Kawasaki Concours reviews

Loads of power throughout gears, brakes well, grips could be a little higher for rider comfort but still pretty comfortable even on longer trips. With the luggage removed you have a very quick, very fast, well behaved missile. Would love to see ceramic brakes as a standard feature in the future. Show less

I bought my bike in May of 2000. It took me about a year and 12K miles to get used to her coming off a Harley Heritage Softail. After the first year I could not stay off. Another plus was the wife loves it and would ask me to take her for rides. We did a 3300 mile and a 2200 mile trip. I have taken her thru Deals gap at Mach speed right on the tail of a guy on a CBR600 RR who was very impressed I could keep up to him. I have dropped the bike twice when I first got it(Slow speed). I crashed into a ditch once. I also laid it down and slid 40 feet to avoid a deer. It cost very little to fix each time. I have done virtually nothing as far as normal repairs, just maintenance which I do all myself. There is a huge following of great Concours guys who will do practically anything to help you. I look at other bikes and think about buying something else like the FJR1300 but I can not find any reasons to upgrade other than ABS. I will probably ride Cinderella forever and when she or me is too old to ride I will keep her close by. Show less

I bought my 2006 Connie a few months ago and I really like it a lot! I'm really happy and comfortable with the bike. I had to do a lot to tame down the vibs from 4000 and up! I did the risers and heavier bars weights with cruise. I installed heated grips and foam skins on the heated grips. I still need to check the engine mount torques. Also, I drilled out the mufflers and checked the counter balancer to help eliminate even more vibs. It really helped(Baffectomy) and it wasn't any louder! I feel that I elimiated most of the vibs and with the cruise, I don't get fatigued anymore! The only thing I need to research is using silicone or what ever works as a vibration insulator for the inside of my handle bars. It really is a great deal for the money! I've owned at least 30 motorcycles including six 1200 Gold Wings, three V65 Sabres, and 1 V65 Magna. It really does have a comfortable seat, and I love the fuel range and bags a lot. Show less

If you're looking for a dependable, lower priced Sport Tourer, or high cargo capacity commuter bike, you really need to check into the Connie. But like magic, simply unsnap her 2 massive hard luggage cases, and she instantly becomes a 997cc Ninja Sport Bike eager to play. However beware, her 7.5 gallon gas tank and 31 inch seat height makes her a bit top heavy to some riders. However, if you can master her in parking lot riding, where fast stops & tight turns really test your skills on this bike, she'll steal your heart as she's done with many over her past 20 years of production. Show less

I purchased a 2006 Concours after 15 years of not riding. I used to ride very hard and fast in the younger years and did some roar racing. Had a young family and bills so I stopped riding. With much research I putchased the 2006 Concours. I got right back into it. 21,000km in 4 months. I ride this bike hard. With my wife, luggage and myself we are at max weight of 440lbs. I run the bike all day at 140km. Did a 5,000km trip in 7 days with my wife. When by myself I just beat up on the poor thing and blast the corners like I was young and stupid. For the money this bike is impressive. Life is GOOD !! Show less

I was riding a kawasaki kz1000 in 1986 when this bike made her entrance . I knew the first time I saw her the Queen had arrived . I have watched and followed this motorcycle from its beginning and got wind that 2006 was the last year with the 20th anniversary and the intro of the zx14 . So in july of 2005 I ordered my connie and got the 5th one off the line according to the dealer , she got here in early October . She is and always will be the queen of distance and daily performance . This bike puts fear in sport bike riders and crusers just look the other way . I can run you down like a california chip or slice up a curvy road like a can opener and she will let me ride her for eight hours and never blink . If you are looking for everything a motorcycle is suppose to do and do very well then bow to the queen , saddle up and get a big smile on your face . Show less

I ride daily, but my first time on her I thought my hands were going to fall asleep, but after a week or so of riding the buzzing no longer affected me. Before making my purchase, I rode a variety of touring bikes, but was drawn back to the Connie. It's a VERY dependable bike and one of the best buys for sports touring. It's low maintenance for those who do the work themselves. The only draw back I can see are the tires. They're an odd size and hard to find when you need them right away! Other then that, it's a bike you'll love to ride. Show less

