Potential Energy
POTENTIAL ENERGY
NEW BIKES 2008
Pulling the trigger on the 2008 Kawasaki Concours 14
MARK HOYER
WHAT WE WANT FROM ENGIneering is everything. Each year, we get motorcycles closer to delivering it. By "it," we mean. . .perfect grip, the smoothest ride, ideal stability combined with a flick that just won't quit, the most comfortable ergonomics, awesome bottom-end torque complemented by a top-end rush that never seems to end. Add whatever else you want, because if you want it, it has to be included in "everything."
Now meet the 2008 Kawasaki Concours 14, poster child for the technological march toward every thing. Okay, maybe that's overstating
CYCLE WORLD TEST
KAWASAKI CONCOURS 14 ABS
things a bit, but this bike shreds. As we sat down with the Kawasaki folks for last month’s “Heavy Hitter” tech preview, all the cool features like variable valve timing, the electronic key fob and the tire-pressure monitoring system maybe seemed like so much extra stuff that could possibly be annoying or at least get in the way of what otherwise might be a really good motorcycle. Turns out it all helps the new Concours become a really great motorcycle.
Two days bombing the mountains and coast north of San Francisco as well as riding in
Full Test Mode back home have shown us a comfortable, widely capable sport-tourer that also happens to elevate the sporty-bike-with-bags performance game considerably. This is because of the simple fact that the Concours 14 moves with an athletic confidence and overpowerful ease like nothing else on the road. One minute it can whisper along in its overdrive sixth gear so smoothly and
almost like the bike isn’t running. The next it is tearing out of a corner, front end light, leaving a black line and a shower of footpeg sparks in its wake.
There was no hint of this latter personality trait as the press bikes sat like a fleet of silver bullets (Neutron Silver is the only U.S. color) in quiet sleekness below a large awning next to the Kawasaki transport truck at the bike’s intro, waiting for the first crack of the throttle.
Before we ever turned a wheel, there was a rundown of the KIPASS starting procedure. The pocket fob (your electronic key) needs only to be within 5.25 feet of the bike, in which case all that’s necessary is a tap on the main power switch. This makes the “key” graphic appear on the dash info screen, and allows the switch (in the normal ignition spot on
the triple-clamp) to be turned to On from the Off, Lock or FSS (fuel, seat, storage) position. Then you thumb the starter button as usual, and the bike settles into a smooth, automatically controlled idle (visit www.cycleworld.com for video on how KIPASS works).
After just a few days of impressing friends with your seemingly psychic ability to unlock the bike, the fob deal is as natural to use as can be. Unfortunately, due to patent difficulties (a carmaker locked up the rights), the automatic mile-range recording should the fob go out of range-if dropped while you are riding, for example-had to be deleted just before production. So the dash says only “Fob Out Of Range” and mileage is not recorded. Don’t drop the fob!
An extended freeway run was first on the list. After a taste
of excellent low-speed tractability leaving town, I got the chance to dip into the ample power provided by the four-cylinder, dual-balance-shaft, 1352cc engine. Holy #$%@! Bottomend authority is profound; by the time the engine reaches 5000 rpm, torque is close to 90 foot-pounds, then by 7000 rpm acceleration becomes wickedly fierce. The variable-valvetiming system goes completely unnoticed. All you sense is an engine of great power, smoothness and tractability. It is really impressive, and in some ways more likeable than the ZX-14 motor on which it is based, in the sense that the electronically controlled secondary throttle action lets the engine feel a bit more “natural” on the C-14 in its lower-gears response.
Point the front wheel toward the horizon, and cruising at 120 mph for hours on end would be no problem, except for that fact that this is not the world we live in. Still, it is nice to know that the capabilities of this motorcycle are so expansive. Strength and composure inform every movement, even while just whipping a U-turn in a parking lot.
While the power feels beautiful on the road, it is even more gorgeous, in a clinical kind of way, on the dyno. These are the nicest horsepower and torque curves we have ever seen.
The horsepower rises in a nearly perfect diagonal line. The torque curve appears to be formed as though a liquid were in surface tension, so consistent is its arc. Dyno-curve overlays with the 130-horsepower BMW K1200GT and 128-horsepower Yamaha FJR1300 reveal a remarkable difference in consistency and smoothness. Zoom in and the curves generated by the latter bikes appear to be recording earthquake activity on a seismograph while the Kawasaki’s are nearly perfectly
smooth. The peak numbers are also excellent: 137 hp at 9200 rpm and 92 ft.-lb. of torque at 7300. Both the Yamaha and BMW have magnificent engines, but the Kawasaki, thanks to its displacement advantage, VVT and other engine management, simply makes more power and torque everywhere, all the time. It’s just a better powerplant.
