Quick Ride
QUICK RIDE
ROUNDUP
KAWASAKI CONCOURS Laughing all the way to the bank
IT IS AN ESSENTIAL ELEMENT of our technologically driven world that there’s no such thing as remaining static. For while you stand pat, your competitors continue their progress. By standing still, you fall behind.
That’s what’s happened to Kawasaki’s Concours. Since the bike’s introduction in 1986, Kawasaki has concentrated its development budgets on other products. In the meantime, BMW, Honda and Yamaha all have sought to yank the rug from under Kawasaki’s sport-tourer.
The sophisticated motorcycles that resulted from this rug-yanking pretty much left the Concours in their collective dust.
So now, finally, the Concours enters this new riding season with some interesting upgrades: There is a new, Corbinesque seat and a pair of floating, twopiston front-brake calipers derived from last year’s ZR1100. The Concours has the ZR11 ’s wheels, as well, giving owners more choices when it comes to tire selection. It also got preload adjusters atop the fork tubes, and its instrument panel is new. These changes all improve the Concours’ rideability.
The seat, comfortable on older bikes, now is more-so, providing good support and lots of room. Brakes also benefit from their upgrade. Previous versions of the Concours stopped pretty well, but thanks to the bike’s low-tech, singlepiston front brake calipers, summoning up maximum stopping power required a big-time squeeze on the front brake lever. These upgraded stoppers provide much improved braking power with less lever pressure, and they provide improved feel. Addition of preload adjusters to the fork means you can adjust front ride-height to suit your load and riding style. The revised instrument panel is a big step forward because it is easily readable, and looks more upscale than the unit it replaces. And a bit of flat-black paint on the fairing lower gives the bike a lighter visual feel.
This slightly revamped Concours still rides like the oldstyle bike, though. It continues to display a light steering touch and top-heavy feel, and the centerstand is still very easy to touch down when cornering speeds elevate. Vibration still seeps through the tank, footpegs and handlebar; strong pulling power still hides at the upper extremes of the engine’s rev range; and the Concours’ luggage, though nicely roomy, still is held closed, and held on the bike, by fairly flimsy locks.
But here’s the good part: Because Kawasaki spent limited bucks upgrading this bike, it didn’t have to jack the bike’s price way up to recoup heavy development costs. So the Concours lists for $7399, a whopping two grand under the price of Honda’s non-ABS STI 100, the next four-cylinder sporttouring bike up the price ladder. Kawasaki’s strategy begins to come into focus: build a good, solid, familiar bike. The Concours might not have state-ofthe-art performance, but it also doesn’t have a state-of-the-art price. Do you suppose Kawasaki is on to something? Time, and sales figures, will tell.
Jon F.Thompson
