What's a Kawasaki GTR1400/Concours14 like to ride? NUCLEAR SHINKANSEN!

I picked up this Concours14 (or 1400GTR or ZG1400 depending on what market you're in) back in April for $5500CAD.  It had been sitting for some time and was full of spider nests.  I got the safety sorted yesterday and got the bike licensed and on the road today so we're ready to finally make some tracks with this thing.

What's it like to ride?  I've owned more Kawasakis than any other kind of bike and their engines have always been what makes them special, and this bike is no different.  The 1352cc inline four at the heart of the Connie was identical to the ZR1400 hyperbike's motor back in the day, and it shows.

On my first ride I pulled out to pass a truck and it was behind me almost too quickly to process.  I'm coming off owning a late 90s Fireblade so it's not like I'm inexperienced with quick bikes, but the 1400GTR not only has the horsepower but also has the torque to back it up.  Where the 'Blade was staggeringly quick (and light), you had to wind it up to make it go.  It felt like a light but not overpowered machine at sub 6000rpm engine speeds.  At 6k it became seriously quick and if you were brave enough to chase the 13,000rpm redline the bike turned into a total head case.

You don't need to wring the Kawasaki's neck to make astonishingly rapid progress.  It weighs over 100 kilos more than the Fireblade but makes over 30 more horsepowers and pound-feets of torque; it doesn't feel heavy, which is an amazing accomplishment for a bike that can carry over 500lbs, has shaft drive and feels like it's ready for five hundred mile days.

It's not telepathic in corners like the 'Blade was, but that bike's focus was so singular that it made everything else difficult.  The 1400GTR does a good job of cutting up corners, hiding its 300 kilo weight well, but then it can also ride all day, still hit 40mpg and carry two up with luggage.

Ontario makes you buy a vehicle history when you buy a new bike but I don't mind because it offers you insight into the machine's history.  This bike is a 2010 model but it wasn't first licensed for the road until 2014 (!) meaning it's only been rolling for seven years rather than eleven.  The first owner had it two years and then sold it on to the guy I got it from.  He rode it for a couple of years and then parked it after it tipped over on him in a parking lot (hence all the spider nests).

The prolonged park is what shrank the seal in the clutch that I've since replaced.  The drop also stopped the windshield from moving but both things have been solved now and this Concours, with only 32k on the odometer, is finally ready to do what these bikes do best:  make big miles.  One of the guys at our local dealership is a Concours fan and got his over 400,000kms, so these things have staying power as well as horsepower.

I'm looking forward to getting to know this nuclear shinkansen (Kawasaki Heavy Industries makes bullet trains too!) better this summer.

Kawasaki Concours C14 Farkles

Some Concours farkle shopping...

(Lightly) Tinted headlight covers:  $40

The big googly eyes on the front of the Connie aren't my favourite styling aspect of the bike.  These tinted covers claim to offer a less obvious googly-eye without making the lights useless at night.  They also provide some protection from debris.

Corbin (heated!) seat for a C14:  $711US  ($864CAD)

This is the fanciest bike I've ever owned - this'd be the fanciest seat... with heat!  The Corbin on the Tiger makes it all day comfortable.

They're awesome seats, but they ain't cheap, especially if you get the back rests with them, but if you want to do high miles, they're the tool for the job.

MRA X-creen Windshield:  $265US ($322CAD)

Another Tiger cross-over.  The MRA that came with it has been bullet proof and the transformable.  The flip up spoiler all but disappears when you fold it down but does a great job of deflecting wind when up.  On the Connie's F-14 style swing-wing windshield it would cover all possible combinations of windshield required and all but disappear when folded down in the lowest position.    The smoked look doesn't look like the acres of clear plastic the stock one does either.  These are sharp, well designed bits of German engineering.

Got this one done already, no regrets, it's a fantastic bit of engineering.

Speed Bleeders for clutch & brakes  $38.68 ($46.56CAD)

Having wrestled with bleeding the hydraulic clutch, I can totally see the value in the Murph's Kits set of speed bleeders for clutch and brakes.  Typical bleed nipples open when turned and can let air back into the system.  Speed Bleeders have a valve in them that only allows fluid in but then prevent back pressure out so you have less headaches with air sneaking in.