On top of this, what you get from the throttle is almost perfectly predictable response. There is a little bit of a nonlinear action in the lower gears, but otherwise the engine is just there when you want it. The radial hydraulic clutch has a pretty light pull (and an adjustable lever), although it was a little slow to react on the killer drag launches. In all other situations, a fine clutch, fully up to the task of managing all that torque.
We spent plenty of time riding the Big Slab and, sure, the Concours 14 was comfortable (the seat is on the firm side, though) and wind protection good, but sport-touring’s heart is in comfortably and capably ripping up backroads. The Concours 14 satisfies. Steering is light, with a small amount
of pressure on the inside bar required for the bike to hold its line in corners. But on-power, off-power, the bike never deviates from your chosen arc. There is some slight tendency for the bike to stand up while trail-braking, but it happens to such a small degree that the rider quickly adapts.
Repeated mad blasts over hill and dale revealed a 658pound-dry motorcycle that was surprisingly easy to flick through full-roll transitions. Cornering clearance falls between the lesser amount offered by the FJR1300 and the greater amount offered by the K1200GT. As for the shaft drive, Kawasaki’s Tetra-Lever works great, with minimal lash and supple, controlled suspension action. This is one of the best shaft-drive setups we’ve ever tried. There is still a minor amount of a clunky feel (but not sound) at low speed, but the back end flat works with no lift and no squat, no matter how crazy you are with the throttle. Add tool-less rear preload adjustment and firm-but-comfortable damping out back and you have a top-level rear end to complement the excellent 43mm inverted fork.
Preload changes up front made a big difference in how the bike behaved, as did alterations in rebound damping.
Standard settings offered a good ride and excellent cornering composure. With some spring taken out of both ends and rebound softened, ride got more cushy at the expense of some composure.
Brakes were top quality, one-finger pulls hauling the bike down, with ABS (plus $900 over the $12,899 base model) providing extra security. If there are any complaints about the ABS, it is at the rear. The anti-lock is just too easy to invoke, even with the C-14’s slipper clutch helping to lessen the influence of engine braking. What happens
is that the brake pedal taps back at your boot as soon as you apply it with any fervor. This was termed by one Kawasaki test rider as the “safest” setting, but it happened a surprising amount. These are otherwise amazing brakes.
What it all adds up to is a very big, very fast bike that you can really charge on going down a backroad. The Concours can be ridden with surprising aggression and always seems to provide a solid, unerring platform for the kind of dynamic living the serious sport-touring rider is after. The flipside is total smoothness in that overdrive sixth as you whoosh down the highway.
One of the more amusing elements was the wide range in fuel mileage recorded. Ridden with some degree of fuel conservation in mind, the Concours delivers respectable economy of more than 45 mpg. After a particularly aggressive riding day, though, we got the number to drop to 24 mpg on one tank! We humbly submit that this is simply good engine management, because if you want to make power you have to bum fuel. Anyway, in something resembling “normal” riding, it is
pretty easy to get at least 200 miles out of the 5.8-gallon tank. When the Range display on the dash flips from "50 miles" to the annoyingly flashing "Low Fuel" there is about a gallon left.
If anything, this bike could and probably should be lighter. There aren’t a lot of negatives to be unfurled here in terms of tonnage because the Concours rides great, but the 658 pounds of our ABS-equipped tester put it well up on the competition.
Add in 35 pounds of fuel when full, and you’re pushing almost 700 pounds, ready to roll. And you haven’t even packed for the trip yet. There is the argument that a heavier bike laughs off a load more easily. It works like this: The typical payload of riders and luggage adds up to a smaller percentage of the overall weight on a heavier bike, meaning the springs and damping are less affected by the extra weight. Still, this is a pretty beefy piece. At least you don’t notice it on the road.
There are some strange omissions. How can it be in this day that a manufacturer designs from the ground up a sport-tourer of such magnitude and doesn’t offer a plug-and-play GPS satellite-navigation system? This is a bike Kawasaki touts as a “transcontinental sport-tourer,” riders of which should “bring their passports,” yet heated grips don’t come standard and, further, aren’t even available as an option? Why is the button to toggle through the info screens (tire pressure, instant fuel economy, etc.) on the dash, not on the handlebar?
The boss wasn’t too happy with this one, or another strange void in the info display: “All this variable-valve gizmotology and they can’t run a cheap strand of wire from the clocks to the handlebar so I might scroll through the functions without having to lean forward and punch a button way up there?!” said the Chief, adding, “Why no ambient air temp readout on the ‘Controller Area Network’ dash?
It tells me the air pressure in the tires through blinkin’ FM radio waves, but I have to look for a bank clock to tell me how cold it is outside?” The lack of cruise control seems like another biggie, because once you’ve tried a bike that has it, not having it is a terrible fate.
