what would you do?????

[RUSH]

SWMBO has OKed the purchase of a new Kawasaki Concours for the 4 corners trip. Now I like my XS and Im not giving it up, but if you had the choice between buying a new bike for the trip or taking your first bike that you know, but know has lots of years on her, but not lots of miles, what would YOU do? And this is not to say you cant buy the bike after or during the trip if "heaven forbid" something should happen to the XS.

[ratbyk]

Big Trip

If you really love your XS and it is ready for the trip then run it. Run it and run it long and hard. Then clean it up and park as art in the living room. Then get the Kawi and start life over.
Ken/Sooke

[RUSH]

I guess my fear is that something will break, something, that at home would be no problem to fix, but on the road it will end the trip and the cost to fix would be more than the value of the bike. Should I chance it with the bike Ive got or rely on the warrenty and quality of a new bike?
I have yet to change the bearings on my bike. Maybe all the electrical fixes that I have done are due to expire. and a new bike would be soooo much faster and smoother on the open road. Not that I go over 75mph.

[RUSH]

I guess I should read my signature. IF life Was easy...

[GNEPIG]

yeah, what he said

in the living room

[GNEPIG]

the concourse would not be any faster or smoother
use the force rush

[RUSH]

so Im going on to plan A, which is tell the dealer that the bike has an undulating vibration above 70mph and have him rebalance the tire, and while its off the bike, ask him to replace the bearings.
I came up with that on my last trip. Its all true, except for the fact that the vibration was there before the new tire was installed.

[GNEPIG]

having worked for a couple of cycle shops around here ive heard a bunch of then kind of stories and this one sounds as good as any. while its up in the air have them check your steering stem bearings to see if there loose, cant hurt

[prometheus578]

Concours cams!!!!

Make sure you get the extended warranty for the Concours. Good customer just came in yesterday for scheduled valve adjustment, etc. (Concours valves every 6,000) Bike has 24,000 on it. (Is a 2002 model) Took off the valve covers and started to cry. Cam lobes were shot!! And I mean badly. I dreaded calling him with the news, as I was the last guy in there, and just couldn't figure out how I managed to mangle them.
Imagine my surprise when he informed me that he's been reading about this malady on the concours owner's group Concours.org. It seems that some machines, not all, just suddenly have the cams disinigrate. Bad metallurgy? His standard three year warrenty was to expire this June. Luckily for him, this was caught just in time. Cams are something like $245 a piece.
Front brakes on all the Concours' I have seen make a grinding noise... just the nature of the beast, and replacing the mirrors mounted inside the fairing is a real treat.
Other than that.. all the owners are real pleased with the machines.
(I went to that internet site, but couldn't locate the info he was referring to, but maybe just didn't search around enough.)

[Czekus21]

Give the XS the once over and take it. These bikes ( as well as anything mechanical ) need to be used. Just like in the military. The equipment sits for a very long time without use. Then ya flog the heck outta it for a short time. Then it sits agian. I think that's why we worked less on the equiptment that was used all the time. Gotta use it. I ride MIYAMI every chance I get for XStended distances with very minimal problems. I see more problems from alot of the newer bikes, ( especially Harley's ) They've got so much new fangled junk on them all run by a circut computer. Granted, fuel injection is great but how do you bypass something that's broke when it won't run by bypassing the broken item. Warentee doesn't do alot of good for your ride sitting in the repair shop waiting on parts, let alone stuck on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. There's my 2 cents. Time to go for a ride.

[Dubldee]

Another option

I looked at the same kind of deal this spring, and as much as I like my old XS, it limited my travel plans. I looked at the Kaw, then decided a used Honda ST1100 was better than a new Kaw. I can hope for many years of use without another purchase, as these things regularly go 100k miles. SWMBO would really like that!

[GNEPIG]

i heard the FZ1s where pretty cool, vibrate less and haul waayy more butt. and they dont cost much more than a concourse. and they look efn sweet

[Ken Talbot]

My guess is you'd be way more comfortable on the brand-new Concours, and the new bike should be less prone to unexpected breakdown. Doing the four corners trip is going to earn you some pretty serious bragging rights with a lot of folks. Think how much more impressive it would be if you did it on a 25 year old bike that you looked after yourself!

[e.z.nightrider]

While SWMBO at my neck of the woods might think ether bike just a bit to big for her the question wouldn't be which ride to take but who gets the new one. SHMBO rides a XJ650 Maxim

[prometheus578]

Just in case you're still thinking about a concours, Rush. In an earlier post, I mentioned that a customer's cams were falling apart, and I had to replace them quickly while he was still under warranty. The cams were pitted badly, and the metal was flaking off.
Two weeks ago... we get a call from Kawasaki. (We had to send the warrantied cams to them) They refused to reimburse us for our warranty work... saying that, "Yes, the cams are pitted, etc. but seeing how we could still adjust the valves.. the damage is cosmetic, and not covered by warranty.
I gave them a piece of my mind, or what's left of it, and they agreed to pay us for the cams, but not the labor.
Anyway.... here's the kicker.
The customer comes back in last week.. complaining of noise, etc. So I go in and pop the cover for a looksee.
The new cams that Kawa sent us are starting to pit and fall apart! And this was in less than 1,000 miles!
We called them again.... and were again told that it's cosmetic, and not covered.
I hate to see what's gonna happen when his cams go to hell this time, seeing how we can't do anything for him... as it's not warranty-able!
Tis a shame, as they're nice machines.
But... I guess that's sort of like saying...
"Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?"