If these lead to quick and easy regular maintenance of brake and clutch fluid systems then you end up with less headaches from contaminated fluid and internal damage to the system.

I've got them on order now - Murph only charges $15 for USPS shipping to Canada - I haven't received them yet but when I do I'll update with any additional costs.

NOTES & RESEARCH

http://www.zggtr.org/index.php?topic=288.0;wap2

https://forum.concours.org/index.php?forums/accessories-c14.78/

Ebay Concours farkle link

Concours Arts & Crafts

It's arts and crafts weekend with the new bike (and a bit of light maintenance changing the gear oil in the final drive.  Here is the list of things to do in the get-it-back-on-the-road plan for the Kawasaki Concours 14:

Solve the top-box situation

I've never had a fancy, colour matched top box before.  The one that came with the Connie is a Givi-based device and I have another Givi box that would slot right in there, but I want the fancy back.

How to get the fancy back?  The stock one broke off when the former owner tipped over a in a parking lot and snapped it off.  It broke one of the bars that hooks into the base and cracked the other.

To solve the breaks and restore the bike to normal removable top-box function I'd need to replace the broken tab.  The former owner threw a couple of bolts through the bottom into the frame mount, but this leaves two bolts poking out if the top box is removed and means the top box is basically permanently attached to the bike, which isn't ideal if you're heading into a hotel for the night when on the road.

The solution was to take  some steel frame and bolt it to the bottom of the top-box while poking it through the hole so it would act as the broken off tab.  The Dremel helped me clean up the holes and the steel frame fit snugly through the break.  I bolted it to the bottom of the case with low profile stove-style heads so they won't interfere with the base and then used Gorilla construction glue to seal it all.  Once it's dry I'll sand it down and paint it flat black and then it should be back to regular service.

I'm very happy with the final results.  I used the Dremel to round the metal tab I made so it matches the stock one and the box slides on and off like stock.  The Gorilla construction glue sealed very strong and securely.  Painting it all flat black makes it all but invisible, not that anyone would see it on the bike anyway.

Solve the paint scratches from the drop

The ColorRite package arrived this week with the suggested touch-up paints for this particular Neptune Candy Blue version of the C14.  It's a beautiful paint job and so the touch-up requires a base coat, the Neptune Candy Blue and then a clear coat on top.

I also picked up some 'Flat Super Black' that should cover the ding on the bottom body panel.

With some steady hands I should be able to minimize the scratches and then buff it into the regular paint work.  It won't be perfect but I think I can cover the worst of it to the point where it's not immediately noticeable.

None of the damage cracked any of the plastic body panels which is incredible considering the weight of the bike.  A bit of touch up and it'll be barely noticeable, especially as it is only at the bottom of the side panels.  All the higher up/more obvious panels look brand new.

If I end up hanging onto this one for a long time I'll eventually get the panels repainted but this was never meant to be an on--a-pedestal bike so I wasn't so worried about some scratches on the body work.

UPDATE

I dremelled down the rough edges from the bike's slow speed drop by the previous owner.  I then ran some fine grit sandpaper over it to flat it.  It isn't perfect but it's much better than it was.  The base coat from ColorRite is designed to darken the naturally light colours plastic so when the Candy Neptune Blue goes on over top it's not also trying to cover up white plastic.

I didn't go for the spay cans from ColorRite because the cost of shipping them was staggeringly expensive (pressurized containers make shippers nervous).  If I'd have ordered the spray bombs the cost of shipping would have been more than the paint itself.  Rather than dropping a couple of hundred dollars on a patchy fix I think I'm going to get these to the point where they aren't obviously damaged and then at some point in the future pull the panels, clean them up and send them out for a professional paint job.

Painting is one of those things that works best with the right kit, and in my tiny garage the opportunity to set up a paint booth simply doesn't exist.  While doing these touch-ups, spring is in full bloom outside and in a matter of minutes everything was covered in pollen.  Things like that make painting very difficult.

