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!
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!).
"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."
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:
"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.
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).
Fortnine is at $16 - save yourself a pile of $ if you're in Canada and use Fortnine! (Free shipping over $49 so the Amazon Prime shipping trap doesn't apply)
Air Cleaner Removal How-To:
Air Filter:
Kawasaki Part # 11013-0014
K&N # KA-1406
Now that I know where to look, yep, it's in there. The existing one might be the original (the bike only has 30k on it). It's dirty and a paper filter one so a K&N is on the way.
Engine Oil:
Engine Oil:Type: API SG, SH, SJ, SL or SM with JASO MA, MA1 or MA2 Viscosity: SAE 10W-40 Capacity 4.7 L (5.0 US qt) Coolant Capacity 3.4 L (3.6 US qt)
Oil Filter:
KN-303 K&N OIL FILTER
Final Drive Oil:
Parts ordered from Fortnine after Amazon ended up racking up a bill that was almost twice as much! Don't fall for the habitual Amazon ordering that you've developed during the pandemic. It looks like Amazon sellers have been slowly raising prices to the point that they aren't even close to representative of what the market is offering. In some cases their prices are even higher than dealers!
I would have gone with Royal Distributing but they seem to be having trouble with stock and didn't have most of these parts on hand, whereas FortNine did.
$315 isn't cheap but this is everything I need to 'zero' the maintenance schedule so I know what went in and when. Based on what I'm seeing in the bike (spider nexts and cobwebs everywhere) this bike has been sitting for a long time without any regular maintenance.
The former owner was anxious about a coolant leak but I'm not seeing anything. The reservoir was low but the bike did get tipped over so it might have lost some fluid then. No leaks I can find. Same with the clutch and brakes. Fluid in both reservoirs was a bit low, but no evidence of any leaks, so I topped everything up and I'll keep an eye on things.
I also found the Candy Neptune Blue Kawasaki correct paint for the 2010 Concours from ColorRite. The beautiful, deep blue paint on the Concours C14 requires a base before putting the blue on top and then a clear coat to match the existing finish. The marks on the bike aren't particularly noticeable but this should cure them almost completely.
If you're looking for a 2010 on 'latest' model C14 manual, this'll work:
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.
