Sad for the Nomad Happy for the Indian

[gcsteve]

Posted my 2009 in classified section if anyone is interested. The only catch is if it isn't sold by next Wednesday I am Trading it in.

Back in December my wife and I bought a 2005 Lexus convertible 430sc. the car is amazing and so fun. so last Friday my wife says" hey lets go for a ride".
I say "lets take the lexus" she says "no" so off on the Nomad we go. Usual Long Island ride down the Jones Beach but this time I head west on ocean pkwy. She says "where are you going?' I say "Just cruisin around" after a few minutes in the Minieola traffic she says" you are going to the Indian dealership. "
I just smile. Sooooooo
I did not have the intention to buy the Roadmaster at first. I enjoy looking at the Indians and have ridden a Chieftain a few times but I test drove the Roadmaster and just couldn't resist its lure this time. So while my wife is jokingly complaining, I said "I told you we should have took the Lexus".

So yes everyone after 5 Trouble free years with the Nomad I can say I had a great time with her. My wife and I had ridden all over Northeast with her and Now its time to part ways. My wife eyes teared up when we sold the Meanstreak now she is going to be sad about the Nomad going. I will stop by and let you all know how the Indian does if anyone is interested.

[Ken Vega]

Originally Posted by gcsteve

Posted my 2009 in classified section if anyone is interested. The only catch is if it isn't sold by next Wednesday I am Trading it in.

Back in December my wife and I bought a 2005 Lexus convertible 430sc. the car is amazing and so fun. so last Friday my wife says" hey lets go for a ride".
I say "lets take the lexus" she says "no" so off on the Nomad we go. Usual Long Island ride down the Jones Beach but this time I head west on ocean pkwy. She says "where are you going?' I say "Just cruisin around" after a few minutes in the Minieola traffic she says" you are going to the Indian dealership. "
I just smile. Sooooooo
I did not have the intention to buy the Roadmaster at first. I enjoy looking at the Indians and have ridden a Chieftain a few times but I test drove the Roadmaster and just couldn't resist its lure this time. So while my wife is jokingly complaining, I said "I told you we should have took the Lexus".8

So yes everyone after 5 Trouble free years with the Nomad I can say I had a great time with her. My wife and I had ridden all over Northeast with her and Now its time to part ways. My wife eyes teared up when we sold the Meanstreak now she is going to be sad about the Nomad going. I will stop by and let you all know how the Indian does if anyone is interested.

Congrats. A buddy I ride with just boughtbthe Road Master about a month ago. Black with the Natural leather colored seats. Gorgeous bike. It is not exactly my cup of tea but beautiful none the less. The fit and finish are excellent and the Polaris motor is bullet proof. You will love it and I am sure the wife will too, that thing is built for long distance riding and comfort. Good luck.

[HwyRider]

Glad to see that you are moving on to another bike. I have followed many of your posts and the mods that you have done to you bike.

Just because you are getting another bike you can still stick around on the forum. Keep us up to date on your thoughts on the Indian.

[recumbentbob]

Congratulations you will like it I'm sure.
Be sure and keep in touch

[Ken Vega]

Originally Posted by HwyRider

Glad to see that you are moving on to another bike. I have followed many of your posts and the mods that you have done to you bike.

Just because you are getting another bike you can still stick around on the forum. Keep us up to date on your thoughts on the Indian.

+1 at this point I think VBA stands for Various Bagger Association. I would love to hear feedback on your new bike.

[Loafer]

Many happy miles on your new Indian to you! Please let us know how you like it.

[ponch]

Originally Posted by Ken Vega

+1 at this point I think VBA stands for Various Bagger Association.

I blame Kawasaki for that one.

[nomadtom69]

with just a little work on the 2000 cc using the same frame and adding the fairing and trunk and bags cruise and creature comfort items they could have had a awesome bike and kept a lot of riders that went to other brands

[ponch]

Originally Posted by nomadtom69

with just a little work on the 2000 cc using the same frame and adding the fairing and trunk and bags cruise and creature comfort items they could have had a awesome bike and kept a lot of riders that went to other brands

