Video breakdown of how to get into the windshield motor on a C14 Concours:
"There are two relays (up and down) that are identical. They're on the bracket that blocks the air filter removal. Looking at them with the fairing off on the left side. They are the first two that look alike. I rather doubt that both of them are bad as you said it wouldn't work at all. If only one direction worked then you could swap relays to see if you could narrow down the problem to one relay."
There is a connector to the motor. Disconnect it and check the following:
+ - switch position standard voltage
green red Free 0
green red Up battery voltage
red green Free 0
red green Down battery voltage
"30 amp fuse for the windshield motor: I would start at the connector to the motor and work backwards if the voltages aren't there or right. Older model," but: http://www.zggtr.org/index.php?topic=10532.0
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The long and the short of this is that I need to test the wiring and then jump the motor to see if it works. If it doesn't, taking it out looks like a pretty major operation, but then everything on the C14 looks like it's over engineered, which isn't a bad thing.
I can't believe how over-engineered the battery holder was! Heavy and much more complicated than it needs to be, but that's kinda the vibe of the bike.
Pneumatic Clutch Cover
The former owner thinks it's leaking, but it seems pretty happy (no drips under the bike). I'm going to torque it on properly to begin with and then keep an eye on it.
This have gotten fragile on this 11 year old C14 that's enjoyed 11 freezing Canadian winters followed by 11 boiling Canadian summers.
This kit from Amazon is automotive clips, but there are 50 in it that are a very close match to the Kawasaki part. The OEM clips are hard to find. For what that kit costs, I'm going to give it a shot and see if they work with it. If not, I have some handy clip removing tools and a pile of optional sizes for the future for not much money. The Kwak parts are $4US each. 50 of those (if I could find them) would be over 200 bucks, so I'll give the generics a shot.
Some of the louvred electronics pins have also broken (like I said, the plastics are starting to get fragile on this thing), so having a multi-pack is handy in other ways.
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I'm just going to keep chucking GTR1400/C14 Concours/ZG1400 windshield details on here as I find them online.
The windshields on these seem to run into problems, especially if they're stressed while fully extended while operating at high speeds. I hope something on here gives you what you need to figure out the problem. COG members tell me the windshield motor assembly costs north of a thousand bucks, so this is a DIY situation (unless you've got thousands to chuck and an older bike).
The solution came in the 2015 model when the windshield came with a vent that reduces back pressure and stress on the unit. Putting in an aftermarket or updated stock windshield will probably help you avoid windshield motor headaches. It's on my to-do list for this bike.
•Shifting into first gear from neutral whilst stopped can illicit a 'clunk'. This is normal, but check your idle speed. It may have been set too high from the factory. Mine was set to 1800rpm.
•Do not overtighten the oil filter. You'll regret it when you try to remove it. Hand tight is fine.
•The 08-10 US models do NOT have oxygen sensors.
•When it's warm outside, bike on the side stand, tank nearly full or full, expansion may force gas/oily mixture out near the stand. Nothing to be concerned with.
•Check your battery installation. Some have been installed incorrectly. The + terminal should be on the outside.
•Periodically check the tightness of the battery terminals. They have a tendency to work loose.
•Headlight aim may be maladjusted. Mine were pointed straight down.
•The right hand mirror assembly may not be correctly mounted on the fairing. The mirror mounts within a recess in the right fairing. There have been reports of the mirror assembly being tightened down while not correctly seated causing cracks in the fairing (dealer issue if so).
•Flash to Pass (FTP) switch will cause the highbeams to come on during rain events. Dielectric grease slathered on the switch solder blobs will prevent this from happening.
•Check your exhaust header to manifold nuts. They have a tendency to loosen up over time. They may require tightening a few times before they stay tight. 13ft/lbs torque
•Check all your fasteners for tightness. Unless you have an exceptional dealer, this is typically overlooked.
•Check your oil level before accepting the bike from the dealer. The oil is checked with a sight gauge on the right side. If there isn't any oil showing in the glass with the bike level it needs to be topped off. Check your tire air pressures as well (42/42)
•Do not over-tighten the rear drive oil plug drain bolt. It strips out easily. It doesn't take a lot of force. Do not over tighten the fill plug either. You'll regret it.
