1999 Kawasaki Vulcan Nomad

PLASTIC OIL GEAR FAILURE RESULTS IN TOTAL LOSS OF OIL PRESSURE, WHICH COULD LEAD TO ENGINE FAILURE, WHICH WOULD RESULT IN TOTAL LOSS OF CONTROL. MINE STARTED AND WARMED NORMALLY, BUT THE OIL PRESSURE LIGHT CAME ON LESS THAN FIVE MILES DOWN THE ROAD. I TURNED THE IGNITION OFF AND COASTED ONTO A SIDE ROAD, WHERE A CHECK OF MY OIL LEVEL SHOWED IT WAS FULL BUT NO PRESSURE. SEEMS TO ONLY INVOLVE 1999 AND EARLY 2000 MODEL VULCANS. WELL DOCUMENTED DESIGN FLAW THAT KAWASAKI IS AWARE OF. KAWASAKI IS REPAIRING THIS AFTER IT FAILS, WHICH CAN ONLY HAPPEN WHILE RIDING, RESULTING IN MANDATORY STRANDING OF THE RIDER. MINE FAILED WHILE ON VACATION IN MICHIGAN. MY CHOICE WAS TO HAVE THE BIKE TOWED TO A LOCAL GARAGE AND GET A MOTEL ROOM UNTIL REPAIRED ($225/TOW, $50-60/NIGHT IN A MOTEL, (MINIMUM 3 NIGHTS ,IF THEY CAN FIT YOU INTO THEIR SHOP SCHEDULE; OTHERWISE, WHO KNOWS) OR RENT A TRUCK, $564 (800 MILES FROM HOME), FUEL FOR 10MPG TRUCK, $150, MISSING TWO DAYS OF VACATION, PRICELESS. RATHER THAN BE A STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND, I ELECTED TO RENT THE TRUCK. AT LEAST I WOULD BE HOME, AND THE WORK DONE BY MY LOCAL SHOP. KAWASAKI IS ELECTING TO LET THEIR CUSTOMERS SUFFER, RIDING POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS MOTORCYCLES, IN THE HOPE OF NOT HAVING TO FIX SOME OF THE BIKES. MY BIKE IS NOT YET REPAIRED, SO I CAN NOT COMMENT ON THE SUCCESS OF THE FIX (STEEL GEAR). THE REPAIR REQUIRES TH EREMOVAL AND DISASSEMBLY OF THE ENGINE (MIN 16 HRS.). I AM DISAPPOINTED IN KAWASAKI, AND CAN ONLY ASSUME THAT THE NHTSA HAS NOT RECEIVED A SUFFICIENT NUMBER OF REPORTS TO FORCE A RECALL. AND IT WOULD HAVE TO BE FORCED AS KAWASAKI HAS DEMONSTRATED THAT THEY CAN NOT BE TRUSTED TO RECALL THE BIKES ON THEIR OWN. *AK