In retrospect I should have just cleaned up the damage and painted it flat black for now.  The pens ordered from ColorRite are great for filling in a scratch but damage of this scale isn't what they're designed for.

On the upside, the damage is much less noticeable now.  The other paint I ordered was the 'super flat black' that goes on the lower panels.  After cleaning up that lower panel I discovered a couple of cracks from the drop.  I've sealed them with Goop Automotive Adhesive, which I've used before.  This stuff dries black, is incredibly strong and bonds to everything.  Any time I've done fairing repairs this adhesive hasn't just repaired the break but made the fairing stronger in the process, I highly recommend it.

I wish the paint pens had worked better but I'm not surprised that they didn't, it isn't what they're designed for.  With the body worked neatened up I'm more focused on getting the mechanical repairs (the damned clutch!) sorted and getting the bike on the road with all the maintenance .  Making it pretty can come over next winter.

Kawasaki Concours 14 Project Updates: Easy Fob Battery Swaps and clutch gaskets

The battery in the fob for the C14 Concours is an easy DIY thing to do.  Pop open the fob (there is a hole at the front that you can slip a flat headed screwdriver into and then pop it apart.

It takes a 2025 lithium battery which you can find anywhere, I found this one hanging up in a Shoppers Drug Mart.  Pop out the battery, pop the new one in the slot (make sure the negative side is up), and snap it all back together again.  It took all of two minutes.  No reason to send that job to the dealership.

Meanwhile, having finally gotten the clutch bled and working properly, it promptly started leaking.  I think it wasn't before because it had run almost dry (the rubber cover in the fluid reservoir was sucked right down).

I've ordered a replacement gasket from my local dealer.  It was $14 including taxes and I should be able to pick it up in a couple of days in a curbside pickup.  There are benefits to having the dealer for this bike only fifteen minutes down the road.

You can see the drip lower right in that photo.  It should be any easy install but then I get to bleed the damned system again.  I'm hoping that the process I worked out last time produces quicker results this time.

You can see the rubber gasket on the back of the clutch cover in this photo.  It's three bolts and the whole thing should slide off.  The fluid was so contaminated last time that maybe this is a good thing - a chance to clean it all up inside and out.

I'm hoping to have the clutch sorted by the weekend and then sort out the safety and plates next week (assuming that's possible in COVID-riddled Ontario).

I'm looking forward to getting the Connie in motion again, it's been stationary too long.  Bikes are like sharks, if they don't keep moving they die.  Once this barely broken in (only 31k kms) Concours is in motion again I imagine it'll stay in motion for a long time.

Kawasaki Concours C14/GTR1400 Extreme Engineering

I took a couple of hours to work on this incredibly complicated machine on the weekend.  My last project was a 1997 Honda CBR900RR Fireblade which was all about minimalism and lightness.  That minimalism made the Honda a delight to work on but the C14 Concours is a very different animal.  Incredibly, the Fireblade weighs 62% of what the Concours does while putting out only slightly less power.  Man, did that bike know how to dance.

As I worked through the front end on the substantial Concours I found example after example of Kawasaki's overly engineered approach to the bike which has piled on the weight, but you can't fault their work, nor the design.  While the C14 is an incredibly complicated thing, it's also a beautiful example of Kawasaki Heavy Industries industrial design.

The circular white thing in the photo on the left is the windshield motor.  The C14 has an electric windshield that raises and lowers at the push of a button.  This one isn't working but the mechanical parts of it seem ok so now I'm chasing wiring in a bike that makes a 747 look simple.

On the right is the battery holder.  Any other bike I've owned makes do with a simple plastic open ended box, but not the Connie.  It gets an interlocking two piece battery holder with built in wiring harness.  The presses that turn these things our are something special!

These are all the gubbins the owner before me had wired into the bike.  He had that massive horn hanging off the back and the GPS system was wired into the front and installed on the handlebar.

With the bike having electrical issues, I'm putting it back to stock before I start thinking about adding in the extras again.

While I was in at the battery I cleaned up all the connectors, some of which were quite rusty.  It's things like that which will trip up electric windshields.

