also have a heavy built in screen to keep bugs and debris off your rad. Your readers have to try them. - John Tobias, johntobias51@hotmail.com



Navigation/GPS Related

Question: I've been thinking about purchasing a GPS. Why did you buy the one you have and how expensive was it?

Answer: I wish I had more knowledge of GPS's than I do, but I can tell you what I know from some research I've done. I have the Garman 2610. This is a GPS that has many features, but the main reason why I got it was for the capability to look up fuel stations, eating places and lodging. Plus, I can use it in my car as well as the bike. The screen is color and touch activated. I can have the GPS give me directions to anywhere I want to go. The main thing anyone needs to remember when buying a GPS for a bike is get one without an internal hard drive. The bumping and shaking of the front forks of a bike play havoc with hard drives and cause them to freeze or lock up. I purchased my Garman 2610 off ebay for about $550.00, which was a pretty good price considering the unit came with the RAM mount and a 256meg flash card.



Bike Trip Related

Question: I see you take several trips per year. Do you camp or hotel on your trips?

Answer: It depends on where I'm going and whether the chance of rain is great or not. I try to camp as much as I can however, the older I get the more I want to get a hotel. I have a camping list that you are welcome to print and keep handy when camping. I enjoy camping because it allows me to see the countryside and the stars at night. However, if the weather is inclement, I get a hotel.



Question: I see you have your own Top Ten Roads of Texas List. Of all the roads you've ridden, which one is your favorite?

Answer: Ranch Road 337 located in the Texas Hill Country is my all-time favorite. 337 runs from Camp Wood, Texas, through Leakey, intersects with Ranch Road 187 in Vanderpool and continues on to Medina. Other roads in Texas come close to 337, but I haven't found one yet that is as fun and invigorating to ride. The 15-mile stretch of RR 337 between Leaky and Vanderpool is considered to be the best.

Cruise Control/Throttle Lock Related

Question: I noticed you have a Brakeaway Motorcycle Cruise Control installed. Do you like it and is it worth the money?

Answer: I have to say "Yes" to both counts. True, the Brakeaway is about $200.00 compared to about $30.00 for the standard cruise control, but to me the Brakeaway is far superior to any other cruise control or throttle lock and it is very dependable. I have owned standard throttle locks in the past and always found them to slip a bit when I have used them. Not with the Brakeaway. Once locked...it's locked and holds very well. Plus I like the added feature of two ways of disabling the lock...the rider can click on the disable button or just tap their front brake and it will release.

Question: You have a picture where your Brakeaway Cruise Control is on a Kuryakyn grip. The brakeaway cruise manufacturer always says that it is for stock grips; I have a brakeaway, but the diameter of the Kuryakyn grip is larger than stock. What modification did you do to fit the brakeaway cruise on a Kuryakyn grip?

Answer: In the brakeaway instructions, it outlines that the brakeaway Cruise Control can be used on a Kuryakyn grip. To install the Brakeaway Cruise Control on a Kury grip, make sure the thinest rubber ring is installed in the Brakeaway Cruise Control and smear dishwashing liquid on the kury grip before trying to slide the brakeaway over the rubber humps. It is a tight fit, but with dishwashing liquid, you should be able to work the brakeaway on and get it into position.

Muffler/Exhaust Related

Question: I would like to have a "louder" sound out of my stock mufflers. Is there anything I can do before spending a ton of money on custom mufflers?

Answer: There is a procedure you can perform on your stock Nomad mufflers that will give you a little more loudness, but mostly a deeper, throaty sound. This procedure takes the silencers out and gives your Nomad a deep growl. Click here to view the pdf file with instructions.

 

Question: I own a 2005 Nomad 1600 also. I have noticed that the heat shield located on the rear exhaust pipe on the right side of the bike is getting a little loose. Is there any threat of it falling off and what can I do about tightening it up?