If you want a motorcycle with all kinds of doo-dads and thinga-ma-jigs, this is not the bike for you. This is a basic "do-everything-pretty-darn-well" bike. I bought this bike the day my 2004 Honda 1300 VTX coughed and stalled while pulling out on a highway, causing an 18 wheeler to almost gain me as a hood ornament. The Honda is fine if you are a fair weather rider, but doesn't want to idle when the temp drops below 30f degrees. I called two shops in town and lucked out when the second shop had a Concours on the display floor. The fit and finish on the bike are fine but I had to rebleed the brake lines, tighten about 5 screws, put the proper amount of air in the tires (back only had 15 lbs, front had 17 lbs.), adjust the rear suspension because it was totally out of whack, and correct several other odds and ends that the dealer missed. Once I got everything the way it's supposed to be, I fell in love with the bike. There is a trait that seems inherit with almost every Concours and that is a high frequency buzz in the hand grips that starts around 5000 rpm. I've done some stuff to limit the buzz and when I hit 6000 miles I'll find out if a valve adjustment and carb sync will completly smooth it out. The bike is a bit high strung when you want to play with it. What I mean by that is, it's very docile below 4000 rpm. When you hit four grand it begins to wake up. When you hit 6 grand you would swear you are riding a different bike! Get into some twisty curves, keep the tranny geared to where you stay above 6 grand, and it will take a week to get the grin off you face! In first gear, the front will definately dance under full acceleration with a full tank, but if you nail it in first with under a half a tank of gas from running at about 4,500 rpm, the front will climb skyward. On the peaceful side of things, I loaded it up and took the wife on a 1,500 mile road trip through the Smokey Mountains. It's performance was flawless. The sweet spot on this bike is just above 80 mph and always seems to beg to go faster. I never got below 40 mpg the entire trip, but around town it will go as low as 36 mpg if I'm playing with it a lot in stop and go traffic. Talk about a bike that loves curves, I didn't come across a single sports-touring outfit that would maintain our pace mile after mile. don't get me wrong, the bike is a nice ride like it is right out of the factory but I did make a few modifications to meet my wants and needs. The windscreen causes a severe vacumn at speed and causes your helmet to buffet quite a bit. I installed a Rifle vented screen and the wind disappeared. As summer came, I found I wanted some of that wind back to cool things off. Realizing that the vacumn behind the screen is what caused the buffeting, I drilled two, 2 inch holes at the base of the original shorter screen. This has given just enough equalization to smooth out the airflow. The bike will now run at 130 mph just as smoothly as it will at 60 mph. I also installed handle bar risers (not as young as I used to be) to allow me to sit more upright on the bike. Best bang for the buck? You bet!!! And it's my daily rider! What a great way to start your day going to work. (grinning from ear to ear) I've been riding dirt and street for over 35 years and have had too many bikes to mention, so my evaluation is from my experiences. I've never owned a crotch rocket, but have had just about every other type of bike that's out there. Show less

When I was first into motorcycling I purchased an early eighties Connie used for a great price. I fell in love then and when she had 112,000 on the clock and a little oil leak just over the exhaust pipes I let her go to someone else and bought a new cruiser. Two cruisers later I heard that they may not make Connie much longer and one day at my dealership I fell in love again. My new connie is a 2006 with 750 miles on the clock and it is like putting on a suit that you forgot you had but that fits great still. Having had cruisers and being too old and lazy for a GSX-R, Connie is my perfect bike. I added Gen Mar risers as I had on my old one and the fit is just right. Gobs of power and great handing. No, they are not fun in a parking lot but run your local daily ride stuff off the bottom third of the tank and fill up only for the highway. It took a lot of years to put 112,000 miles on a bike but that tells me that I have a lot of wonderful years of riding this Connie ahead of me. When I told my wife that this was my last bike for many many years she didn't believe me, but I know that this is the best bike on the planet for a practical function driven person like me. Show less

Can you say eye-opener? I have 30yrs. experience on motorcycles but NEVER on a sport-touring bike. After much research I purchased a used 2004 Connie because I wasn't sure I would like sport-touring. My eyes were opened! The research paid off. I love this old-tech tourer. I lowered the pegs. Installed Heli-bars and cruise control. Combined with a Rifle windscreen and Givi topcase the package was complete except for farkles I will list later. Proof is a 6005 miles ride that included a non-stop IRON BUTT RUN from Mexico to Canada in 33 hours. Comfort was GREAT! Wet weather - protection better than any of my other bikes. If the newer sport tourers are better (and I'm sure they are) I doubt they can be twice as good. It would be a hard sell to get me to spend $15,000 on a machine that is only newer and incrementaly better than the Connie. I am a VERY analytical biker and in my humble opinion the Connie still competes with modern bikes in the long distance arena. Especially, when you consider the initial capital outlay. And we all know buying the bike is just the beginning. Everyone adds accesories to make the sled comfortable to themselves. The engine is smooth. The tranny is effortless. The comfort is great for long days because the rider is protected from turbulance while sitting on a plush saddle. * See the big grin on my ugly mug as I know I bought this bike cheap! I do have some gripes... The bike is top-heavy at parking lot speed. Just take your time and be smart about your parking and this won't be a problem. The brakes are a little weak for the bike. Consider the weight of the bike full of seven(7) gallons of gas, me, all my touring gear and you have to slow down sooner than usual to avoid hard brakeing. The centerstand is hard to use when the bike is loaded with gas and gear. I have an extended lift handle to help with this. You know these are not objections that should keep a person from considering a Connie. ALL BIKES have something to complain about! I don't claim to be the world authority on sport-touring. However, I do have many years in the saddle and I LOVE this bike. I would recommend the Connie for a person who doesn't have a lot of stop and go driving. Mostly because of the closeness of the lower gears ratios. I know some will disagree with me, but it seems while in town, I am shifting all the time until I reach that beautiful sixth gear. The Connie can adapt to city driving alright, but its' forte' is the interstate and the curving backroads that are calling all of us. May the wind at your back...not be your own. Show less