Road 5s are a newer, top-of-the-line tire that are $70 more expensive than Road Pilots but don't come in 55 rears. |
Monday 21 June 2021
Kawasaki Concours 14 GTR1400 ZG1400 Tires & Suspension Setup
Sunday 13 June 2021
Sail Away: First Long Ride on The Kawasaki Concours 14
First long ride with Big Blue/Nami-Chan (not sure what its name is yet) today up to Georgian Bay to listen to the water. For a kid who grew up by the sea living in landlocked Southern Ontario wears on me so sitting by the shore listening to the water lapping on the rocks calms my permanent sense of dislocation.
Thornbury Harbour, Geogian Bay, Ontario - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA
The Tiger (when it works perfectly which isn't often recently) is a capable off roader on trails and fire roads and lets the wind pass through you since it's practically naked, which is both exhausting and exhilarating. After the long ride today the abilities of the Kawasaki are much more clear. The only nagging issue is that my backside has gotten used to Corbin seat engineering and the Kawasaki stock saddle just isn't up to the job, but otherwise the bike is a revelation. Effortlessly quick, smooth and surprisingly agile in the corners, though you can still feel the weight carries but it carries it low.
Windshield down, lots of airflow, a great view and the bike feels more likes sports-bike. |
Ergonomically, the windscreen also does something smart for airflow. If it gets hot you can lower it to the point where it almost vanishes. This pushes a lot of air through your upper body and supports your chest from leaning on your wrists. I hadn't put much stock in an adjustable windshield but it not only changes the look of the bike, it also changes its functionality too. On long rides changes in airflow keep you comfortable and focused.
Windshield up while you're making tracks on less demanding roads and you're in a quiet bubble of air that lets you go for miles. |
Sunday 30 May 2021
Kawasaki Concours C14 Farkles
(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)
NOTES & RESEARCH
Wednesday 26 May 2021
MRA X-Screen Windshield Installation on a Kawasaki Concours 14
I'm a fan of MRA windshields since one came attached to the Tiger, so the Concours is getting one, but this is my first time doing an installation. If you're installing an MRA windshield you can expect detailed instructions and all the parts provided in clearly marked bags.
There is an option to have a simple single pivot or a more adjustable but complex double pivot - I went with more complicated because I'm like that. The mechanism releases and locks in a wide variety of positions.
I'm curious to see how all the different positions work as I get to know this more complicated MRA windshield. With the extender set high at the top of the windshield the thing is about as big as the big slab of plastic Kawasaki put on it, except this one is also adjustable to go even higher and at a wide variety of angles. Set highest it'll be much more effective than the stock windshield.When it's all the way down the MRA windshield looks almost like a sports windshield and offers a solid windblast to the chest or lots of ventilation on a hot day.
Here is before an after. You can see how much taller the old stock windshield is:
The old windshield was going opaque with age and was quite pitted and rough. It also produced an astonishing amount of back pressure at speed which might have had something to do with the motor having problems. The new windshield is lighter, more aerodynamic, more adjustable, quieter at speed and seems to have no back pressure issues at all. I took it for a run up and down the river today and I'm very happy with this choice. Even at lowest setting, when I F-14 swing-wing the windshield up it still provides good wind protection and noise reduction at 100kms/hr.
It looks sharp too...
Thursday 13 May 2021
Concours Arts & Crafts
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
UPDATE
Monday 10 May 2021
Kawasaki Concours 14 Project Updates: Easy Fob Battery Swaps and clutch gaskets
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.
Sunday 25 April 2021
Kawasaki Concours C14 Pneumatic Clutch Bleeding
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. |
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.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/
Wednesday 21 April 2021
Targeting Repairs on 2010 Kawasaki Concours C14: windshield motor and hydraulic clutch gasket
Windshield Motor Details
things together.
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***
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.https://www.cmsnl.com/kawasaki-zg1400caf-concours-14-2010-usaabs_model21885/partslist/#.YH9iJehKiHs
***
Another angle to take is just to remove all the electrical plumbing added by previous owners in order to ensure the bike is to spec.
Other Resources
C14 Common Issues: https://motorandwheels.com/problems-kawasaki-concours-14/Kawasaki plastic rivet: Manufacturer # 92039-0051
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.
***
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.