Answer: I had the same problem within three weeks of getting my 2005 Nomad 1600. The shield got so loose that it would ring loudly as I revved the engine up. For some reason, Kawasaki uses aluminum rivets to attach the heat shield to the exhaust pipe. (Actually, the exhaust pipe is a fake, keeps it from turning blue like the real pipe from the exhaust heat). To keep the heat shield from getting too loose and eventually coming off, I have found that you can replace the aluminum rivets with steel rivets. In order to do this, just drill out the aluminum rivets and buy the same size rivets (3/16" or 5mm) in steel. Pop the steel rivets on and you should be good to go. Because there is a rapid heating and cooling effect on the heat shield, you can expect it to always be somewhat loose. But, if it loosens up enough to ring or even come off, try the above method.

Update: If you have a hard time finding steel rivets, try this....place a small washer in between the guard and the pipe when you rivet them back together. This helps the aluminum rivets to hold. So far, my guard has not loosened at all after 2,000 miles.



Oil/Oil Filter Related

Question: What type oil and oil filter do you use when changing your oil? Also, how often do you change it?

Answer: Now that I am out of my break-in period, I have decided to use synthetic oil in Ruby Earl. After much research, I have decided to use Mobil 1, 15w50 (Gold Cap) Synthetic oil with the Bosch 3300 oil filter. Change intervals will be at about 3,000 - 3,500 miles even though the manual states that the oil and filter can be changed every 7,500 miles. I used to use Shell's Rotella-T 5w40, but felt the oil was a little thin for the Nomad. Mobil 1 15w50 has been used in Nomads for years with excellent results.

CB/CB Antenna Related

Question: Where can I get the CB kit you have on your bike. You indicate it's a cobra HH45WXST, but I can't find anything on this particular model. I've used a handheld attached to the handlebar before, but can't recall the electronics company that sold the parts. I just sold my goldwing that had all of the above, and bought a 2006 Nomad. Love the Nomad, but miss the communication systems.

Answer: Sorry to tell you this but Cobra doesn't make the HH45WXST anymore. They haven't for several years. I think they make the 38WXST model to replace it, but I'm not sure. The headset I have is the MC-551 model that can be found at www.radiogadgets.com. In fact, the radio can be found there as well.

Question: Trip, I just bought an '06 Nomad in Green and Titanium. I love it. I transferred my mirrors and highway pegs from my old bike. Just for fun I added a bracket to the lower license plate bolts. The bracket extends past the side of the plate and I have .50 cal bullets (inert, of course) on either side. It looks cool and is a conversation piece.

I want to get the J&M handle bar mounted CB and MP3 player amp. My problem is the antenna mount. Their mount goes where I mounted the bullets and bracket. I could probably make it work but the plate bracket is plastic and I don't want to add too much more weight. Plus, I think it would take away from the bullets and stick way too far.

Your antenna isn't mounted to your plate bracket. But, I can't figure out where you mounted it. It appears to be mounted to the vertical round bar for the backrest. Is it? I don't have a luggage rack and don't want one. It doesn't look like your antenna is mounted to your luggage rack.

Where did you get the bracket? Did you have to make one? I think mounting the antenna on the vertical backrest round bar would be the best place, at least for me. I would really appreciate any help you can send my way.

Answer: The mount I use is an aluminum CB mount that I bought at Radio Shack. I used a couple of "C" clamps to mount the antenna to the right bar of my sissy bar.



Tire Related

Question: Many have asked about tire replacement for the 2005 and 2006 Kawasaki Nomad. It seems that the stock Bridgestone tires don't last very long and it's difficult to get other brands of tires in the right size. Just recently, I replaced both the front and back tires on Ruby Earl with Metzeler ME880's. For the record, I have installed a Metzeler ME880 size 150/80X16 for the front and a Metzeler ME880 size 180/70X16 for the rear. The performance is phenomenal. And, since the 180/70X16 is an inch taller, it corrects the speedo, which has always been inaccurate. Below is an email I received from Randy Nelson in Atlanta. He replaced his Bridgestones with Metzeler ME880's also.

