The Concours Conquers Italy
THE CONCOURS CONQUERS ITALY
A 10-day sprint on Kawasaki' s sport-touring missile
RON GRIEWE
"WHERE DO YOU COME from?" asked the softspoken, middle-aged Italian man wearing a Firestone cap. "California," I answered. "I don't believe you," he replied in a disbelieving but non-threatening tone. `~Where have you been?"
"We started in Genoa," I explained, "up in the northwest part of Italy, headed south to the end of the mainland, took the boat across to Sicily where we rode around on the winding mountain roads for a couple of days, and now we're headed back to Genoa, trying to sample as many twisty roads as possible along the way. That's why we're in your beautiful little mountain town."
"No you didn't," he responded in the same doubting but non-aggres sive manner. "Why would you come all the way over here to ride motorcy cles? Anyway, you all have German license Diates."
"Honest," I said, trying to sound as convincing as possible. "We rode these prototype Kawasaki sport-tour ing bikes from the Italian distribu tor's warehouse in Genoa to Taor mina, Sicily, where Kawasaki held a World Press Conference to announce this all-new model, called the Con cours. Now we're headed back to Genoa, on our way back to Califor nia. Six of us work for American mo torcycle magazines,~ and the others work for Kawasaki in the U.S." "I have a motorcycle, a `78 Kawa saki," he said, apparently satisfied with my last explanation, "but it's broken and I can't get parts for it. I brought it with me from Canada when I moved here. How much does one of these cost?” After a lot of deliberation, the Italian importer decided to truck the bikes out of town. He transported them south 20 miles or so, to a lower elevation where it was raining rather than snowing. Once there, we donned our cold-weather gear, started the bikes and got under way. After two-and-a-half days of riding through everything from light showers to torrential rains and being whipped by gusty winds, we spotted the sun. Finally. So far, our trek through the upper part of Italy had provided a swell view of the road, but little else that was more than a quarter of a mile away. Taormina, we retired early in order to get an early start exploring the island’s mountain roads. I fooled with different air settings and rebound-damping positions, finally settling on 18 psi of air in the fork and 28 psi in the shock, with the rebound damping set to the stiftest position. Riding solo, those settings provided a firm, comfortable ride when cruising, eliminated bottoming in potholes, and let the bike feel wellbalanced in tight turns. of the time. Third gear, for example, will propel the Concours quickly and smoothly out of an uphill hairpin turn without any bucking, hesitation or clutching. I also found that the brakes on the Concours were well-matched to the performance of the engine. The dualdisc front, single-disc rear brakes are similar to those on the 1000 Ninja except that the front rotors are 10mm smaller and the rear is 20mm larger. What’s more important, though, is that they work beautifully and predictably. Both brakes are progressive and give the rider good feedback.
“Well, Kawasaki hasn’t set añ exact price yet, but probably around $5600 in America,” I answered.
“That’s about nine million lira,” he exclaimed, seeming stunned by the bike’s expense.
“Yes, but it will probably be higher in Italy. Your government tacks on a 38-percent import tax.”
After answering another dozen or so questions about the new Concours, our group prepared to leave the tiny town’s dilapidated gas station. The crowd that had gathered around the bikes waved goodbye, and Mr. Firestone Cap issued a parting warning. “Be careful. These roads are slippery after a rain.”
That brief, friendly encounter on the sixth day of our 10-day blitz through Italy was memorable, yet typical of the curiosity that seven large motorcycles, all the same color and model, caused in the smaller towns, far off the beaten path of normal tourist attractions. It was great fun, and I was trying to absorb as much of it as possible.
On the morning of Day One, though, the trip didn’t appear so rosy. We hopped out of bed early so we could pick up the bikes at the distributor’s warehouse and be on our way toward Rome, approximately 350 miles south. But Mother Nature had been busy while we were sleeping, depositing four inches of snow on Genoa’s already-icy roads.
