Concours

 A friend of mine is looking to pick up a new bike, and trade off the cruiser
he currently has.  He mentioned a Concours after sitting on one and I wonder
(for him) whether it is a decent bike.  Unfortunately he isn't clear on WHY
he wants to trade up (or down), perhaps he's tired of the black and chrome
cruiser he has and wants something a bit more commuter friendly while still
being able to take it on the road without trouble.  I've seen his bike and
it's a pig (I won't call it a hog since it ain't a Harley) but I don't see
why his existing bike couldn't commute in the city and traffic.  I think
he's on a Vulcan 1600 or 2000 right now.

So I guess I'm wondering is a Concours all it's cracked up to be, or are
there better alternatives for a bike in its class.  Perhaps what I'm asking
is, what are it's strengths and weaknesses?

 Eigenvector wrote:

Do you mean a new model Concours or the old model? Both are sport
tourers and hundreds of articles have been written on that class, doing
compares, etc. You seriously can't expect a serious answer in an ng.

 Paul Cassel wrote:


This is one of the most disturbing statements that I've read here
for some time. It calls into question everything I've ever read on Reeky
(or anywhere else on Usenet for that matter).

But what's even worse -- much, much worse -- it casts the shadow
of doubt over everything that *I've* ever posted.

I can tell right now that tonight is going to be one of those nights
where I don't get any sleep.

"Once you cause someone to doubt themselves, they are already defeated."
-- Sun Tzu, or Plato, or Machiavelli or somebody

SQ

 

    I doubt they said it.


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 Eigenvector wrote:

You don't need a reason to buy a different bike.  Usually I
like the bikes I sell when I trade off for a different one,
I just want to own a lot of different kinds of bikes before
I give up riding and a lot of other guys seem to feel the
same way.


Which Concours are you referring to?  I know you said "new bike"
which would imply the 2008 ZG1400, but a lot of people use the
term "new bike" to mean "new (to me) bike".

I have (wisely) avoided test-riding the new Concours because I
am told I currently have better things to spend money on.  However
SWMBO said a couple of days ago if I gave her $1000 I could buy
anything I wanted.  I wonder if she was kidding or not.  Probably
only one way to find out.

Any of the three competing sport tourers in the ZG1400 class
(FJR1300 and ST1300 are the other two) are going to be as
different from a Vulcan as chalk and cheese.  Note that the
BMW K1200GT is not in the same class as it costs $$$ more
than any of the other three.  None of them are bad bikes, even
though I would like to buy a ZG1400, the best of the three
all-round at this time is probably the FJR.  Give Kawasaki a
couple of years to come out with the 2nd generation model with
the rough edges finished and it will be fantastic.  It's already
a nice bike but buying the first model year of anything is a
bit of a gamble.

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