Old name, all-new game: Kawasaki Concours 14 puts the sport-touring
emphasis on sport
By
Lance Oliver
Photos by Kinney Jones
Except for one detail, the stretch of Marin County Pacific Coast
Highway qualified as motorcycle nirvana. But that one detail was a
rental car carrying sightseeing tourists at a stately pace of 25 mph,
except for occasional slowdowns for more intense gawking.
 With a brief passing zone looming, I twisted the Kawasaki Concours
14's throttle fully to the stop for the first time. The same smooth
swell of power pulled me ahead, just as it had all morning, but then I
hit 7,000 rpm with the throttle still wide open. That's when the
catapult kicked in, the scenery got that blurred-star sci-fi effect, and no longer
did I have to concern myself with tourists. Just with shutting off the
throttle, quickly.
Kawasaki decided to jump fully committed into the sport-touring
market segment by totally reinventing its warhorse Concours model, and
did so by starting with its horsepower-king ZX-14 motor. So you might
expect that the 1.4 liters of power beneath the fairing would be the
defining characteristic of this motorcycle.
Certainly that's what I expected when I went to the Kawasaki press introduction.
But after two days riding the all-new Concours 14 around northern
California's finest roads, I have to tell you it's not the engine that
impressed me most, despite my passing-zone excursion into hyperspace
above, or the thousand other times in two days I took advantage of the
Concours' generous powerband.
So what impressed me most? Looking at the press materials and spec
sheet, you might guess it's the long list of features Kawasaki has
included on the new Concours. There's a lot of things you'd expect these
days on a modern sport-touring motorcycle: two lockable hard saddlebags that
each swallow a full-face helmet, an electrically adjustable windscreen,
independent front and rear anti-lock brakes as an option, shaft drive with what Kawasaki calls its
"Tetra-Lever" system to prevent lift and squat. Plus the
aforementioned fuel-injected 1,352cc four-cylinder engine with added
variable valve timing.
But you'll also spot some features you wouldn't expect on a sport-tourer,
like a slipper clutch and radial-mount front brakes. Then there are
features you hardly see anywhere, such as the
onboard tire pressure-monitoring system or Kawasaki's unique KIPASS
system, which essentially lets you leave the key in the motorcycle all
the time (see sidebar, right).
So it's the features that impress most?
Not really.
What defines the Concours, in my
opinion, is the handling. This is the motorcycle that puts an all-caps
SPORT in sport-touring, without forcing you to pay any comfort price for
the added performance. The seat's comfy, the ergonomics put in you a
riding position good for an entire day, and the saddlebags easily
swallow a weekend's worth of gear and provisions. Vibration from the
engine is nearly impossible to detect, buffeting is absent with the
windscreen down and protection is ample with the windscreen raised, you
won't find any fuel-injection glitches, and the shaft drive feels
remarkably like there's a chain turning the rear wheel.
 In other words, all the little things that don't matter much on a
half-hour ride but can make you tired and cranky on a 500-mile day
are not a problem on the new Concours.
And yet, despite all that, the bike still manages to feel much closer
to a sportbike than to a luxury tourer.
But let's start at the beginning of the ride. As I settled into the
saddle, the Concours offered comfortable, upright ergonomics. With a
32.1-inch seat height and more than 600 pounds of weight, backing
this motorcycle out of a parking space can be a chore. But then the Concours is not a beginner bike. Designers focused on providing lots of
cornering clearance for sport-minded riders (about the same as the
ZX-14) along with legroom for all-day riding, and they succeeded.
Compared to the ZX-14, the Concours' handlebars are 96mm further
back, 150mm higher, and the footpegs are 30mm lower and 30mm further
forward. The wheelbase is 60mm longer.
Pulling away, the hydraulic clutch with a direct-action master
cylinder offered a light pull. Power comes on smoothly and plentifully
from 3,000 rpm upwards. Kawasaki added variable valve timing to the
ZX-14 engine to increase low- and mid-range power for the Concours.
Unlike some competitive systems that work like an on-off switch, the
Kawasaki uses oil pressure to gradually advance or retard the intake cam
timing. As a result, there's no lurch in the powerband as rpms rise.
What there is, however, is an impressive hit once the Concours engine
winds up. At lower rpms, the engine is so smooth and the power so
linear, it can feel deceptive, and a glance at the speedometer can
surprise you with how quickly you got up to speed. But above 7,000 rpm,
there's no mistaking the kick in the pants that follows any twist of the
throttle.
Kawasaki claims 156 horsepower at 8,800 rpm and 103 foot-pounds of
torque at 6,200 rpm.