One of the advantages of fairings is that you can hide the mechanical bits underneath, but even when the bits are never going to be seen Kawasaki went overboard with its castings and finish.

That lovely little round clutch cover at the bottom lives under the fairing and would never normally see the light of day, but even then it's a wonderfully detailed and finished piece that only a handy owner or their own technicians would ever see.

Coffin shaped brake and clutch fluid containers?  Why not.

The benefit of this engineering fixation is that the quality of materials used is excellent.  Even though this bike is just over a decade old you wouldn't know it.  Many parts of it look brand new.  Rust on fasteners is all but non-existent and everything comes apart as it was intended.

This is the newest bike I've ever purchased (it's three years newer than my first bike and the KLX, seven years newer than the trusty Tiger and thirteen years newer than the Fireblade).  It's so new that there isn't a Haynes workshop manual for it.  It's the only bike I've ever owned that is still currently in production in much the same state.  The latest Tigers are five generations passed my old 955i.

Next steps are to get the windshield sorted and change out the air filter while I've got the thing in pieces, then it all goes back together and I'll see if my local mechanic can get me in for a safety, then it's time to put some miles on it!

Kawasaki Concours C14 Pneumatic Clutch Bleeding

Following that helpful advice on the ZGGTR.org site below, I gave the clutch bleeding another go yesterday.  I should have assumed there were multiple bleed nipples on this very complex and over engineered motorbike.

That poster suggests using a powered bleeding tool instead of the handpump kind.  My handpump one has been heavily used over the past five years.  The glass on the gauge fell off and the rubber hoses have gotten brittle and don't connect well.  On top of that the pump has started locking up on me so I just happened to get an air-line vacuum bleeding tool only a few weeks ago and it's a revaluation.  If you do bleeding in your own garage and have an air compressor, this thing isn't very expensive, seems well built and holy cow does it bleed!

For about thirty bucks (CAD) this thing makes bleeding a much less fraught experience.  The rubber tubing it comes with is flexible and grippy and makes a secure connection with the bleed nipples.  The vacuum control (the red lever) produces even, strong suction that makes bleeding much easier.

Terrible pic, but I'm pointing at the lower bleed
nipple for the clutch down by the gear change.

Bleeding the complex clutch pneumatic system on the C14 is described at "quite difficult" and the hand pump made that the truth.  The air compressor powered bleeder made producing even, consistent pressure much easier, but I was still unable to get the clutch to firm up until I read that piece below and realized there is a second bleed nipple up by the reservoir on the handlebars.  The GTR1400 is a complex beast, but once you start to get your head around how they engineered it, it all starts to make Connie-sense.

Make sure you're keeping the reservoir topped up with DOT4 brake fluid and bleed the top nipple.  When you're getting consistent fluid out of that one do it all up tight and then do the bottom nipple down by the gear shift.  You have to remove fairing to get to the bottom one.  Strangely, the top nipple is 8mm and the bottom 10mm, so you'll need two wrenches to do the job.

Once you've got the bottom one producing bubble free fluid you can lock it up and the clutch comes back immediately, or at least it did for me.

With the clutch flushed and filled with new DOT4 synthetic, I'm looking for wiring diagrams for the windshield.  The mechanism seems to be in good shape but there is a relay click from somewhere near the ignition module when I press the windshield rising button, so I suspect a bad connection or something electrical is at fault, but I need a wiring diagram to hunt that down.

I was worried that the C14 would be too much of a technical handful to DIY, but it's a beautifully crafted thing engineered to within an inch of its life.  As long as you can get your head around that it's not a particularly overwhelming thing to work on, but then I haven't had to put it all back together yet (keep your fasteners for the complex body-work in order!).

Thanks to ZGGTR.org for this helpful advice:

http://www.zggtr.org/index.php?topic=14429.0

"There are two bleeders; the first one is on the clutch master cylinder, pointing straight up.  The second one is on the slave cylinder which is on the left side of the engine. I believe on Gen. 2 C-14's you are going to have to remove the left fairing to get at that slave cylinder.

Bleed the top bleeder first and continue until the fluid is perfectly clear (no air bubbles or foam in the fluid). Then move onto the second bleeder and continue the same way.

