2001 Kawasaki 1500 Nomad & Turbo Nomad Motorcycles Tested in Death Valley

BACK TALK: PASSENGER PERSPECTIVES

Riders don't always make the best passengers...this we know for certain. That's why Chalmers and I had to trade off backseat duties when faced with a 300-mile return trip from Death Valley, one Nomad short.

I found the rear accommodations to be very comfortable—the seat was luxurious compared to typical cruiser pillions, while also being large enough and correctly contoured so that I didn't miss having a backrest for security or lounging. The floorboards were roomy and well positioned as far as hip and leg angles were concerned. However, after an hour or more on the back, the crash guards mounted in front of each saddlebag were seriously hurting my lower calves. (If I moved my clodhoppers forward much, they tangled with the rider.)

Chalmers says he actually hooked his feet under these guards, which helped him stay situated on the bike as I whisked him off on an unplanned excursion down a twisty, unpaved canyon.

Sometimes men do make decent passengers...especially when you're wearing earplugs.
—Jamie Elvidge

SPECIFICATIONS
2001 Kawasaki Vulcan 1500 Nomad

Designation: VN1500-FI
Suggested base price: $12,999
Standard colors: Gray/silver, red/silver

ENGINE & DRIVETRAIN
Type: Liquid-cooled, 50-degree tandem V-twin
Valve arrangement: SOHC, 2 intake valves, 2 exhaust valves, operated by hydraulic adjusters
Displacement, bore x stroke: 1470cc, 102 x 90mm
Compression ratio: 8.6:1
Carburetion: Electronic Fuel Injection
Lubrication: Wet sump, 3.7 qt.
Minimum fuel grade: 92 octane
Transmission: Wet, multiplate clutch, 5 speeds
Final drive: Shaft, 2.619:1

CHASSIS
Wet weight: 775 lb.
GVWR: 1193 lb.
Wheelbase: 65.6 in.
Overall length: 98.8 in.
Rake/trail: 32 degrees / 7.4 in.
Front tire: 150/80-19 71H Bridgestone Excedra G703 tubeless radial
Rear tire: 150/80-19 71H Bridgestone Excedra G702 tubeless radial
Front brake: 2, single-action, twin-piston calipers, 11-in. disc
Rear brake: Single-action caliper, 12.5-in. disc
Front suspension: 41mm stanchions, 5.9 in. travel
Rear suspension: Dual dampers, 3.9 in. travel, adjustable for air pressure, rebound damping
Fuel capacity: 5.0 gal.
Handlebar width: 32.5 in.
Seat height: 28.3 in.

ELECTRICAL & INSTRUMENTATION
Charging output: 588 watts
Battery: 12v, 14AH
Instruments: Speedometer, odometer, clock, tripmeter, fuel gauge; warning lights for high beam, turns signals, neutral, coolant temperature, oil pressure

PERFORMANCE
Fuel mileage: 29.5 to 42.0 mpg, 38.6 mpg average
Average range: 193 miles
Rpm at 60 mph, top gear: 2550
200 yard, top-gear acceleration from 50 mph, terminal speed: 67.98 mph
Quarter-mile acceleration: 12.26 sec., 83.95 mph

RIDING POSITIONS

2001 Kawasaki Turbo Nomad Rear Side Sleep View

Elvidge: The turbo Nomad sure was fun to ride...at least when it was behaving. The whole experience presented a quandary for me. I'm a distance-oriented rider, and wouldn't want any performance enhancement to put limits on my wanderlust. On the other hand, I'm a fan of big horsepower, and was more than a little charmed by the Nomad's borrowed brawn. There's also something about the sleeper effect. Compare it to a blind date with a serious-looking woman in spectacles and a black raincoat...and when you get her alone she tears out of the guise to reveal a glittering showgirl getup and screams, "Let's go baby!" OK, OK, so I loved the turbo. But would I want one on my personal cruiser? Not if it meant constant coddling. Those open windows are there for you to jump through. Something rock solid, like the stock Nomad FI, would be the horse waiting at my hitching post. Party girls are fun as long as the drinks keep coming...but I don't necessarily want to share my luggage space with a sticky jug of octane booster.

Cherney: There I was in Death Valley, with 3.7 quarts of scalding 10W40 etching third degree burns on the right cheek of my butt. Turbo Nomad? More like a hot oil enema.

But when Kawasaki's prototype turbo was actually holding its bodily fluids in check, it behaved like the wickedly fun touring rig I'd hoped it would be. A growling turbocharger kicks this bike down the road with a twist of the wrist, leaving other cruisers choking in its dust.