Things looked grim. It was a slategray day, cold as hell, and an icy wind was blowing. What with local traffic that resembled the activity around an anthill, just getting out of the bustling town would have been a challenge on dry pavement. The snow and ice had taken what little order there was to the traffic and transformed it into something that looked more like a hastily conceived wrecking yard. And everyone back in California thought I was lucky to be riding through Italy under the guise of working.
ITALY
Still, the time aboard the new Concours sport-tourer had been fairly pleasant, all things considered. The Kawasaki’s fairing, designed much like those on BMW’s RT models, provides good lower-leg protection from water and wind, and its upper portion is wide enough to shield the rider’s chest and upper arms. The nicely styled, fairing-mounted mirrors provide a clear view of objects behind the bike at virtually any engine speed; and the mirrors are cleverly placed so that air blast (and rain) is diverted around the rider’s hands. They also fold back 90 degrees if smacked against anything.
Praising the windshield isn't as easy. The clear plastic is rather thin, and the curve at the top causes a lot of distortion if the rider tries to hide be hind the shield. And at speeds of 115 mph or above, the shield wiggles and shakes. Most riders thought the wind shield should be an inch or so taller, as well. The top of the rider's head is assaulted by air, and there is a con stant buffeting on the sides of the helmet that gets progressively worse as speeds climb over 50 mph. Duck ing slightly does, however, get rid of the blast on the top of the helmet.
Riding through the lower section of Italy in sunshine raised our spirits, and, naturally, we increased our speeds on the autostradas (much like our cross-country expressways but with toll booths and a lot of tunnels thrown in). At speeds above 120 mph the Concours loses some straight-line stability and starts a slight weave that gets progressively worse up to the bike’s indicated top speed of 140 mph. The weaving never gets severe enough to make the rider feel uncomfortable, and it is something American riders don’t much have to worry about, considering our 55-mph national speed limit.
As we neared the southern tip of Italy, the weather got a lot nicer, warming to around 75 degrees by the time we got to Sicily. After checking into a Holiday Inn (no kidding) in
We left the hotel before daybreak the next morning, and saw our first sunrise of the trip. It was a welcome sight. But the best part of the next two days was enjoying the seemingly endless network of two-lane roads that thread throughout the low mountains in Sicily.
Now, I knew that sport-touring bikes are supposed to offer good handling in the turns as well as reasonable comfort on long, straight stretches of road, and I also knew that the Concours had been built on a modified 900 Ninja frame. But because of the added weight (585 pounds), longer (61.2-inch) wheelbase and shaft final drive of the Concours, I expected it to have severely compromised handling.
So I wasn’t prepared for the exceptionally fine way this new Kawasaki conducted itself on roads that were a canyon racer’s dream come true. The Concours knows its parentage; and despite its size and weight, it’ll play in the twisties all day without wallowing or dragging things excessively. Even the roadracers in our group didn’t run out of cornering clearance in righthand turns. Most of us could drag the centerstand slightly in lefthanders, but it took about 300 miles of practice on twisting roads before that happened.
Even more amazing is the lack of shaft-drive torque reaction. Most shaft-drive bikes move up and down on their suspensions when the throttle is snapped open and closed, which can upset the handling when you’re going through corners fairly quickly. But the Concours is amazingly neutral in those situations, and in fact has less up-and-down chassis-jacking than many chain-drive bikes. Kawasaki engineers credit this to the Concours’ good chassis geometry and long swingarm.
Part of that great handling in turns can also be attributed to the bike’s excellent suspension and tires. An air-adjustable fork with heavy-wall, 41mm stanchion tubes prevents flex and allows tuning for a wide variety of riding styles and conditions. The air-adjustable, single-shock rear suspension features four-way-adjustable rebound damping. Claimed wheel travel is 5.5 inches at each end.
V-rated Dunlop tubeless radial tires are standard equipment, with an 1 8-incher in the front, a 16 in the rear. The front, a 110/80, looks a lit tle skinny, but it works nicely. Kawa saki engineers claim to have tried a wider tire but chose the 110/80 be cause it offered lighter steering. And the Concours does steer lightly and feel agile, even in tight esses. A few times, I hit a pothole while heeled over in a fast turn and felt the tire being compressed against the cast wheel, but the bike held its line any way. The rear tire is a fat 150/80, and, like the front, it sticks well on a vari ety of pavement types. We had to ride at a really fast pace on wet pavement before I noticed any tire slip, and even then, the slide was always grad ual and controllable.
