New bike in the near future?

[mason79]

how about a shootout between your maxim and the 08 connie?


the xs weren't that slow, how about a roll on in the speed in which you do most of the riding?

comfort? riding positons?, carry capacity?

[MAXIMAN]

Funny Mason! That new Connie is making more torque at 3000 rpms than Zilla even makes...EVER.

It would be no contest in terms of muscle.

However they point you make about hauling capacity...comfort...and fuel is quite valid. Zilla would be hard to beat on ride comfort with thrre different positions to stretch your legs on a long haul.

However the hard bags on the Connie dwarf mine. And the New Connie has an option top case. So it will likely carry as much if not more.

Fuel capacity of the C14 is less than Zilla....5.8 versus my 7.8. If I slow to a speed of 75 I can get close to 40 mpg which gives me a max range of 312 miles. The Concours will get about 43 or 44 at same speed according to the guys I know that actually own them. So their max range is only 255.

But I gotta tell ya I rarely stay in the saddle for more than 210 to 220 any way. My bladder won't go that far.

Miles and I went up to the Kaw shop tonight. Trevor was working in the garage even though it was clsed. He let us in and we went over that bike stem to stern. It is truly a well designed machine. Again I did the mirror test. The rearview on this bike is as good as it gets.

The seating position is superb for a Sport Touring machine and much more comforatable for me than the Fudger. I have examined that bike thouroughly as well and though the seating position is very good...it is second fiddle to this bike in my opinion. The Fudgers position is not quite agressive enough for my taste. Someone with back problems or someone with a slant for sitting more straight up the Fudger would work well.

I have pulled the bags off both bikes and looked at them extensively and for my money the Concours is better looking. The FJR looks fine to as the bags are well designed and the bike looks good with them off. Just not as cool as the Concours. When you pull the bags off the C14 it truly looks like a mega super sport in the vein of a Busa or a ZX14. The FJR looks more like a Smaller sport bike with influences of a dual-sport in my opinion.

Really the FJR, the BMW GT, or the Honda ST1300 are not even in the same class as this bike. It's hard to compare the prescribed machines to the Kawasaki because there is so much more to the C14.

It would be like comparing a GXSR1000 to the Hayabusa...they just are not in the same class.

[fredintoon]

Choices

Hi Maximan,
well, it seems you have talked yourself into buying that new Concours, but there's still choices to make besides what colour do you want it?
Do you buy this year's?
It's a new model so they will have thrown their best engineering work into it but by next year the suits in accountancy will be pressuring production to cheapen it up.
Or will you wait until next year?
By then marketing will have pressured design to fix all the little teething troubles that new models usually have.

[MAXIMAN]

Well I'm not buying one this year. Several Reasons for this are:

1- I don't generally buy the first gen of any product because they are unproven

2- I am indeed waitng to see what next years color will be an if they are going to do anything with that stove pipe exhaust.

3- But the main reason is priority. I have a kid ... in college...out of state...very expensive. So it's either:

a- Pay kids tuition and pay my health insurance premium

OR

b- Pay for kids tuition and own a new Concourse and have everyone else take care of my health!

I prefer the former. I just don't feel right about taking money from everyone else ...just so I can ride a new Connie. It's sad I have so many friends that prefer the latter option.

In any case I'll wait a year and see. I'm starting to save for it NOW! Because I fully intend on riding one of these monsters to Tahoe next year.

Thanks for asking Fred!

[olebiker]

I bought a new in 86 Voyager 12. That was the precursor to the concours. It was a great bike had one weak area but once that was fixed never had another problem. At the time it was one of the fastest dressers around. Course I hadda go get something else. I wouldn't mind still having it today. I pulled a really big trailer with that bike went right around Canada and the US. Aw well those were the days when I had lots of money and wasn't to smart.

[MAXIMAN]

Well Mason I've not a done a shootout but I did find an old review from "Psycho Ward" magazine...



It's pretty apparent. The boys in the rubber room are convinced that poor old Concours is NO MATCH for Zilla!

[MAXIMAN]

Fat ladies?

According to the fellas at Motorcyclist Magazine...not only has the Fat Lady wailed...the opera is over and the theater is empty!

I know this may come a disappointment to us "Yamahores" but it seems the class leading FJR has been thumped...and thumped decidedly.

The four bikes in the ST shootout were:

4th place - Honda ST1300
3rd place - BMW R1200T
2nd place - Yamaha FJR1300
1st place - Kawasaki Concours 1400

Here are a few reasons the Fudger came in a distant second according to the article:

FJR has a bit of engine "buzz" above 5000 rpm compared to the Concours.

The FJR doesn't shift as smoothly as the big Kaw.

The FJR has good brakes and handles well but is second to the Kaw in this regard.

And though the Fudjer is very fast it takes a back seat to the Concours in every aspect. They said the FJR was very slightly stronger to 4500...but beyond that it simply could not run with the Concours. Even the Motorcyclist 60-80 top gear roll on the Connie won by a insignificant tenth. But where it shined was in the 1/4. The new Concours thumped the new FJR better than half a second! And in a drag race that's an azz whuppin. I believe the old english term was..."smote".