When the smoky residue cleared though, I found the stock Nomad FI more up my alley. Mainly because it didn't burn my butt so intrusively, but also because the FI's tortoise will beat the turbo's hare in any endurance run—and I like reliability in a bike. Both bikes remain supremely comfortable, with nimble and responsive handling. It's just hard for me to spend that much cash for a temperamental performance modification when the original model hits the spot.

E-mail your colon hydrotherapy suggestions to Cherney at: cherneya@emapusa.com

Verlin Chalmers: What a great time for a motorcycle enthusiast to be alive. There are choices to fit every personality. There are cruisers for the turn-the-key-and-go crowd (that's me), and other bikes for those who like to fix and fiddle. I've always expected twins, to sound good but they often lack the acceleration I like. It's time for me to think again. The fuel-injected Nomad definitely brought a smile to my face. It's strong and smooth with capital Ss. Each request was answered with strength and grace. Mr. Turbo's addition to the non-fuel injected Nomad made my smile widen. This bike wants to go. It can confidently blast past those monstrous vacation homes and tractor trailers in tight quarters. That kind of acceleration is important to me. And I can image jaws dropping as this discreet cruiser jumps to the front of the pack. If you're looking for more ummph, and don't mind fiddling, this one has it.

TERRY KIZER: Meet Mr. Turbo

The names Terry Kizer and "Mr. Turbo" aren't household words in the world of cruiser riders. At least not yet. But if you reside in the dragracing or modified sportbike sectors of our two-wheeled fraternity, you've probably heard of the guy. He's usually mentioned in sentences that include phrases like mind-blowing horsepower or breakneck speed.

Implementing big V-twin cruisers was probably the last thing on Kizer's to-do list the day he was approached by Kawasaki during Daytona Bike Week about designing a turbo unit for the Vulcan motor. Kizer was skeptical, but when he took a look under one of the bikes, he noticed a big hollow in the exhaust system under the swingarm. "I looked at that and thought it was too good to be true," says Kizer. He took a Classic home that weekend, pulled off the pipes and sure enough, it revealed the perfect stash space to house the blow-through turbo unit he had in mind. Kizer reinvented pipes for the bike, which run in and out of the turbo behind the stock heat shield, further camouflaging the enhancement. The only giveaways are the aftermarket exhaust tips and the intake plumbing on the left side of the motor. "It has turned out to be one of the sneakiest things we've ever done," he says.

Kizer maintains that the Vulcan's turbo unit itself is "extremely reliable and low maintenance," in part because it's self-contained and doesn't share common oil with the engine. "It uses a synthetic oil you only change every 700 hours," he explains, "so depending on what speed you ride, you're talking 40 to 50,000 miles." The only thing about the Vulcan project that concerns Mr. Turbo at the moment is the problem our prototype was having. "We need to find out what it takes to make them live out there with that gasoline," he says. "That's why I wanted to put it together just like it was. The water injection should keep temperatures from getting high enough to cause detonation."

2001 Kawasaki Turbo Nomad Side Engine View.Jpeg

The only visual difference...

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Kizer feels strongly that our problems were due to local fuel, and bases his assumption on the fact that oxygenators in California-bound gasoline make it burn more quickly, therefore increasing the likelihood of detonation. Needless to say he was disappointed the bike went out a second time without the water-injection working.

He also believes that keeping a turbo-enhanced engine happy requires a certain amount of owner education, especially when it comes to some cruiser pilots. "The riders will sometimes shift into fourth or fifth gear and stay there, even at low speeds. To be honest with you, it's a riding style we're not used to. You need to use the transmission and keep the rpm up." He has a point here. Lugging any motor, or giving it big throttle when it's lumbering along in a long gear is potentially damaging, forced induction or not.

When Mr. Turbo isn't busy designing a special water-injection tank to fit inside Kawasaki side covers, Kizer is messing around with the same Vulcan Classic he swiped from the Daytona Beach display a couple years back. It's currently running 12 pounds of boost since the addition of high-compression pistons, and is dishing out a dazzling 120 horsepower to the rear wheel and 130 foot-pounds of torque. It runs low 11s at Kizer's local drag strip, and constantly shocks the crowd...and competitors. "You just don't expect it out of one of these things," he says.

It's also the bike Kizer finds himself riding more often for pleasure. "The fact is, this is something your wife will get on the back of to go out riding. It's got that sensation of fun to it—the fun factor. My wife and I have ridden more in the last year than we've ridden in the last 10. She'd never get on the back [of] one of those other things."

So Mr. Turbo has found a new niche, and the cruiser world has a new option. Judging by his track record, we're certain Terry Kizer will find a way to make the Vulcan turbo kit run wild in every state, regardless to the availability of premium fuels. It's a "fun factor" that's worthy of fine-tuning.

Resource
Mr. Turbo
(281) 442-7113
www.mrturbo.com

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