Answer: Hello Trip,
Randy from Atlanta here. After installing the 180/70 ME880 on my '05 I would like to pass this info around for futures sake. For one, the tire is taller by nearly an inch and my speedo is now accurate. The speedo is engine driven so at any given RPM the speedo is doing what it always does but the bike is now traveling farther per minute (or any time interval, of course).

And two, this particular ME880 is made 'specifically' for Honda VTX or Valkyrie, and is a steel belted radial. I never thought about the difference this might make. I now make NO course corrections when navigating curves in the twisties. With the stock tire I found myself pushing the bars left or right to correct my line through the curve. I constantly berated myself for poor piloting skills. And after 35 years of riding I really thought my skills should be better.

Apparently the ME is stiffer and doesn't flex and/or changing lean angles don't affect the radial design. I had much more fun two-up for 200 miles through the Smokies yesterday.

Anyway, even if I gain no additional mileage, I'll buy it again next time.

Keeping the shiny side up,
Randy

Throttle Related

Question: Trip, since purchasing my Nomad, I've noticed that there is a slight amount of play on my throttle. I've noticed at least a 1/2 inch or more of free play before my throttle begins to take affect. Is there anyway I can adjust the play out of the throttle?

Answer: An adjustment for your throttle has been built in by Kawasaki. In fact, most motorcycles have a built in adjustment for the throttle. Here is what you do: Locate the two throttle leads located under your throttle housing on the right hand side of your handlebars.
At the end of the two metal leads with threaded ends is an adjustable nut and a nut tightened on the end to keep the adjustable nut from turning.

With a metric open-ended wrench, loosen the tightened nut, then with your fingers adjust the long adjustment nut until the play in the throttle is decreased or diminished. You'll need to adjust the long nut, then try your throttle until the play is gone.

Best practice would be to loosen both leads and adjust them equally until the play is stopped. That way one side won't be adjusted all the way out and possibly vibrate out.

Once you have adjusted the long nuts to the desired adjustment, tighten the stop nuts to keep the long nuts from backing off from their adjustment.



Windshield Related

  Question: You and your site have helped me so much on accessories and info about the Nomad. I have one a question on the windshield adjustment. If you could help it would save me some trial and error. Have you ever noticed the buffeting effect from the windshield when you are driving. Seems like around 55 to 60 I get into it. It seems like the windshield disrupts the air flow and kinda shakes your helmet a little bit. As of now my windshield is a little lower than my eyes. So I look over it and not through it. My windshield can adjust up or down about 2 inches. I was wondering if you have come across this problem and have any advice on which way to move the windshield to help remedy the problem. A friend of mine told me to move it all the way down.

Answer: I too noticed the buffeting after I first got my Nomad. I have since adjusted my windshield all the way up, as high as it will go. It was suggested to me to do this and has helped greatly against buffeting, although you won't be able to get rid of it entirely.

If you do adjust your windshield all the way up, keep in mind that there is a sub-windshield located behind the main windshield that slides down to decrease the space between your headlight and windshield. Be forewarned that if you loosen the bolts and try to slide this sub-windshield down, dirt particles in between the shields will scratch the surfaces.

I might suggest that you take the windshield apart and clean everything, then adjust the sub-windshield all the way down, then tighten the bolts and remount the windshield. It might save you the cost of a new windshield and sub-windshield which is about $550.00.

  Question: Has anyone cut their windshield on their Nomad? How did you do it? Where you happy with the results? I am thinking about doing it myself and want input before I proceed.

Answer: Here's a couple links on how to do it:

http://motorcycles.about.com/od/maintainamotorcycle/ss/cut_windshield.htm

http://www.motorcyclecruiser.com/tech/remove_windshield/

And a site by women for women that's got some other good stuff on it, too:
http://www.ridemyown.com/links/technical.shtml

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