•If you disconnect the battery, tire pressure indicator on screen will be blank until you ride it again
•If you are lucky enough to get your second FOB in a plastic baggy, you need to either write down the number on it or keep the baggy somewhere safe for reference purposes in case you lose it. Applies to the 08-09 models. Not sure if it applies to the '10s.
•Bike on center stand and rotating rear wheel. If you hear clicking, get it to the dealer to check it. We've been finding several issues: front spline dry; missing cir-clip on a joint: loose caps. http://forum.concours.org/index.php?topic=71444.0
christine@aeroflowscreens.com for an accurate shipping quote and ordering assistance
http://www.zggtr.org/index.php?topic=18400 suggests the Aeroflow is exceptional, but they don't ship easily to Canada (add $50US to the price) and cost $220US for the average size one. $331 for a windshield is steep. It's hinted that you can get small and tall screens but I don't want a sail on the front of the bike, just a smart windshield that doesn't overly stress the mechanism, provides reasonable protection and looks good doing it. That Aeroflow's webpage isn't secure and looks very amateur isn't convincing me to move in that direction. No pic because they don't have one on their site.
California Scientific seem to have it together. They give details on how to select the right size screen and their site is both informative and works. It's also HTTPS secure. The CalSci screen is nicely shape and comes in regular or super wide. It also has a back pressure relief hole in it. They're at $200US per screen. I'm in between a large and an XL on their chart but I think I'd go with the large as I don't want a sail in front of me, nor do I want it stressing the mechanics.
The National Cycle V-Stream seems quite common. FortNine has them too: https://fortnine.ca/en/national-cycle-vstream-windshield The details on it seem to suggest it's a quality thing. From FortNine I avoid all the trying-to-buy-from-a-small-US-business headaches and shipping is included. At $247CAD and with no customs or shipping surprises, it's also significantly cheaper than the other two. No venting for back pressure but it's a pretty thing that claims much improved wind protection without being a sail.
If you like watching someone hit things, this'll do it for you:
An MRA screen came with the Tiger and I'm a fan. They aren't cheap but they work well while keeping a low profile that wouldn't stress the motor. Good back pressure management too.
Twisted Throttle used to do Canadian orders without and faff, but now they're in USD and I'm worried about surprise costs for shipping and customs. They're already at $325CAD before any other surprises come into play.
Inside Dimensions: 9'6" x 5'7" x 4'8" (LxWxH) (will fit C14 easily) Back Door Opening: 5'1-1/2" x 4'1-1/2" (WxH) Bike might be a touch too tall (windshield removal?, angle it?) Deck Height from Ground: 2'5"
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.
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.
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In the meantime, I'm once again a Kawasaki owner, pushing my Team-Green ownership count even higher:
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.
I'm still bedding in the Tiger after a lot of over-winter maintenance. When I was having idling issues last year I messed around with the fuel mapping and upped all the idle speeds, but now that the idle's working perfectly I'm left thinking that this high idle is just wasting gas. The first long ride of the year took me up to the edge of Georgian Bay to look at the water before coming back through the Grey Highlands and over the farm desert I live in to home.
That ends up being about 320kms and I topped the tank the day before and did it again today, so I have an accurate idea of how much fuel I used, which was 18.83 litres. That works out to 5.72 litres per 100 kms or about 41 miles per gallon. According to the interwebs, the 955i Tiger should be getting 5.6 litres/100kms or 39.5mpg, so the old Tiger is still coming in ahead of the factory expectations, and it's not like I'm light handed with it.
I turned the camera on when I got to Beaver Valley and Graham Hill:
...and then on up Beaver Valley to Thornbury Harbour:
Being landlocked is tough for a kid who grew up by the sea. Georgian Bay isn't the sea, but it'll do.
...then it's down behind Blue 'Mountain' and through Singhampton to Duntroon near Creemore.
The twists and turns of Noisy River Road just outside of Creemore...
And the Noisy River itself - nice place to stop and have a break in COVID land where you can't stop anywhere else...
Yesterday I reset the fuel mapping for idle and enrichment and then took the bike out for a spin. The engine was a bit inconsistent when I came off the gas, kind of like it was hunting on the overrun, but this seems to have fixed it. Having too high idle settings on the fuel map can give you odd off-throttle behaviour as the bike attempts to hold the high idle even when you're slowing down.
With a new tank I'm thinking the mileage will be even better next time around.
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.
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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.
