31st May 2010, 12:47
I have seen a few comments similar to this, I hope someone can answer my question. I am looking at a 99 nomad and I am worried about the oil valve. I looked at the JOG and it seems simple enough. Any input would be great to aid in my decision whether or not to buy. Thanks.
kvfire51@yahoo.com
2nd Jul 2010, 15:36
I just experienced a complete oil pressure failure on my 1999 Vulcan Nomad. I was doing 75 in the fast lane of a six lane highway. I was about 5 feet away from going under the vehicle following me. This is a serious safety concern. Anyone else who experiences something similar should file a complaint with the NHTSB. It takes about 10 minutes. Shame on Kawasaki for not recalling these bikes. They make Toyota's recall issues seem tame. No way I would ever recommend someone else to buy Kawasaki after this.
Two dealers stated there is no recall, but the web shows dozens of riders who have got warranty repairs. 1500 hundred bucks was quoted to replace a 50 dollar part. Now I have an 800 pound useless bike.
Any offers?? And this is not the scary part. Wait till you lose power in the middle of an interstate!!!
15th Jul 2010, 10:25
I have a 1999 1500 Vulcan Nomad I bought used. I put 8,000 miles on it with little to no problems. LOVE my big green bike.
Recently (about 24,000 miles) the dreaded plastic oil gear stripped out, and I was absolutely relieved to find that there IS a metal gear available from a guy I found through forums. Search for "Judge Oil Pump Gear" and you should come up with it. This has been a lifesaver for me -- instead of the 12 hours of labor that the dealer wanted, this kit allows it to be done in about 2-3 hours. Made my day, believe me! http://www.vroc.org/faq/jopg/jopg.html
Not an ad... just a good result that I'm happy with.
12th Nov 2010, 08:24
I had a customer bring me his 1500 because he was concerned about his pog, and wanted to replace it with the steel gear, so I tore the bike down and removed the plastic gear from the shaft. I contacted Bob Oglesby, the only person on the planet who makes a replacement gear for this application without having to split the cases. Well I paid him with paypal and have tried to contact him about a week later, and still no response. I'm sure he will send the parts out, but I have told my customer a deadline on the repair, and I hate to keep moving the dead line. I just wish it would arrive so I could finish the job.
18th Feb 2011, 20:57
I have a 1998/99 I bought new, ridden to both coasts and to Texas from Wyoming twice. My POG went out at 3000, (approx) and was replaced by the dealer, no cost, but the bike was only a year old. Since it went out, there has been nothing but many, (nearly 40K) happy miles. Best bike I've ever owned. Get it fixed, it's ten years old for crying out loud. It will give you another 50,000 miles trouble free.
14th May 2011, 20:21
I bought my Nomad brand new in 1998. Within the first year we had taken it from Wyoming to Minnesota and back, before the pog failed at around 3K miles. Replaced/repaired by the dealer at no charge, and have since taken it to Oklahoma, Mass., Texas, and all over the Rockies from New Mex to Canada. I have five other motorcycles, and find myself riding the Nomad more than all the others. I did not modify the engine, other than the new oil pump gear, and have not had a lick of problems.
Riders who brag about the character of their old tech motors, should try the Vulcan V-twin. I love this bike.
3rd Jun 2011, 19:26
I too have a 1999 Nomad. The pog failed on me at just under 20,000 miles. This was in 2008, the dealer contacted Kawasaki and they rebuilt the entire engine. I also have 2 friends that went with the jog, and they are happy that they could get their bikes back on the road fast; mine took about 6 weeks from start to finish. I love my bike so much that I've added a bat wing fairing and several other mods. Over this past winter I did a strip down and painted it a Lexus blue pearl.
29th Jun 2011, 18:31
My 1999 Nomad is now a totaled heap of metal. I went to Branson, MO. for a ride with some of my fellow co-workers, and in Iola Kansas two of us were taken out by a woman that was just learning to drive! She came into our lane when we were right beside her, she claims that she didn't see us. I'm going to attempt to buy it back from the insurance company, there is $8,500 dollars worth of damage to the bike, and it is only worth $4,500, plus I have an additional $3,000 for custom parts. What really sucks is I just put a bat wing fairing on it and painted it Lexus Onyx Blue Pearl over the winter. I don't know whether I should take all the settlement money and forget about the bike, or get some of the money and keep the bike, it is repairable. What a shame for this to happen!
1st Aug 2011, 08:53
"Judge Oil Pump" does not seem to exist. Please inform me of manufacturer and contact info. Please as my Vulcan's is down.
19th Aug 2011, 01:06
I have an email that I picked up off Google and forums thru reading about the POG. I'm at work and don't have it handy at the moment... my personal email is girlperson_378@hotmail.com, and please include Kawasaki or some sort in the subject so I don't delete it, thinking it's spam.
10th Dec 2011, 00:02
Where on earth can I find a six spring pressure plate to replace the original one on my 1500 Vulcan Classic?
19th Jan 2012, 17:40
I've read all the comments on oil pump gear. No answers or good information on where to get replacement gear, or if Kawasaki is fixing bikes or not?
17th Apr 2012, 00:17
Canada - I have owned 12 bikes, 6 of which were Kawi, so I'm a Kawi guy.
My bragging rights were always around the reliability, from my 1st KZ650 through my Conni 1000, my first Nomad (a 2003), then finally a 1999 Nomad with all the extras I wanted.
What a sad commentary that a company that built its reputation on performance and reliability vs. the American Big Twin, did such a poor job of owning its obvious design issue.
So here I am, can't sell it with 57,000 km because I have more character than Kawi, love my bike, but am scared of putting in a JOG. Pulling the engine for a proper one piece fix will likely cost $1,000 plus. Put off a trip to Boston last year to visit my sister, because I didn't trust my Kawi to make the trip... that is a first for me.
27th May 2010, 14:09
I’ve owned Kawasaki’s since January 1974 when I bought my first 900. I’ve always had a Kawasaki, and I’ve always loved them. I’m now it the process of getting rid of the last Kawasaki I will ever own, a 1999 Nomad. Last week the oil pressure light came on, and my research has brought to light that Kawasaki was well aware of the problem, and chose to burden all of their loyal customers with the expense and inconvenience of replacing a known defect. Add my name to the list of once loyal customers who will never own another Kawasaki again.