Our fast-paced mountain riding helped confirm what we already knew about the 1000cc Concours en gine: It has a broad, easy-to-use power delivery. Power starts right off of idle and continues building smoothly up to about 5500 rpm, where there's a burst of power that continues up to the 10,500-rpm redline. After some break-in miles, the engine will rev to redline quite easily, but because the engine is so torquey, there is little reason to rev it that high. The engine is tuned to produce maxi mum horsepower (claimed 108.5 bhp) at 9500 rpm and maximum torque (72.3 lb.-ft., also claimed) at 6500 rpm. And according to Kawa saki engineers, the Concours' engine produces 12 percent more power be tween 3000 and 7000 rpm than the 1000 Ninja engine.
Actually, the Concours engine is a 1000cc Ninja engine that has been modified for touring. Changes to the dohc, 16-valve, liquid-cooled inline Four include milder, lower-lift cam shafts; smaller, 32mm Keihin CV carburetors; and smaller-diameter exhaust headpipes and muffler cores. The six-speed transmission has a lower first and second gear, and a taller sixth that acts like an overdrive.
In addition, Kawasaki has done an excellent job of matching the gear ra tios to the engine's power curve. Low gear lets the bike move away from a stop with ease, even on a steep uphill, and there are no big gaps in the gear ratios other than the one between fifth and six. And shifting always is positive, smooth and clunk-free. But there isn't much need to shift fre quently, because most twisty roads, even those with tight switchbacks, can be comfortably and quickly ne gotiated in just one or two gears most
After two sunshine-filled days in Sicily, we loaded the Concours’ roomy, quick-detach saddlebags (standard equipment) and headed north. Once back on the Italian mainland, we sprinted north on a high-speed autostrada fora few miles, then headed east into a vast moun--
tain range full of winding, two-lane roads that lead to small, scattered villages—including the one where we met Mr. Firestone Cap. After a delightful ride of 100 miles or so, we jumped back onto the autostrada and headed for Rome.
That segment of the ride proved enjoyable, as well, demonstrating that the Concours even is suitable for comparatively straight-line touring. The sport-derived handlebar is a bit wider than a Ninja’s, has a slightly higher rise, and its shape allows good rider-control through tight bends and is fairly comfortable during long stretches of open road. But the rider’s forearms may start to cramp if he tries to ride more than a 100 miles or so between breaks. The seat has a slight step between the rider and passenger, but it still allows the the rider to move about when playing canyon-crazy, and offers comfort, as long as he doesn’t attempt 500-mile days.
Continuing our trek north, we enjoyed some beautiful, snaky roads along Italy’s west coast, spent several hours in the ruins of Pompeii, then entered Rome via an ancient Roman stone road. After spending a day taking in some of the city’s historic sights, we were off to Genoa, one day and 350 miles of autostrada away. But we opted to branch off onto a 100-mile section of secondary road that broke up the trip nicely.
Genoa was gray and cold when we arrived that evening, just as it had been when we left it 10 days earlier. But this time, the dismal weather couldn’t dampen our spirits, for we had just sampled over 2000 miles of Italy’s historic sights on a great new motorcycle—a bike so enjoyable that everyone was still eager to ride some more, and so competent that, despite the distinct sporting nature of our ride, not one of them had been dropped.
That’s a good indication of just how carefully and completely Kawasaki’s foray into the turn-key, readyto-roll sport-touring market has been studied, and how thoroughly the Concours has been designed and engineered. Kawasaki even claims that the Concours will remain basically unchanged for the next five years. That’s great confidence in a brandnew product.
Personally, I can understand Kawasaki’s confidence in the Concours. After 10 days and 2000 miles aboard one in the land where sport-touring was invented, I think Kawasaki has built the bike that a lot of people in America have been waiting for. And I just might be one of them. 0
