2004 KAWASAKI VULCAN NOMAD 1500

Working with me to explore new regions of the country is the super powerful and fantastically comfortable Kawasaki Vulcan Nomad 1500. I loved riding the 1999 version on my rides through the Great Plains, and I've been thoroughly pleased with my journeys on its descendant through the Mid-Atlantic, Smokey Mountains, and Ozarks. Soon I'll be riding along the Mississippi River, to Utah, and Oregon -- and I'm certain I'll still be smiling every mile. Buy one of these and your life will improve immeasurably.

1999 KAWASAKI CONCOURS

Kuralt for Washington was a 1999 Kawasaki Concours. Few other sports tourers offer the same amount of motorcycle at this price: around $8,000. That's the biggest advantage. A 997 cc engine will get you where you're going and hard saddlebags and a molded fairing make this look much larger than a modified streetbike. In brief, here's the skinny: this bike doesn't do any one thing with excellence, but it does everything well. Acceleration is good, the fuel consumption is good, the instrument panel and its two trip meters are good. But unlike larger touring bikes, there is an omnipresent roughness to everything: shifting, the rough rattle of the engine when you're cruising, the nagging forward lean. If you can deal with the lack of bells and whistles and appreciate a bike that gives you all the basics at a good cost, then try this one on for size.

1999 KAWASAKI VULCAN NOMAD 1500

Kuralt for Montana, Wyoming and South Dakota was the Kawasaki Vulcan Nomad 1500. I like this bike. It has the power of the Suzuki Intruder 1500 LC, the easy handling of the Yamaha Royal Star, the style of Harley's Electra-Glide Classic, and the comfort of the Honda Gold Wing. For me, everything was in the right place and the '50's retro style and combination of colors (candy apple red and burgundy) plus two large and sleek hard saddlebags made this a pleasure to ride for thousands of miles. It started easily, felt light enough to roll out of an inclined parking space, had a hinged gas cap, cooling fan, shifted smoothly, and accelerated well. In the American West I never got great gas mileage (strong headwinds) and there wasn't much pep in the high gear, but other than that this bike was perfect for me.

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