2009 1st to 2nd gear change - clunk or ka-pow?

[dandantmm]

My friend just purchased a leftover 2009 Nomad. He had a 2002 Nomad and then a 2005 Wing. His biggest complaint is the noise when changing from 1st to 2nd gear. He describes it as a KA-POW instead of a clunk. He said none of his bikes before had made that kind of noise and he's worried there is a problem. I have not ridden it yet to form my own opinion (that's in the works), but I've heard it when in front and behind him. It sounds a lot like my 08 if I hang out in 1st too long before shifting to 2nd, but he says his does it no matter what speed. I know there are several that have gone from an older Nomad to the 1700 and wondered if you are experiencing the same thing.

[Sin City Stan]

Originally Posted by Dan Dan The Motorcycle Man

My friend just purchased a leftover 2009 Nomad. He had a 2002 Nomad and then a 2005 Wing. His biggest complaint is the noise when changing from 1st to 2nd gear. He describes it as a KA-POW instead of a clunk. He said none of his bikes before had made that kind of noise and he's worried there is a problem. I have not ridden it yet to form my own opinion (that's in the works), but I've heard it when in front and behind him. It sounds a lot like my 08 if I hang out in 1st too long before shifting to 2nd, but he says his does it no matter what speed. I know there are several that have gone from an older Nomad to the 1700 and wondered if you are experiencing the same thing.

No KA-POWS here, just loud clunks since day one (8000+ miles). It kind of grows on you. Synthetic oil helped a little.

[merri1]

Mine is noisy between 1st and 2nd, but it's more of a metal to metal sound. Like a ball peen hammer hitting the inside of the aluminum casing. I've tried to figure out what may be causing it; fast, slow; cold, warm; it doesn't seem to matter. I have noticed that it's gotten better with the more miles I put on it. Maybe I've changed the way I shift and that's why the noise is not so bad. Tell your friend to pause a split second from when he pulls the clutch to when he hits the shifter and see if that helps.

[muddler]

"Ka-Pow" is close enough that I know what you're talking about. I've heard this complaint on other forums too. I'm with merri1. Don't know if "break in" is the cure or I'm shifting a little differently to avoid the noise, but it isn't nearly as loud as it was... sometimes as smooth as butter. Also, on my next oil change I'm going to give 50 weight synthetic a go to see if there's a noticeable difference.

[cdneh]

I have the loud bang when I extend the first gear so what I try to do is shift early before reaching the power ranges and this seems to help. I have also been told that gear noises quiets a little around the second or third oil change but I am not there yet. Mostly I just get used to it as it doesn't effect the ride.

[tombstone]

Mine is the CLUNK, but I've found if I preload the shifter it lessens the noise a bunch.

[bj31702]

Same here KLUNK I think I read somewhere about square cut gears but who knows its still fun to ride.

[dandantmm]

Thanks for all the replies. I talked with my friend Mike at work today and he is going to go to 20W-50 oil and see if that makes any difference. He did tell me that the problem starts after the bike is hot. When he leaves his house everything is smooth but after about 5 miles it starts to make the shifting noise and then gets worse as the bike gets hotter.

[flightdoc]

I have a 2005 Nomad. Mine made loud clunking since day one. I never had a "heel-toe" shifter before this bike and it took awhile to get used to it. I read an article about "pre-loading" prior to shifting and I started doing that and it made a huge difference in the noise. Pre-loading is when you apply pressure on the shifter just to the point of almost causing a shift . When I make the actual shift it smoothed things out a great deal.

[drno]

Ussually because shifting is late. I find that the faster you go or more torque applied in 1st, the louder the shift noise. same with 1-3. Im betting its torque related and what we hear is the shift barrel that guides the forks as the dogs snap into place along the groves that guide the shift forks. If you look in the service manual, the shift barrel has very positive cuts to it. Preloading as stated I find does help alot, just takes a bit to learn this with the bike. Most of the time I now do a pretty silent click shift, but if I get too crazy, lol, I can get the snap klunk kapow kabang too.

[dandantmm]

My friend changed his oil over the weekend to Mobil 1 V-Twin and his KA-Pow is now just a nice clunk. He said the oil the dealer put in seemed like water, very thin a didn't seem very slick to the touch. Who knows what they had in there, but the switch sure fixed the problem.

[wally4034]

I purchased a brand new 2009 Kawasaki Volcan Nomad and traded-in a 1999 Kawasaki Volcan Nomad with 17500 miles, an exceptional bike. Knowing Kawasaki’s reputation for design and quality merchandise I assumed and expected the company to maintain its quality and even perfect it after ten years of improvements in manufacturing of the 2009 Volcan Nomad Model Line. To my surprise, they knowingly released a basically flawed motorcycle with engine heat, load whining sound from belt or trans and noisy transmission problems . Knowing this problem existed, all the dealers I went to did not have any 2009 Nomads to demo ride. But they had and permitted demo rides on the 2009 Volcan Classic for comparison, which is not the same bike. If I had ridden a demo 2009 Volcan nomad, I would have encountered the problems and never purchased the motorcycle. Even with all the so called 10 year design updates, my 1999 Kawasaki Volcan Nomad was better. But it's still a beautiful bike.

[AlabamaNomadRider]

My '08 does the clunk but I have learned that if you apply gentle pressure like you are trying to find neutral and then just keep applying that pressure it shifts more smoothly.

I do use the Mobil 1 V Twin 10W-40 full synthetic motorcycle oil and it seems to help.

[flightdoc]

I thought the classic, nomad and voyager were all the same basic bike??

[drno]

They are. Classics are tuned for torque lower, Nomad and Voyager for torque up higher. Other than that its paint and a few bolt ons.