1500 Nomad dresser bars

[woodswoman]

Hey, 1500 Nomad owners, can I ask you three question?

(1) Do you know whether the dresser bars on your bikes would fit on a 1500 Classic without modification?

(2) Do you know whether the Nomad dresser bars are the same as Kawasaki OEM part number K53020-141W? (Wide dresser bars for the 1500 Classic, to accomodate the "fatty" style OEM saddle bags)

(3) If not, do you know what the Nomad part number may be?

Thanks for any info, advice or insight.

[Nomadthesailor]

I have an '04 1500 Nomad, but don't know the answer to any of those ?.

[woodswoman]

Found the answers to my own questions, thanks to the Clymer manual and some sleuthing on various internet parts sites.

(1) No. The 'Nad dresser bars are equipped with an extra support that pokes out at the bottom, designed to hang onto the bottom saddlebag bracket that helps hold up those monster 'Nad bags. I'd have to lop off the extra metal to keep the 'Nad bars from looking funny on my Classic.

(2) No, they are different part numbers -- and different items.

(3) Meh, doesn't matter to me now.

Thanks anyway, friends!

[RichLockyer]

I looked into it on the 1600. Total for the conversion would have been around $600 (half of that for the floorboard assemblies that would have been needed). I ended up only installing the floorboard assemblies because the dresser bars would have been about 2" wider than the Tsukayu Strong bags. If I ever upgrade the bags to the Jumbo-Strong, they might look okay.

1500 MAY BE similar to the 1600 with respect to the bar mounting. Print out the drawings and parts listings from Welcome to Kawasaki.com , keep in mind that the FI may be different from the carb'd model, so be sure and look up the appropriate listings. Use the same year for both unless your 1500 is 2005 or newer, in the case use the 2004 Nomad-FI for reference.

The bars will bolt up to the 1600 frame, however, the passenger footpegs must be changed to the Nomad floorboards, as the lower brackets mount between the frame and the floorboard mounts.
The right footpeg mount incorporates the muffler bracket.
This means that you'll also loose the muffler bracket, so something will have to be fabricated to replace it (3 pieces of steel welded at the proper angles, drilled and shaped properly, will do the trick: Misc Vulcan :: Nomad Floorboards picture by LCR_Peaches - Photobucket )


The bottom of the dresser bars does indeed have a mounting boss for the lower saddlebag support bar, but that is a separate item and the dresser bars can be installed without them. The mount is on the bottom crosspiece and not that close to the outside corner, so it would not be really obvious... the bags should hide it. Installation of the support bar would require a complete conversion of the rear assembly to the Nomad bag supports and fender strut covers... but it would provide a convenient place to hang your mufflers.

I believe that this conversion can only be done when using either a "dually" exhaust system, or a low 2-1 such as the Roadhouse. There would not be enough clearance for the stock miniguns on the 1600. May or may not be enough room to clear the top slip-on on the 1500.

[woodswoman]

Thanks for the deets, Rich. Excellent as always.

For now, I'm putting the Nomad dresser bars on my "too hard to do" list. I don't really like the look of the OEM dresser bars for the 1500 Classic, but I'm not handy enough (or quite motivated enough) to do all the swapping and tinkering needed in order to use the 'Nad bars.

--Chris