new bike

[Ron Moss]

Quite some time back I sold my 1979 1100 Yamaha XS special, bought a 1979 R100RT BMW, sold my 1984 V65 Magna, bought a 2006 Kawasaki Concours all while looking for another Yamaha. To make a long story short I would like any and all opinions on the Concours. So far I think it will do just fine.

[ZXDavid]

Your supposed to ask opinions BEFORE you buy!
In a word the bike is bulletproof. They made them for over 20 years so no doubt any gremlins would be long gone by 06. It will probably last longer than you would want to keep it.

[Jerry]

What happened to the R100RT? I would be interested in that....

At one of the rallys - Spearfish, SD I think - Tkat and his SO showed up on a Concourse. Looked like a nice bike, seemed to run fine. Only problem was rear suspension; with 2-up riding it was forever bottoming out, even whenthe suspension was cranked up to the highest preload. The next year (Montana) Tkat and Mirna (?sp) show up with a Gold Wing and sidecar set-up, traded off the Concourse, I guess!

My recollection of Tkat talking about the Concourse was that even with suspension mods its ground clearance was less than he wanted, since much of the riding would be 2-up. He kept dragging exhaust and stand parts and thought "lifting" the bike would be more work than he wanted to do, so they bought the Honda instead.

Problems did not show up riding solo, so YMMV.

[xsivebiker]

Cam Chain Tensioner

Rider Magazine [Jan. 2007, page 76] makes mention of an after-market cam chain tensioner made by APE.
I'm not sure which model years of the Concours were affected by the stock, automatic cam chain tenisoner but the magazine mentions that the Concours Owners Group www.concours.org
can help an owner find out if he should install the after-market tensioner.
Supposedly the aftermarket tensioner will eliminate the screeching noise emanating from the top end of a "well-worn" Kawasaki Concours. [quoting the magazine]
The APE cam chain tensioner is a manual tensioner, but according to the mag, COG members report 10,000 plus miles without adjustment and the APE tensioner can be installed in 30 minutes, however an extra set of hands are helpful.
APE is short for American Performance Engineering, 7347 Rosamond Boulevard, Rosamond, California 93560
661-256-7809
www.aperaceparts.com

I must add that I'm just passing along this information and have no other knowledge or connection to this product. Rider Mag also states that the cost is $51.65 plus shipping.
Also, the magazine states that the screech did disappear in the bike they did the mod too AND after several thousand miles no "tweaking" has been necessary.
To further quote the article -- -- -- "Kawasaki's venerable ZG1000 Concours may be replaced for '08, but for the thousands built over the last two decades this simple product helps change the Connie's scary screech into a pleasing purr!"
'Hope this helps; congrats on your new purchase!
Greg
'80 XS1100-G
'87 GL1200-I
'93 KLX650-C