Note that these bikes can be quite difficult to bleed at all, and also to finish bleeding (soft clutch or brakes that are nearly impossible to get the last of the air out of). I ended up buying an air- powered vacuum bleeder in 'self defense' just for this bike but they are expensive. The traditional way of pumping the system and then holding pressure on the lever while cracking the bleeder often just does not work as the system will not pump up in the first place."

https://forum.concours.org/index.php?threads/bleeding-clutch-fluid.4122/

Followup: 

When I finally took the bike out the clutch isn't disengaging drive properly and event though there is some feel at the lever it isn't enough to engage the clutch.  I've run an entire bottle of DOT4 through it and still can't get it clear.  Time for some alternative tricks:

http://zggtr.org/index.php?topic=18451.0

"Ended up holding the mityvac hose right on top of the fluid hole over the piston and pumped the lever while sucking. Seem to clear the problem and got lever pressure back. must have got a particle of dirt in the mechanism."

Another option might be to gravity feed fluid into the bottom bleeder and then draw the fluid (and bubbles) up from the bottom and out of the reservoir.

Speed Bleeders for the C14:

https://murphskits.com/speed-bleeders-for-c14/

Speed bleeder how to:  https://youtu.be/QVjPVhoPHow  

https://forum.concours.org/index.php?threads/speed-bleeder-install-help.46199/

Positive pressure bleeding is an alternative.  Perth County Moto has a hand pump:  https://perthcountymoto.com/products/eze-brake-bleeder  I wonder if they have any more German police leathers...

Followup Followup:

Finally got the clutch sorted today.  I got a fluid pump with a one way valve in it and pressurized the lower bleed valve and then drew fluid (and bubbles) backwards (bubbles like to go up) out of the reservoir using the vacuum pump.  Lotsa bubble, then less and less, then none.

The initial fluid had a lot of debris in it (little black dots).  Once I got them out there was a little black tornado of very fine debris which I also vacuumed out.  I suspect this system has never been changed (the bike is 11 years old but low miles and minimally maintained).  With all the debris finally out and the fluid clear, more bubble came out (moving the steering side to side seemed to really do the trick).  When no more bubbles came out the clutch feel immediately returned.

I took the bike around the block - great clutch feel and engagement.  That clutch is a f#*@er to bleed!  Next winter the Connie gets a set of Murph's speed bleeders and I'm doing the brakes (which have also probably not been done any time recently).

Motorcycle Pick Up on a Budget

I've been calling around trying to find a rental van to arrange a pick up of a Kawasaki Concours C14 in Toronto.  Every rental place in my county tells me they have no vans because they are being rented out by delivery companies during the pandemic.

Last week I took my wife down for a doctor visit and noticed a number of vans at the big U-Haul centre on Speedvale in Guelph.  Using U-Haul's online booking system, I was able to reserve a van for last week and arrange the pickup.

The Speedvale U-Haul centre is a full service depot with many vehicles on site as well as storage.  The staff was spectacularly helpful in making sure I had the right vehicle (the website said I'd be getting a Ford Transit van but they GMCs on site so the guy at the counter went out and measured the openings to make sure it would still fit the bike.  They were also excellent with mask, social distancing and ensuring we had a cleaned and ready to use rental during COVID.

If you default mileage on an 'in-town' van rental the extra mileage'll get you in the end, but if you pre-state your mileage they give you a discount.  All in at the end of the day including insurance and mileage, the bill came out to $138CAD, which is impressive.  I had to put $30 in gas back into it, so the rental piece ended up being just under $170 all in.  Check out was quick and efficient with minimal contact and the return was completely contact free and effortless.

I've been thinking about getting the gear to do pickups myself, but the initial cost is heavy and then the operating costs (poor mileage, heavy vehicle, etc) pile on the costs even more.  If I purchased a tow-capable vehicle and a trailer I'm looking at $40-50k - that would be over 200 bike pickups in the rental van.  I seem to find I need a bike pickup every 1-2 years at the moment.  If I keep doing that until I'm 80 years old, I'll ring up a rental van bill of about $3800, so the I-gotta-get-a-bike-tow-ready-vehicle thing isn't really on my radar any more after this positive U-Haul experience.

