2009 Kawasaki Concours™ 14
User Reviews
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Longterm Concours 14 review.
By (I am an Owner) on Apr 09, 2012I bought my 14 in 2009. It was a great bike to ride briskly in cooler weather. I soon purchased some after market goodies to make it more comfortable. I bought a large Cee Baileys windshield and a Sargent low seat. This combo brought near silent cruising..I can hear my car GPS giving me directions ... at thruway speeds. I then added a 2" riser and I sat very upright. The bike has an amazing motor. It's like a turbine that's pulling the road toward you. It is rich with torque making gear changes optional. The motor is a pussycat below 6000rpm and changes to warp speed above that. Seldom do you get off this thing without a smile on your face. The luggage is nice and waterproof. The lights are really nice and easily adjustable. The clutch is smooth. The gearbox is a little notchy. (compared to my ZX14) I added a passenger backrest for my wife, she enjoys touring on the back and we often go on 500 mile per day rides. It's sneaky fast. With the tall windshield you often find yourself at three figure speeds. The heat is a minus. The tank roasts your gentleman parts. Your shins get hot once the outside temp goes above 75F. I added some tank pads from Premiere cycle accessories, the kawasaki tall shield (which is lower than the Cee Baileys) Some foam inserts were fitted into the lower fairing. This blocks the hot air on the shins. Finally some baker built wings to redirect some air. I can honestly say I can get cold on this now.
The bike has had no major issues. I replace the tire pressure batteries when I change my tires. The rear last about 4500 miles. Fronts have gone off by 6000 miles. The transponder batteries were replaced for the first time this year. Its a heavy bike in the parking lot. Once moving, i find it handles well and copes with road irregulariites easily. The shaft is invisible, it does not jack at all. Brakes are good, mine is non-ABS. It gets around 37mpg with the tall screen and about 39mpgs with the smaller one. I just added a Muzzy lowering link to allow me to go back to a taller seat. The Sargent low is like sitting on the pan in 30 mins. The link is nice. It dropped the ride by 1.5" and I slid the forks through the triple clamp by 1". Dont go more or your front fender will hit the fairing when you brake. I also recommend adding more preload front and back. I also lowered the rear footrests to allow the passenger to flex their knee more and finally a Vance and Hines CS1 silencer. That sounds really nice. Normal speeds...not at all irritating. I leave my house at 4:30am and it doesnt wake the neighborhood. The bike seems a little more powerful on the top end. (not that it needed anymore) I changed the pipe purely for looks when the bags are off. After trying a Corbin seat and hating it due to it being incredibly hard, I have a Baldwin luxury touring saddle on order now.
I also have a 03 Road Star, a 2011 Yamaha Royal Star Venture and a 2012 Kawasaki ZX14.
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As Much Sport as Tourer!
By (I am an Owner) on Nov 29, 2010I have been a pretty hardcore sport bike person my whole life (raced for 2 years too). My 2002 Honda RC51 was giving me pretty significant shoulder pain when commuting 30 miles each way to work so I sold it and purchased the 2009 Kawasaki Concours. I have never regretted this decision. The very ... first time I took this bike off of its side stand it felt heavy but that is the only time. this bike has great acceleration, great handling, great breaks, is very comfortable and with the adjustable wind screen you put it up in the morning to keep the wind off of you and stay warm and in the afternoon put it down to cool you off. I have never been so completely happy with a bike. (previous bikes I've owned: '84 VFour Interceptop, '88 Suzuki Katana, '90 Suzuki GSXR 1100, '94 Honda CBR 900rr, '02 Honda RC51.)
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Too hot plus a trip to the emergency room!
By (I am an Owner) on Sep 05, 2010Just purchased my Connie on Friday Sept 3rd. I purchased it from the Kawasaki dealer in Cherry Hill NJ. I left there about 3pm with the mercury between 90 and 100 degrees. Immediately I felt the excessive heat from the engine on my right inside calf. It was uncomfortable but not enough to turn ... around. My mistake; I am a type II diabetic with some reduced feeling in my legs. To make a long story short this 400 plus mile ride ended up with a trip to the emergency room with 2nd degree burns on my right leg and 1st degree burns on my left. The excessive heat is directly related to ambient temp since I ran into a cold front 200 miles into the trip and the heat from the blast furnace disappeared. Oh yeah the heat increases with speed. Me and Kawasaki and my lawyer will be discussing my experience. I live in Erie PA and this issue won't be nearly as bad as say someone living in Phoenix.
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great bike
By (I am an Owner) on Dec 16, 2009I bought my concours in june of 09
i love the power and agility as well as an outstanding braking system. However
this thing is an absolute gas pig.
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Riding, Riding,Riding
By (I am an Owner) on Nov 11, 2009I purchased a red c14 on 9-15-09, I call her Faith. I'm am thoroughly pleased with her. I own a 05 c10, called American Express. There is no comparison. The c14 is an absolute riding machine. I fill her up and before I know it, she needs to be refilled. I can't quite riding. The bike is a dream ... come true, beautiful, stylish, comfortable, fast as lightning, touring capable,,,. All I want to do is ride. 4,000 miles in less than 2 mos. In mostly rain.