It's obvious the the FJR has gained weight over the pat few years. The new one is only 22 lbs lighter than the Connie....hmmm maybe too many fudge bars?

Of course I couldn't careless about drag racing. I won't be taking my C14 to the drag strip.

Here's where the rubber meets the road for me. Apparently the bigger heavier Concours runs circles around all of them (even the Fudge bar) in the curves. It seems the FJR had a problem dragging pegs much sooner than the big Kaw.

Oh well...I guess that's how the cookie crumbles...especially a "fudge cookie"





The final paragraph of the Sport Touring shootout simply said the Concours is "...the quickest, fastest, and best handling one. And that's exactly what it takes to win this game."

[MAXIMAN]

Sorry...couple mistakes in my blurpy...I meant to say the FJR won the 60-80 top gear roll by a mere tenth.

In any case I am not surprised that Motorcyclist turned a 10.49 1/4 on the Connie while the boys at Psycho Ward could only get 10.91 out of it.

On the other hand everytime MC runs the FJR as of late they seem to pull about 11 flat out of it. There results are very consistent in that wise.

It will be interesting to see what other publications say after their respective "shootouts".

[dragxs11]

A couple of notes taken...

At a glance, absolutely the Connie would handle better. The suspension alone is more supersport derived.

Pulling techs and specs from the ZX14 means making the Connie faster would not be hard(once the initial wow factor fades).

The fudger was kinda revamped of late, so it will be interesting to see how long Yamaha waits to counter attack. I'm sure the 1300 powerplant has upgrade potential. Those forks gotta go tho. It is mearly budget built.

And, Cody, I'm glad you mentioned wind drag... I thought you were blindly in love for a few posts.

[olebiker]

If just if they were giving them away I would be very happy to take either one.

[DiverRay]

Cody,
IF you ride one of those to Tahoe, we'll have to help "fix" it for you! Maybe try and ride out early in the summer, or late spring, and we can do Highway 1. I still have not seen the bike I would like as my "road bike", but then I'm not really looking at the moment.
I kind of like going past some of these "super bikes" on "MY" roads! But then, commuting on a 10 mile, windy, four lane road over a mountain IS fun.

[MAXIMAN]

Matt

I have gone over the FJR ad nauseum...same with the Concours...this is not "your dad's Connie". This bike has loads of technology.

No not the electronic wiz bang gadgets found on the current crop of Beemers or Goldwings but major innovation. This new tetra-lever shaft is da bomb schnizzle according to the guys reviewing it. Every review I've read raves about it and how it utterly eliminates shaft jack.

The VVT on this bike is trick. No other bike has "real ...progressive...VVT" Of course whether or not it is a PITA remains to be seen. I am convinced Kawasaki has done their homework. I am convinced this bike has revolutionized and redefined the term "sport touring" with an emphasis on "sport". Woohoo baby!

Blind love...not hardly...I have looked both of these bikes over and inside out...personally and physically. I've read ever possible review I could about this bike and am finding no real problems with it yet. If the Yamaha were a better bike I'd be the first to go for it. I am NOT brand loyal. I am bike LOYAL.

Yamaha is going to have to do some serious stuff to the FJR to catch up. With this motor. And they may...next year...hehehehe.

Every review I've read says the FJR does not have the cornering clearance and does not handle nealry as well as the Concours. The FJR apparently has a little "mushier" suspension than the C14. Several reviews have indicated the Fudger easily "scrapes pegs" when pushed in the corners where the Kaw does not.


I haven't "bit the bullet" on the Concours yet. I am waiting to see a couple more comparison shootouts. However short of a some disaster in the Kaw's design I will be trying one on next year.

[MAXIMAN]

Originally posted by DiverRay
I kind of like going past some of these "super bikes" on "MY" roads! But then, commuting on a 10 mile, windy, four lane road over a mountain IS fun.

Hehehehehehehe!

Well that just proves it ain;t ALL about the bike. The rider is the most important variable.

When Brent and I rode over Red Mountian pass in souther Colorado I had a little fun with "Gerry Tall" on his FJR. Though his bike was far superior to Zilla his riding skills were NOT. Red Mountian Pass and the Million Dollar Highway is about as twisty as that thing we rode on north of Ft. Bragg...less the trees...with huge cliff drops and no guard rails!

I passed a bunch of yahoos on Harleys and a couple STs running about 90. The leader was on a FJR. When I blew around him he took off after me. I thought surely he'd have me and Zilla for lunch...but I screwed the throttle open on the big Eleven (actually a 12 ) and buried hard in the curves. Two miles later and I could barely see the guy in my rearview.

As famed hunter Jack O'Connor once said "The size of caliber can not make up for the lack of marksmanship." It doesn't matter if you're shooting a cannon. If ya can't hit the target it doesn't matter. Same goes for bikes.

[mason79]

just put yourself on that new connie, one of these days,then i'll wait for the good stories

[MAXIMAN]

Mason you may have to wait awhile. I am very interested in this thing but I'm not pulling the trigger on it for a year or so...for several reasons.

Stay tuned...the boy at Psycho Ward will be releasing their shootout of ST's. It will be interesting their slanted view.