There is no doubt that keeping the price for the non-ABS model under $13,000 was a big push, but at least having fac-
tory-ready options would allow somebody to choose what they want. The focus here, though, was on core performance and good value in terms of the sport-touring market.
Hey, at least the saddlebags are great. They are huge inside (ate an XL full-face helmet with room to spare), easy to mount and look good in place. The tank-top glovebox, meanwhile, is a little bit chintzy feeling but it is a good place to store your toll-road transponder or miscellaneous bribe monies. A locking tail trunk is said to be in the works.
Ergonomics were generally praised. Bar-seat-pegs relationship generated no complaints. The seat drew a few negative comments about its firmness, although it was nice to have the support during aggressive riding. A gel seat will be available, as will a passenger backrest. In terms of wind protection, the verdict is positive, although riders under 6 feet complained about wind noise with the screen fully raised. Riders who were 6-foot-plus generally liked the wind management, although there is a bit of helmet-level turbulence as well as light pressure on your back when the screen is fully raised. A taller, wider-at-the-top accessory windshield will be available. Seat time with this screen proved its worth. The stable-air pocket was much larger and the wider top meant air (or potentially rain) got pushed around the rider’s shoulders. If you live in a cold climate or have a neither-rain-nor-sleetnor-dark-of-night touring mentality, this piece is for you.
There is some heat from the engine room felt at shin level, even with the fairing-side heat-deflectors (the blocky wedge trailing the slatted vents) in place, but this was primarily noted at speeds under 40 mph.
So, while there are a few things to complain about, the Concours 14 delivers on the promise of being a sport-tourer based on the mighty ZX-14 and using technology that is, admittedly, old hat in the car world but big steps forward on two wheels. Its greatest success, though, is being a bike that you just want to get on and ride, a machine that induces you to plan longer trips, taken to more distant places. It is true that technology marches on, but in the case of the Concours, it sprints. □
EDITORS' NOTES
I AM A BIT OF A LUDDITE OF CONVENience when it comes to technology. I've got no TV at home but do have five different tube radios/monophonic hi-fi sets so I can get my news via BBC's shortwave broadcasts, and generally reject new technology until it becomes too inconvenient to do so any longer. So it was with great suspicion that
I approached this new Concours 14
and its VVT, KIPASS and so forth. Being the man on the ground at the press ride a couple of months ago gave me the first taste of Kawasaki’s big Silver Bullet and I was pretty impressed, but still cautious, even following two great days on the backroads and highways of northern California. But after we got the bike home and I started leaving contrails (probably just tire smoke) over the local mountain-pass roads, I was totally sold. This thing rocks. If technology makes this kind of beautifully delivered horsepower, well, Go Technology! But I can’t believe they left off a shortwave receiver. -Mark Hoyer, Executive Editor
IF I EVER HAD TO OWN JUST ONE STREETbike (a day that I hope never comes), it no doubt would be a sport-tourer.
Lift off the bags and I have a capable commuter, a surprisingly good cornercarver and a fun day-tripper. Put ’em back on and the horizon-severely tilted, of course-is mine for the chasing.
If I were to make that decision right now, I’d have to opt for the Concours
14. Compared with BMW’s K1200GT, the two-time and reigning Best Sport-Tourer in Of s Ten Best awards, the 14 is faster, quicker, handles more confidently thanks to superior front-end feedback, and has marginally better straightline stability. Okay, so it’s option-challenged compared to the BMW, but damn, look at the price! The base Concours is more than $6000 less-expensive than the lowest-priced K1200GT, allowing lots of financial leeway for me to add my own stuff, like GPS, heated grips and the like. Let’s see,
I have that Kawasaki dealer’s phone number somewhere...
-Paul Dean, Senior Editor
I WAS SPORT-TOURING BEFORE THE CATegory was coined, spifty color-matched red backpacks slung over the frame rails of my Yamaha RD400F Daytona Special, my trusty Eclipse tankbag’s map pocket full of possibilities. I was at the magazine when Kawasaki introduced the original Concours 20 years ago. I currently own one of the first Japanese sport-tourers, a 1982 Honda
CBX Six. Bonafide, in other words.
I’m of two minds about the Conk 14. First, I absolutely love its power. Like an Oktoberfest beer tap-just open it up and the hearty stuff comes pouring out. But why Kawasaki didn’t deliver a techno coup de grace with GPS, heated grips and seat, electro-adjustable damping, more complete instrumentation, etc. is beyond me. Given a choice between that speedpass key thingamabob and a sat-nav system...?
-David Edwards, Editor-in-Chief
CONCOURS 14 ABS
SPECIFICATIONS