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Fantastic Bike
By (I am an Owner) on Sep 30, 2009Its hard to find the perfect bike. If you are mostly riding on streets and like to leave town as well, you are between 5`8``-6`4`` this is the bike for you. If you like the shape of it (beautiful) and thin king to buy it just DO IT. I did 1000 miles last long weekend on the bike and I can tell you ... it has extremely smooth operation, amazing headlights, modern features, envied motorized windshield, easy to use travel boxes, great brakes (I have the ABS version), fast engine, unleashed beast above 6000rpm but perfectly smooth cruising 1000-5000 rpm. I was cruising in overdrive aT 3000rpm at 75mph... it speaks for itself. Wide range of gears, smooth shifting on board electric outlet is awesome to charge my Iphone and or GPS.
If you like cruising, touring but want to have a biting bike as well this is it. Would buy it again and again. Great tires, proportional everything.
Issues: seat is not comfortable for the rider, passenger ok, its too sloped and hard, what a great bike it would deserve better seat. The heat: it does not bother me use serious biking pants and not shorts period, if this is new for you maybe well the monster engine is warm. no biggie. Tire pressure stuff: annoying, the back gauge was out when I bought it and the front the battery went out in the sensor after 6 months. Tiny stuff but had to say sg. negative. If I can compare this bike to cars it resembles to a BMW m5 to me.
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spectacular bike
By (I am an Owner) on Jul 03, 2009I just purchased a 2009 Concours 14 an put 1300+ miles in 4 days. I have owned many bikes over the years and all of the riding that I have done have prepared me for this bike. It is spectacular. I am very impressed with how smooth the bike rides at highway speed, as well as around town. If you ... are afraid to go over the speed limit, do not buy this bike. The torque provides almost effortless speed. The bike does get warm, especially in 90 degree weather and you can feel the 600 pounds if you are use to a more flickable bike. I looked at Yamaha, Honda, Triumph, and BMW and I am convinced the Concours is the best to date.
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Good & Bad, but no Ugly
By (I am an Owner) on Jun 16, 2009I've owned a red 1400 since January and am very pleased with its performance on all types of roads and speeds. In fact, after doing 1300 miles in 3.5 days over a combination of Interstates, back-country byways (paved), narrow twisting canyons, wide-open/windy flats, I was saddened to return home ... and reluctant to climb off the machine. It left me wanting to head out again: no aches, pains, or general discomfort at any point other than what follows. That's the good.
The Bad: No cruise control is troublesome, especially when on long stretches of Interstate. Wrists take a beating, but that is the same for all bikes. The really BAD: I was cruising on a back road with excellent pavement when I crossed a county line and the pavement went to hell: almost washboards, creating a sharp up/down motion. I was at the 3.5-day point, only about 50 miles from home. I write this because I wish to deflect the charge that I didn't attach the left hard case properly. Under the severe bouncing, the left case fell off and was hit by an RV going the opposite direction. The case exploded and a "yard sale" ensued. The largest piece of the case was palm-sized. I never did find the lock mechanism, etc.
Warning: If the case is attached properly, you can grab it, pivot it by raising the rear of the case causing the connecting piece (that goes down into the slot bracket) to come clear of the bracket. This then allows the front of the case to pivot upwards causing the flanges located at the foreward-most point of the case to clear the frame part. This also allows the front connecting piece to separate from it's retaining bracket. Once both of these connecting pieces are clear, the bag can then pivot outwards which releases the orange locking mechanism....all of which causes the bag to fall off. Try it while stationary and you can see that the attaching mechanism design is faulty!
Solutions? Here's the UGLY: Kawasaki accused me of both lying and incompetence with regard to this instance and wouldn't cover the bag failure under the new bike warranty. So, the new bag costs $600+ and DOES NOT COME WITH A CYLINDER LOCK. Kawasaki assumes that the lock can be located and installed in the new bag. NOPE! Thus, you have to spend another $135 to get the entire locking mechanism (handles, lock, etc.) and now also have a new, individual key for the one bag. It also takes over a MONTH to obtain the bag, lock, etc.
Upshot: I don't trust the hard bag attachment design at all. Kawasaki is unresponsive. I guess that they're selling enough bikes in this economy to ignore valid input from consumers. Also, even with the reinforing hardware, I am of the opinion that the after-market trunk wobbles to such an extent that the attachment points will fail at some juncture. I suggest constant inspectection of all of that as well.
Be safe riding!
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AWESOME!!! Fast, Fun, Looks and comfort in one bike!!
By (I am an Owner) on Feb 26, 2009I bought the 2009 black C-14 on August 30 2008. This bike was the first one delivered here in black. I commute to work on it every day 60 miles in traffic and at 80,90mph several times during my ride. I live in DFW Texas and the drivers are insane like anywhere else in a big city. This C-14 is so ... fast and handles so good that i feel very safe compared to the lawnmower bike everyone else rides!! Safety is HORSEPOWER, BRAKES and HANDLING!! This bike has it ALL!!
If you want to be comfortable not leaning over and be on a very attractive ROCKET that doesnt look like a grandpa bike, this is it!!
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