Nomad Spotlight

Richard Greif, Madison, Alabama

Hi Trip, just discovered you through Gadget. First, let me thank you, I just love it when bikers share their knowledge with each other. Second, what the heck is your profession? ...Professional photographer? Your photos are just outstanding!!!

Anyhow, for what it's worth, I just wanted to share a few things. I have included a photo of my bike with my trailer behind it with my bicycle mounted up. I am a Triathlete, and do a good bit of traveling to races through the summer, and have figured out how to indulge in both my hobbies simultaneously. I heavily modified one of the harbor freight trailers to meet my particular needs. I cut the cross rails and axle to achieve ~30" from tire center to center. This give me the proper proportion of axle to tongue being twice that of wheel center to center.

It's also no wider than any portion of the bike, so I have no worries of the wide load syndrome. I covered the frame with a sheet of aluminum diamond plate (matches my home-made lowers), but covered the frame first with rubber weatherstripping to keep down the rattle. I have been very happy with the results except the trailer is sprung too stiffly. I have removed one of the three leafs in the springs, but I will probably need to kill another to smooth out the ride.

Just for grins, I attached a photo of my first attempt at carrying my bicycle on my Vulcan. It worked pretty good except on windy days, that big rudder behind me made me require the entire width of one lane of highway.

Thanks for what you do for the Nomad community. I still don't understand why EVERYBODY does not ride a Nomad?

Rick Greif
Madison, Alabama

Ray and Marguerite Hull, Paso Robles, California

Trip,

I just wanted to let you know that I enjoy the website and the forum. I have yet to join in the discussions, but will do soon.

I attached a couple of pictures of my rig outfitted for long trips and/or camping. The bike is a 2005 with some minor upgrades including rack and saddlebag racks, Cobra light bar, heated hand grips, rear shock balance kit with gauge, and a switch to change the air intake temperature sensor resistance. It allows me to enrichen the a/f mixture when needed to stop pinging or keep it lean for better mileage.

I built the teardrop trailer based on a heavily modified Harbor Freight cargo trailer. The box is made from plywood sheathed in aluminum, the top is galvanized sheet steel. The hubcaps are from a golf cart and, yes, the taillights are from a 1959 Cadillac. There is enough room inside to carry 2 sleeping bags, 2 lounge chairs, 2 air mattresses, a tent, 2 pillows, kitchen equipment, food, and more.

The trailer hitch was made from a "Hidden Hitch" scrounged from a Plymouth Reliant. I can remove the ball and drawbar leaving the receiver barely noticeable under the rear fender.

So far my wife and I have put 6000 miles on this rig (always 2 up) and have never had a problem with the trailer or the bike. The Nomad is a perfect long distance touring bike, with or without the trailer.
Keep up the good work with KawaNOW.

Ray and Marguerite Hull,
Paso Robles, California.

Paul Cunningham, Omaha, Nebraska & Mike Spencer, Lincoln, Nebraska

Just now joined KawaNOW. Just a little adventure to share. In the summer of 2007, Meanstreak031 (Mike Spencer), another KawaNOW member and I completed the Nebraska 6-Corner run (go to each of the six towns bordering Nebraska) over a 3-day weekend, approximately 1500 miles.

During that trip, Meanstreak031 got me started stopping at the county courthouses along the way. By the end of the summer we had visited all 93 Nebraska County Courthouses and took a photo of our bikes in front of them. This created quite a photo album, great biking and a history lesson. We plan on starting to visit all the Iowa County Courthouses during 2008.

If you want to learn about your home state, this is a great way to do it. Please note, this was not our original idea, we learned of it when we met another biker doing it.

Paul Cunningham - Omaha, Nebraska
Mike Spencer - Lincoln, Nebraska

Mark Arians, Melbourne, Australia

My Roads

Melbourne is located on the south east corner of Australia. With a population of 3.8 million it is Victoria's state capitol and Australia's second largest city. Its southern latitude means that it enjoys a temperate, almost European style climate. The city itself has a cosmopolitan reputation that is reflected in the cultural diversity of its people. Our Lord Mayor is John SO, a Chinese Australian, whom we all love, in spite of the fact that his strong accent means that we rarely understand anything he says. We Melbournians always get a laugh out of our Lord Mayor and I think this says a lot about us. We really don't give a 'hoot' about much. We take our sport seriously. We believe that our town is the sporting and cultural hub of Australia. Sydney siders might disagree but then again, if they were so good then why isn't John SO their Lord Mayor! Melbourne is where I live and is also the starting point for all my motorcycling adventures.

I tour most weekends and frequently commute to work on my 2008 Kawasaki Nomad. It's a beautiful machine. The Nomad is, in my opinion, the best long distance tourer on the market today. The state of Victoria is home to a wide and varied landscape that ranges from rain forest to desert and all things in between. We have beautiful coastal roads, some world class twisty, hill runs and plenty of wide open highway to take us to the horizon and beyond. Our country towns and rural centres sprung up during the gold rush's of 1850 to 1860. When the rush ended these townships settled down to become service centres for the graziers and farmers who had settled the land near by. The Boom and bust nature of their establishment has given many of these little towns a distinctive Australian charm. Our coast is also typically Australian!. Mile after mile of post card perfect surf beaches. With place names like; 'The shipwreck Coast', 'Ninety Mile Beach' and 'The Surf Coast' Its no wonder that Patrick SWAYZE had to travel here to film the finally of his classic surf movie "Point Break".

I've enjoyed following 'Trips' exploits via his web page. I can relate to what he is doing and why he is doing it. His articles and photographs have given me a sense of what it must be like to tour in the USA. From this has grown a strong desire to get over there one day and ride some of the same roads. In the mean time I'll have to practice on what is available in my own backyard. From time to time I hope to send some words and pics about my travels. With a bit of luck they might encourage some of you to come down under and ride some of my roads.

Look forward to hearing from you all. Thanks. Mark & Caz