 Given
that level of power, the Concours' sweet handling is a very good thing
to have. I could charge into a corner, trail-braking with the
radial-mount brakes and feeling the slight judder in the clutch lever as
the slipper clutch worked to prevent rear-wheel hop, and it felt like
the most natural thing in the world.
If your idea of the sport-touring ideal is a sportbike with hard
bags, a comfortable riding position, and the minimum number of
compromises possible, then the Concours is aimed squarely at you.
When the road straightened out, as alas it inevitably does, I could
appreciate some of the Concours' other attributes.
The electrically
adjustable windscreen, when fully raised, provided a cocoon of
protection on chilly mornings with only the slightest vacuum effect
pressing me forward. Fully lowered, it offered the perfect mix of
protection for my chest and clean air flow over my helmet. Kawasaki
offers an optional larger screen for those who want more touring
protection.
The gauges offer a complete package of information. Black-face analog
speedometer and tachometer flank the LCD display screen, which shows a
clock, fuel gauge and temperature gauge, gear position indicator and
odometer. You can toggle through two trip meters in place of the
odometer on the lower part of the screen, and above that you can toggle
through your choice of fuel range, current fuel consumption
rate, average fuel consumption, battery voltage and tire pressure.
 The
tire pressure system is worth a mention. Sensors in both
wheels monitor air pressure and send a signal to the same secondary ECU
that operates the KIPASS system. Once the bike passes 12.5 mph, the
pressure displays on the LCD screen, if the rider has selected that
function, and you can see real-time changes in pressure. If the pressure
drops, a warning flashes on the screen.
Complaints? It's kind of hard to find any of substance. One thing
that may bother some riders is a problem that has become increasingly
common on modern sport-tourers with full fairings and powerful engines:
heat wafting up onto the rider. Kawasaki has fitted easily removed
plastic deflectors at the rear of the vents on the sides of the fairing to move
hot air out and away from the rider. Take them off in cold weather for a
bit more heat on your legs. But with or without the deflectors, the
bodywork between the rider's knees gets warm, even on a pleasantly cool
day.
While the gas tank holds 5.8 gallons, succumbing to the temptations of the Concours' available
power cuts fuel range. The onboard fuel mileage monitor showed us averaging not much
over 30 mpg in curvy, backroads riding, with low-speed photo passes
mixed in. Figure you'll average around 35 mpg when strafing the curves,
maybe 40 or so on the highway. And Kawasaki recommends 90-plus octane
fuel.
And while Kawasaki added every other sport-touring feature you'd
expect (no, this is not the kind of bike that needs a stereo), for some
reason they left off heated grips.
 There.
That's the best I can do in coming up with suggestions for improvement.
It's not much, I know.
The old Concours soldiered on for many years, winning a loyal
following among riders who wanted a solid, functional motorcycle at a
bargain price. Riders who weren't afraid (maybe even proud) to describe
themselves as "cheap." Or at least "frugal." Definitely "no-nonsense."
The new Concours 14 is not really a replacement for the old Concours.
Instead, it's an all-new motorcycle intended to compete head-to-head
with the best sport-touring motorcycles on the market today. But
considering its competitive price, the long list of features (name one
other bike that comes stock with an electrically adjustable windscreen and a slipper clutch) and the power and handling standards it sets,
the new Concours is a different kind of bargain.
One that's a lot more fun than the old Concours ever was.
|
2008 Kawasaki Concours 14
|
 |
| Engine |
DOHC inline four-cylinder, four valves per cylinder |
| Displacement |
1,352cc |
| Bore x stroke |
84.0mm x 61.0mm |
| Carburetion |
Digital fuel injection, 40mm throttle bodies |
| Compression ratio |
10.7:1 |
| Transmission |
Six-speed |
| Final drive |
Shaft |
| Tires |
120/70-17 front; 190/50-17 rear |
| Front brake |
Dual floating 310mm petal discs, four-piston calipers
ABS optional |
| Rear brake |
Single 270mm petal disc
ABS optional |
| Front suspension |
43mm inverted fork, adjustable rebound and preload |
| Rear suspension |
Stepless rebound damping; remote preload adjuster |
| Seat height |
32.1 inches |
| Wheelbase |
59.8 inches |
| Fuel capacity |
5.8 gallons |
| Dry weight |
615 pounds with ABS; 606 pounds without ABS |
| Color |
Neutron silver |
| Warranty |
36 months, unlimited miles |
| MSRP |
$13,799 with ABS; $12,899 without ABS |
© 2007, American Motorcyclist Association
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