I think they had to up their game a bit. The trunk and bags aren't first rate and big enough, the room for the pillion is smaller than the HD touring bikes and unless your SO is a waif, it won't work well and it's compounded by the fact that it can't be easily adjusted and even then it looks half-assed. I also found the 1700 engine tuned way too mellow. I rode a 96" EG and I couldn't tell the difference. The 1700 should have been better power wise. And even better choice would have been a C14 with different bags, a real topcase, rational ergos and a slight increase in displacement to add a little more power for the added stuff, which would be cruise control, a better fairing/heat control, audio system, etc. Instead they went in the other direction with both bikes, although the C14 was executed better in some ways. The V2k had some issues that Kawasaki wanted to divest themselves of. It's a not a 250K mile engine like the 1700. I've read about too many examples chugging oil with under 100K and some as low as 30K. They should have put some of the Ninja engineers on the Voyager project and come up with a better designed bike.

[RACNRAY]

When I test rode the Chieftain I absolutely fell in love with it. Even to this day with all the mods to my Vaq it still falls short to the Chieftain BIG TIME. I am patiently waiting for Indian to improve the paint quality. Havin worked on Jap crap for so long I have never seen the "soft paint" complaints so many Indian owners are expressing, and for what a Jap bike costs there is no reason for soft paint, even more so on what an Indian costs.

There are other issues I see with the Indians that are keeping me with the Vaq, but hopefully in time all the kinks will get worked out, then I'll take the plunge. Have fun and good luck with your RM.

RACNRAY

[gcsteve]

Thanks everyone for all the positve comments. Ray i have read about the soft paint and on the showroom floor there was a black RM and on the right side saddle bag cover were swirl marks on a brand new one. I told the dealer to make sure mine never sees the showroom floor.

[GIBBY]

Congratulations on the new Roadmaster, VERY nice bike.

[gcsteve]

So its been a while and I have about 950 miles on the RM. All I can say so far is I am very happy with it. Very smooth lots of power. Happy with the stock exhaust for now ,as I can hear the radio at 80mph. Wife loves the big back seat. I am 5'10" 180lbs and the rider triangle is the most comfortable I have experienced. I have been rear ended by drunk drivers on two seperate occasion while I was in a car and from that I sometimes get a pretty acute pain at the base of my neck when riding for more than a few hours and with this motorcycle I dont seem to get that pain at all. Also this motorcycle gets a lot of attention. Less than a month with it and people pull up at stop lights 4 different times to ask about it. One day we parked on a main street in a small town and we just watched people stop and circle it. Some getting real close looks. Yesterday a girl who apparently knows nothing about motorcycles stops and say wow what a beautiful motorcycle to my wife and I as we were parking it. So we have been having fun with it. One real difference between the Kawasaki and the Indian is the Transmission. The Indian transmission is smoother and quiet. A 6th gear roll on at 60mph and this thing responds with some power and 80 comes on in like 4 seconds. The Nomad I would have to drop down 2 gears to pass at that speed . The lower gears seem to have a wider range. So for those of you interested here is a pic from eastern LI.

[ponch]

Originally Posted by gcsteve

So its been a while and I have about 950 miles on the RM. All I can say so far is I am very happy with it. Very smooth lots of power. Happy with the stock exhaust for now ,as I can hear the radio at 80mph. Wife loves the big back seat. I am 5'10" 180lbs and the rider triangle is the most comfortable I have experienced. I have been rear ended by drunk drivers on two seperate occasion while I was in a car and from that I sometimes get a pretty acute pain at the base of my neck when riding for more than a few hours and with this motorcycle I dont seem to get that pain at all. Also this motorcycle gets a lot of attention. Less than a month with it and people pull up at stop lights 4 different times to ask about it. One day we parked on a main street in a small town and we just watched people stop and circle it. Some getting real close looks. Yesterday a girl who apparently knows nothing about motorcycles stops and say wow what a beautiful motorcycle to my wife and I as we were parking it. So we have been having fun with it. One real difference between the Kawasaki and the Indian is the Transmission. The Indian transmission is smoother and quiet. A 6th gear roll on at 60mph and this thing responds with some power and 80 comes on in like 4 seconds. The Nomad I would have to drop down 2 gears to pass at that speed . The lower gears seem to have a wider range. So for those of you interested here is a pic from eastern LI.

Whereabouts? Sometimes I miss home.

[gcsteve]

That is a pic from bel terre Port Jefferson just past the pink mansion that was in the movie she devil from the 80s. I live in Glen Cove about 40 miles west of there.