I do need a couple of things for next time though.  If you want a U-Haul with the built in ramp you're looking at doubling rental costs and you don't need that space or the headache of navigating traffic with a much bigger vehicle (the van was very easy to thread through Toronto traffic).  I brought the two plastic car ramps I had along with some wood planks to load the bike, but that's not ideal as the van's deck height is pretty up there.  So, here's the list of things-to-get so that a rental van does the trick without any headaches:

Parts For Making Rental Van Motorcycle Moves Easier:

A pair of fold-up ramps would make loading the bike much easier.  These fold up and would hang on the wall in the garage, not taking up any valuable space and are capable of holding even a big bike like the Concours without any issues.

I got lucky this time as the guy I purchased the Concours off had a ramp that did the trick, but next time I'll have my own ready to go.

Cost:  $140

Ratchet Tie Downs:  I tied down the Concours once we got it into the van with nylon rope but there are relatively inexpensive options that would make the tie-down process both more secure and less time consuming.  The Connie was rock solid the way we tied it down (there are ground hoops and wood bolted to the side of the van that you can tie off too, and didn't move a muscle in transport, but for relatively little outlay I could have a set of ratcheting tie-down straps that are both more secure and very easy to set up and break down.

The web of rope got cut when we got home (and we used the bike lift to get the bike out), but with ramps and ratcheting tie-downs the transport would be been a lot easier and secure.

Cost:  $29

A mobile wheel chock: This is a bit of a luxury. The bike stand in the garage has a home-made wooden one but it's heavy and awkward. A lightweight, ride in wheel chock would make tying the bike down secure and easy, and it's easy to transport.

With this one you ride into the chock and it see-saws into position, holding the bike steady while you tie it down.

Cost:  $70

For about $250 I can get the bits and pieces that would make a bike pickup in a rental van a quick, easy and secure process.  This was a good beta-test and I now know what I need to make the next one even smoother.

****

In the meantime, I'm once again a Kawasaki owner, pushing my Team-Green ownership count even higher:

Kawasakis Owned:  4 (Ninja 650, KLX250, Concours ZG1000, Concours14)

Yamahas Owned:  2 (PW80 mini-bike, Eleven Mid-Night Special)

Hondas Owned:  1 (CBR-900RR Fireblade)

Triumphs Owned: 1 (Triumph Tiger 955i)

I've been a fan of Suzuki for years yet never seem to find one that suits what I'm looking for.  Kawasakis always seem to pop out just when I need one that meets my needs, and I enjoy their engineering and working on them.  Their engines especially are something very special.

Zero Sum Game: motorcycle restoration as a hobby

The Fireblade project motorcycle has moved on to its next owner.  It had been sitting in a garage for the better part of a decade before I got my hands on it; the result of a bitter divorce.  The fuel system was shot and had dumped gas into the engine.  It had just over twenty-five thousand kilometres on it, but hadn't been used in a long time.

Over the winter of 2019/20 I rebuilt the carburetors, resealed and sorted the fuel tank and got a new petcock, all of which conspired to put the otherwise eager Honda back on the road again.  When I checked the valves they were exactly in the middle of spec and some of the cleanest internal parts I've ever seen (thanks to the gasoline in the engine?).

Once the fuel system was sorted and the bike had a few sympathetic oil changes and other maintenance addressed (like new tires and a K&N air filter), it was licensed and put on the road where it performed flawlessly for a year.  When I sold it the odometer read just over twenty-seven thousand kilometres, so two thousand of them were mine.

The 'Blade was a lovely device.  If I didn't live in such a tedious place and ride-on track days were a possibility (they aren't anywhere in Ontario - the rare track-days that do exist are for rich people who trailer in race prepped bikes), I'd have hung on to this remarkable thing and let it do what it does best: explore the more extreme limits of motorcycling dynamics.