The Tiger's been through some deep spa treatment this winter and it's all worked out very well, except for the rear brakes. I have a good vacuum hand pump and have done all sorts of brake bleeding without issues, including the fronts on the Tiger which now stoppie on a two finger pull (Hel brake lines are next level!), but these rears defy bleeding.
I started looking into possible internal leaks and failed seals when Jeff the moto-Jedi, who now lives four thousand kilometres away on Canada's beautiful west coast, suggested detaching the caliper and hanging it down low so air has another way to escape. With the caliper hanging upside down and low down, I re-bled the system and it immediately firmed up.
If you're having trouble getting air out of your brake lines, change the geometry of what you're working on and bleed again. I figured my good hand pump and would pull fluid through the system well enough to move any bubbles, but there is no substitute for geometry... or gravity.
Top Tip: if you're having trouble bleeding a system, take the calipers off and try them in a different position. The Tiger's rear brake is as tight as a drum now.
My professional life is kicking the shit out of me this year, so when the never ending winter of COVID finally ended and the roads cleared so that I could ride again it felt like coming up for air after a winter underwater. It isn't too far a reach to say that riding feels like breathing to me.
I'm in the process of buying another bike, one big enough for my son and I to go on rides again with, and the current owner said he'd never ride again. I can't imagine a situation where I'd ever say that. You sometimes hear stories of elderly senior citizens who still ride. That'll be me, or I won't be a senior citizen.
In the professional reflections blog I've been thinking about full commitment and how a job that encourages it can make you your best self. It's a lasting sadness that so many people see work as purgatory rather than an opportunity to find their better selves.
The Japanese are much better at this than westerners are. They don't wish each other good luck when doing something difficult, they simply say, "gambate!" or 'do your best!' And that effort is what is respected regardless of outcome. They make effort a socially appreciated thing where western cultures tend to fixate on winning. There is a great scene in the Tokyo Ghoul anime where the bad guy is dying after a vicious fight. He's an evil, cannibal ghoul so there aren't many redeeming features there, but everyone stops to listen respectfully to his last words because he put up such an epic fight. We're all too busy trying to win to care about anything like that. We'd vilify and belittle him rather than respect the effort. This makes us remarkably unhappy because the problem with competition is that there is always a loser.
When you're approaching an activity that makes full use of your facilities you get lost in it. It doesn't limit you, it expands you, makes you better. Motorcycling is a technically complex, physically and mentally demanding activity that asks a lot of you, but the rewards are worth the risks.
If you're Simon Pavey or Guy Martin or Valentino Rossi, you race because that's where you have to get to in order to find the edge of your skills and give you that sense of complete immersion. The leading edge of my own motorcycling has also moved on. Where I'd once be happy with commuting on a small bike, I'm now working my way through ownership of different kinds of bikes and wish to expand further. The limits I'm seeking in motorcycling aren't just in riding, but also in mechanics. It's for that reason that I find events like the Dakar, especially when someone like Lyndon Poskitt does it in the malle moto class, so fascinating. They're combining that technical skill with riding ability in a way that most racers can't or won't.
My work is usually able to give me enough latitude to fully immerse myself, but this year COVID has made it a broken thing unable to do anything well. It has changed from an opportunity to seek excellence to never ending triage in mediocrity. This has me asking hard questions about what I'd do if I didn't need the money it provides. These are questions you should ask yourself before retirement, but they're also questions you should ask yourself when you're in danger of getting mired in work that doesn't let you find your best self.
Watching Ride With Norman Reedus last week, he was on the South Island of New Zealand where he had a chat with a young man from Canada who had opened up a business there. One of his reasons for living where he does was that there had to be good riding roads easily accessible nearby. This means he can explore riding in challenging circumstances, which seems like enlightenment to me.
In my final years of teaching I hope I can rediscover that sense of energizing peak performance that improves rather than limits me, and if not there then in another job that gives me the latitude I need to chase excellence while supporting my family. Should I ever get to the point where I don't need to spend my days working for someone else, then it'll be time to move to a place where I can explore riding more fully.
That somewhere would have easy to access track days that let me explore riding dynamics at the edge of road riding, complex local roads that make me a better rider and off road opportunities that let me explore riding in a variety of unpaved situations. Where I am now offers none of these things. I'd also have the means to develop my mechanical skills to the limit. I'm fortunate in that I have such a rich hobby and sport to explore. I feel sorry for those that don't.
