Thinking of Buying. . .

I am thinking of buying a 2001 Kawasaki Concours. The dealership took it in on trade and they are going to wholesale it off. It’s really clean (it does have 53,000 miles on the clock) but I can get it for $1500. It’s blue, 1000cc, has real, hard locking, luggage and a 7.4 gallon tank. Also I think the set has been cut down for a shorter person but that can be fixed really easily. It has good tires but might need a fork seal. I really don’t need it but. . .

 

That sounds like a seriously good deal to me. Nada Guides says $2490 avg. retail, low is $1890. http://www.nadaguides.com/Motorcycles/2001/Kawasaki/ZG1000A16-CONCOURS-997cc/Values
KBB Says $1610 for trade in value. http://www.kbb.com/motorcycles/kawa...s/2001-kawasaki-zg1000-a16-concours/trade-in/

 

OK, I bought it. I couldn't pass it up. It needs little stuff like fork seals. The throttle has a huge amount of slack in it and I think it could use a tune up and carb sync. It's not a bit like the VFR. It doesn't like to rev but you don't have to. It makes lots of power down low. I'll ride it while I pull the VFR apart for its PM.

 

Hey nice wheels! I was just looking at concours 1000s myself.

These bikes go 2-300k miles easy so yours is just broken in.

The Concours Owners Group (COG) is a great organization and support amongst members is top notch.

There is one thing you need to be super careful about though. These Kawis are prone to bend connecting rods from hydrolock. Seems the factory petcock is a vacuum deal and when it fails it can dump fuel into the carbs.

Many many an unsuspecting owner has trashed their motors by simply starting the bike.

The fixes are:
Consider replacement of the petcock a maintenance item.

Or

Get an aftermarket manual one- but you must remember to use it every time you shut we down. Otherwise if there is a needle/seat not in perfect snuff, the gas fills the cylinder.

Or

Put overflow tubes (aftermarket) on the carbs. This is really the best answer.

Google shoodaben (shoulda been) engineering outta Florida. The guy has some amazing fixes for sale.

You can also measure your piston height and there are Stickies on that floating around in the forums as well as YouTube videos.

I think you can do it through the spark plug hole rather than pull the head.

Also- there are guys swapping the forks for zx10 I think. Better dampening and brakes.

Farkle away dear sir

 

I posted my ride impressions to the Concours Owners Site. Surprisingly it was very similar to other rider's first impressions. I measured the piston heights and the engine checked out as not having had a hydrolock event. I sent the float bowls off to Steve in Florida for overflow tubes. I figured this was the safest option. After getting everything back together and syncing the carbs, I took it out last weekend for a bit of a test ride. The temperature was in the mid 40s and I could have been dressed a bit warmer. The fairing kept me out of the full blast and the ride was comfortable. The only bad thing was the air coming over the windshield hit me square in the helmet. It made one hell of a racket. I removed the bar risers that came with the bike, and for me at least, this was the right thing to do. The bike feels a bit more sporting and the comfort, at least for me, has been vastly improved. I cut my teeth on BMW sport touring mounts and I just can’t get used to sitting up straight. It kills my back.

The bike is heavy, wide and the weight feels high. It is a parking lot pig. I don’t know if it is the position of the pegs or because they are kind of wide and flat but I had trouble getting my legs up and into position quickly while riding slow. It’s almost like a leg workout. There is a low speed stutter that manifests itself at idle and does not disappear until about 2000 rpm. It make low speed handling and throttle control less than precise. Steve Sefsick says he can fix this with his famous carb rebuild. I am going to get a few more miles on her while I do some much needed repairs to the VFR and then I’ll send them off for the full treatment.

The hard bags are really wonderful. I popped all kinds of stuff from my camera to my breakfast into them. After a life time of owning bikes of all types this is actually the first bike I have ever owned with that bit of luxury.

The bike runs great. I am used to screwing it on through the gears like I do on my VFR. The Viffer likes to rev. The Connie,not so much. You can wind the Connie up and bang through the gears but you just don’t have to work at it to make it go. It is fast but not a quick as the VFR but I guess that is to be expected. It is a heaver bike.

This bike looks fantastic. I caught a glimpse of myself in the shop windows of downtown Leonard and I look really good on that bike. The blue is just fantastic looking. I did about 100 miles and I was ready to quit. The wind was getting to me and I need to wire in my Gerbings jacket liner for old man comfort. I am looking forward to longer rides and to getting to know the Concours. It feels like a bike that could be a real long distance friend. I will have to do something about the windshield and it needs tires.

 

There's a tire called the 808 by metzler that isn't great for sport riding or confidence inspiring but is said to last a heck of a long time.

And just in case: If you decide its not for you in the spring I'll gladly pay you what you have into it.

Good excuse for a road trip

 

A good friend just bought a 2014 last month in red and loves it. Very fast. Congrats.

 

I think I am going to hang onto the Connie for a while. I may sell the Norton however. I have decided I want to ride more and the Norton, while fun as hell to ride, is just not the right bike for trips. I live in a rural county and the Norton is more at home for bike nights and club runs both of which are kind of far for me to take her. Three bikes in the shop are a little much and the Connie does take up a bit more then her share of the room. She not a BBW but she is just a tad hippy.