Trying to do that on the road makes no sense.  Ontario's roads are in atrocious shape thanks to our brutal seasons and lack of sane governance.  If you can find a piece that isn't falling to pieces, it's arrow straight because Southwestern Ontario is also geologically tedious.  We had a Californian trip a few years ago and drove up to Palomar Observatory outside of San Diego in the mountains.  Those are twelve miles of the most technically demanding roads I've ever seen.  That I had to drive them in a rented Toyota RAV4 is a crying shame.  If I lived anywhere near roads like that, owning the Fireblade would make some kind of sense, but I don't.

In our tedious, conservative province, this Honda Fireblade makes as much sense as owning a lion.  In three seconds it can take you from a standstill to jail time.  I only just discovered what happens to it at 8000RPM the week before I sold it.  Up until then I was astonished at how quickly it accelerated, but if you keep it cracked the madness becomes otherworldly.  The Honda Fireblade's athletic abilities make it a perilously expensive proposition in our police state and there is nowhere you can let it off leash to do what it was designed for (without buying a truck and trailer and stripping it back to being a race bike).

I was hoping to put racing stripes on it and really do it up, but then you have trouble selling it around
here where individualism is frowned upon.  Am I sad to see it go?  I honestly wrestled with the idea of waving off the buyer and keeping it, but instead decided to aim my limited space  toward another bike that would not only be more generally useful in the bland vastness of southwestern Ontario, but would also make me a better dad; the Fireblade is an inherently selfish thing.

If Practical Sportsbikes thinks it's the number one 90s
sportsbike, then it is! They helped me sort out the fuel system!

I bought the sidelined 'Blade for $1000 and then paid an extra hundred to get it delivered to me.  The new tires ($400) and a set of replacement carbs ($250) that I mainly needed to replace hard parts, along with the carb kit and other rubber replacement parts as well as multiple oil changes and filters, and some replacement LED lights for the broken stock ones, pushed my cost for the bike up to about $2000.

It cost me $500 for insurance for the year - mainly because I don't think my company (who doesn't usually do bikes but do mine because I've been with them for over 30 years) didn't realize what it was.  I sold the bike for $2500 as is, though it's currently fully operational and road legal, which means I got to ride the best bike of its generation and something I wished I'd owned in university when I was younger, fitter and more flexible for no cost.

That (of course) doesn't consider my time, but this is a hobby and if I can make it a zero sum hobby then I'm much less likely to feel guilty about it.  I'm going to miss the Fireblade, it was a lovely thing that spoke to me.  Having a 23 year old Japanese super-model whispering in your ear as you ride along was thrilling and I'm going to miss it.  Should I eventually find myself living somewhere where a sportsbike makes some kind of sense and where I can exercise it as intended on a track, I'll be quick to rejoin the tribe.

***********************************

In the meantime I contacted a fellow in Toronto who has a latest-generation Kawasaki Concours 14 that he couldn't sell in the fall (I was in-line but the 'Blade failed to sell so I didn't go for it).  He still has the Concours and we're lining up a cash sale for next weekend.  My first three bikes were Kawasakis and this would be my second Concours.  I've owned a first gen C-10 and my son and I rode a first gen C-14 through the Superstition Mountains in Arizona, but this one's a gen-2 C-14 Concours, which makes it one of the only bikes out there that can comfortably carry my now-adult-sized son and I two up.

I've always been drawn to Kawasaki engineering and I like their style.  This one is very low mileage (only about 30k) and needs some TLC (the owner is older and dropped it while stationary which is why he's moving it on).  Once sorted this Connie will have a lot of life left in it.

What makes it particularly useful to me is that it's a capable sport-touring machine that's built like a brick shit house, can cover the endless miles we face in Canada and can still entertain in the corners.  It also happens to be powered by the same motor that drives the ZX-14R hyperbike.  It may sound juvenile but I grew up in the 1980s and they had me at Testarossa strakes!

One of the side benefits of Concours ownership is that they have one of the most active and engaging clubs around: the mighty COG (Concours Owners Group).  I got stickered and t-shirted up with them as a full member when I got my first Connie, but have since been exploring other bikes.  I'm looking forward to re-engaging with them when I'm a Concours owner again.

Kawasaki Heavy Industries has weight in Japan!