Comments on: 2009 Kawasaki Vulcan 1700 Voyager

By: Rick

Rick — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 21:42:42 +0000

I bought my Voyager in June and right off the bat I had 2 major issues with it. The first was a cracked handle bar hold down. That took about 3 weeks to get a new one shipped in. The second was a hole in the front cylinder jug. I had antifreeze weeping out and that was about a month to get that fixed. I like the ride very much but on this bike I am getting very poor milage. I owned a 2008 Nomad last year that was a 1600 (would still have it but got hit by a car that ran a stop sign) and I got about 48 miles to the gallon with that bike. According to the electronic milage recorder on the Voyager I am getting 37.6 miles to the gallon. The frequent trips the pump makes me believe that I might even be getting less. I know this is a bigger bike but the Harleys I’m riding with seem to never have to stop. I would like to know what kind of mileage you guys are getting and if anybody else had any issues with a hole in the cast of the cylinder jug.

By: Albie

Albie — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 10:34:30 +0000

Only those who don’t know much about motorcyles can say it looks like a Harley. The saddlebags are completely different. The fairing is not the Harley bat wing style. The fenders, side covers, dash, windshield and the rest of the bike is different. I bought one and it is a nice bike. If you see a Harly going down the road no one is going to say it looks like a Voyager. Put them side by side and make a real visual comparison and you will see there is a lot of difference.

By: Rick R

Rick R — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 15:04:35 +0000

I purchased a 2009 Nomad 1700 in April 2009 and have had some significant (to me) electronic problems. (poor idle performance, some backfiring, sticking throttle). These problems border on dangerous, particularly if riding in traffic or on twisty roads. As Kawasaki would not provide a new Electronic Control Unit (ECU) to try to remedy the problem, my dealer, who owns a 1700 Voyager, swapped out his ECU for mine. Kawasaki distributed a directive to wait 12 seconds after starting the bike without touching the throttle. While swapping ECUs solved most of my problems, my dealer’s Voyager inherited all of my previous problems until Kawasaki sent him a new ECU. Problem is, before the swap my dealer could get underway without waiting the suggested 12 second period. Now, with his new ECU, he has to wait the prescribed 12 second period before riding off or the throttle response is screwed up for the first 10-15 minutes of riding, as do I with the ECU that used to be in his Voyager. Other than that, I have 11,000 miles on the Nomad now. I previously owned the 1600 Nomad and loved it. This 1700 has its problems in comparison.

By: Steve S

Steve S — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 12:00:12 +0000

Saw it had to have it, so now that I have it what do I think, awsome. I have rode a Vulcan 1600 for the past 6 yrs, but wanted the extras fairing w/radio, trunk and hard bags. This bike was just what I wanted and for the price you bet. Ride is great, very conforable. Down sides, gets a little hot on right side heat from engine get pretty hot.
And I wish Kawasaki would get up to speed with accessories. Very little out there however when the after market parts come out most for the 1700 Nomad will fit. I have fitted my trunk with a chrome rack made for a harley. But all in all very please with my new cruizer.

By: merli12743

merli12743 — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 01:09:17 +0000

As for me i can afford to buy almost any kind of bike i want.but the plain truth is i want something reliable and can go for long distance drives.as for hd yes they are very nice,but i don’t want to wake the neighbors up when i get home,second you have to look at reliability issues.i have so many friends with hd and go to south Dakota for the festival and come back and say we only had 2 breakdowns there and coming back.Thats not what i want to hear,Yes every biker can have breakdowns but if you look at the stats hd breaks down more than everyone else.