Any Bikers?

[lone_star_dsl]

I've been dreaming of a Kawasaki Vulcan Nomad 1500 or 1600 for a few years now. There are quite a few in my area between 1999 and 2006. Prices are $3,000 - $6,000.

Mileages vary between 13k and 45k. Anyone know if there are any quirks with these bikes as the mileage increases?

What are some of the things I should be looking for when looking at motorcycles?

 

[Stroked68]

Kawasaki makes a great cruiser. Some of the older ones had probs with the oil pump gear. It was plastic and over time would fail and you know what happens next. I believe those bikes arent in your yr range though but cant remember. I work at our families Kawi dealership and Vulcans are very well built. We've had people trade harleys in on them actually. They look just as good as a harley but are way more dependable. Sorry, the japs can make a bike. I'd only own kawis but im biased as you can tell. I've always loved the nomads. Great looking. Most are shaft driven, earlier ones were belt driven. Just test ride one, listen for weird noises. Pretty much just normal checks like a car.

 

[Deerjager]

Never had Kawasaki bike, but had a Prairie 400 atv. All of my bikes were Hondas. The kawa atv was a good, reliable rig, but sold it after I turned it over and ruined my left leg .

 

[Stroked68]

Those 400 Prairies and the rest of the prairies cant be beat. Especially the vtwins. I personally have a 2005 Brute Force 750 with some engine mods. I bought it new and its been through lots of mud races which I won almost all of them and I've even flat tracked it a few times and won both races. Of course I was only up against one other atv but a win is a win right? haha. The Brute Force is the most common mud racing atv to mod out. Cant beat the power and its got great ground clearance. Even the 650 and 700 prairies are great.

 

[JimmyDee]

I had a 1999, 1500 and that had a 4 speed tranny. It was OK but a 5 speed would have been a lot more user friendly. @ 7500 miles the first gear dogs were worn and I needed 2 gears and the shifting fork replaced. Kaw left out a shim in the tranny that caused the dogs not to fully mesh. I don't think this was a normal problem but $1024 later, it was fixed. I have owned 8 Yamaha's, 1 Honda and 1 Kaw.
I have a 1900cc Yamaha now and its a dream to ride. I will stick to Yamaha cause with over 125 k miles, not one problem except for tires and brake pads.
Jim