Can a Concours replace the Voyager XII as a touring bike?

[tinsailor]

Ya gonna bring it to Maggie Valley?

[David (N. Alabama)]

Ya gonna bring it to Maggie Valley?

Work may get in the way.

If I am able to go and my wife goes with me, I will be on the Voyager.

[tinsailor]

How about this then? http://forum.cog-online.org/index.php/t ... #msg202294

[David (N. Alabama)]

How about this then? http://forum.cog-online.org/index.php/t ... #msg202294

That's only a couple hours from my house. Might have to see if I can at least take a day ride up to the area.

[tinsailor]

I'll ride my C-10 and get there Friday morning sometime, it's only a couple of hours south for me too. Camp with em till Sunday and come back home. Pretty good bunch of folks and probably won't be a large number of em. Most of us will be out somewhere Sat. but of course will gather around that evening. Come on up if yontoo.

[tinsailor]

Man I got to ride a demo C-14 at the COG rally in Howhenwald Tn. last weekend and thats some kinda bad motersickle there. A little short in the legs and it needed a taller windscreen for me but thats about the only thing I didn't like about it. Plenty of horses and brakes to match, Smooth, quiet, light handling and fast,fast,fast. But my C-10 fits like a pair of old tennis shoes and just as comfy.

[David (N. Alabama)]

Man I got to ride a demo C-14 at the COG rally in Howhenwald Tn. last weekend and thats some kinda bad motersickle there. A little short in the legs and it needed a taller windscreen for me but thats about the only thing I didn't like about it. Plenty of horses and brakes to match, Smooth, quiet, light handling and fast,fast,fast. But my C-10 fits like a pair of old tennis shoes and just as comfy.

Cool! Did you raise the windscreen during your demo ride? It is electrically adjustable.

Sorry I didn't make it out there. Had to ride to Florida for work.

[tinsailor]

Yea I had it all the way up but needed a couple more inches in height for it to be just right. That should be a regular rally from now on, everyone really liked the location and roads and the campground too. And there's some good sites to see close by. Hey maybe it could be a Connie/Voygaer rally next year.

[Vermonter]

I'm not familiar with the newer Concours but I have a 97. It handles real well and is really fast but the main reason I just bought a 2001 Voyager was the seat height. My legs are just not long enough to be comfortable on the Connie. Do they still make the Connie as tall? I looked into ways of lowering or modifying the Connie but thought for the money I should just buy a Voyager. I think for me it was a good choice. Not the same power but is still lots of fun

[David (N. Alabama)]

I'm not familiar with the newer Concours but I have a 97. It handles real well and is really fast but the main reason I just bought a 2001 Voyager was the seat height. My legs are just not long enough to be comfortable on the Connie. Do they still make the Connie as tall? I looked into ways of lowering or modifying the Connie but thought for the money I should just buy a Voyager. I think for me it was a good choice. Not the same power but is still lots of fun

yes, the Connie is still tall. That is what I like about it. I had to put a taller seat on the Voyager XII to be comfortable. The Connie fits me well. The Voyager XII will rival your '97 if you upgrade the suspension on it.

[bikerking.biz]

Personally, I'm suprised that haven't yet put a cruise control on the Concours. Most other sport tourers now have that or at least as an option. Then they could add a radio/MP3 and optional CB. To top it off, have a reasonable size top box instead of the dinky thing that I believe is offered now... oh wait, then it would be a full touring bike. Yep, sounds great to me.

[David (N. Alabama)]

Personally, I'm suprised that haven't yet put a cruise control on the Concours. Most other sport tourers now have that or at least as an option. Then they could add a radio/MP3 and optional CB. To top it off, have a reasonable size top box instead of the dinky thing that I believe is offered now... oh wait, then it would be a full touring bike. Yep, sounds great to me.

They do offer a 55 liter trunk. The new FJR and Trophy SE have added cruise so Kawasaki will probably have to step up to the plate to stay competitive. I don't much care about radio and my GPS streams stereo MP3 to my SENA headset. I think bluetooth headsets are the future. I rarely have the need to use the CB on the Voyager.

Here is my bike today.

[Vermonter]

I'm not familiar with the newer Concours but I have a 97. It handles real well and is really fast but the main reason I just bought a 2001 Voyager was the seat height. My legs are just not long enough to be comfortable on the Connie. Do they still make the Connie as tall? I looked into ways of lowering or modifying the Connie but thought for the money I should just buy a Voyager. I think for me it was a good choice. Not the same power but is still lots of fun

yes, the Connie is still tall. That is what I like about it. I had to put a taller seat on the Voyager XII to be comfortable. The Connie fits me well. The Voyager XII will rival your '97 if you upgrade the suspension on it.

What kind of upgrades are you referring to?

[bikerking.biz]

They do offer a 55 liter trunk. The new FJR and Trophy SE have added cruise so Kawasaki will probably have to step up to the plate to stay competitive. I don't much care about radio and my GPS streams stereo MP3 to my SENA headset. I think bluetooth headsets are the future. I rarely have the need to use the CB on the Voyager.

I know they offer a top trunk, but I would like to see it a little larger. Is that an accessory trunk that is available through Kawasaki, or what appears to be an accessory from Givi. Don't know if Givi makes the trunk that Kawasaki supplies as an accessory. Radio's come in handy when traveling and you might like to zero in on a fairly local station to get severe weather reports if the weather is threatening. CB's come in real handy when riding with a group of people which I do often.

[bikerking.biz]

What kind of upgrades are you referring to?

I'm guessing David means Progressive springs on the front, and either Progressive air or spring shocks on the back.

[Vermonter]

What kind of upgrades are you referring to?

I'm guessing David means Progressive springs on the front, and either Progressive air or spring shocks on the back.

It has air front and rear now. I believe it's original? Seems to ride well and seems to handle good. I'm still getting used to the bike. It is a lot different than the conny. A friend told me it looked like an old guy bike I'm no spring chicken but I ain't dead yet either. I think it's a real classy looking bike and I don't have the urge to crank it all the time like I do on the conny

[David (N. Alabama)]

What kind of upgrades are you referring to?

I'm guessing David means Progressive springs on the front, and either Progressive air or spring shocks on the back.

It has air front and rear now. I believe it's original? Seems to ride well and seems to handle good. I'm still getting used to the bike. It is a lot different than the conny. A friend told me it looked like an old guy bike I'm no spring chicken but I ain't dead yet either. I think it's a real classy looking bike and I don't have the urge to crank it all the time like I do on the conny

On my Voyager XII the stock suspension was worn out at 25,000 miles. Some go with progressive springs in the front and progressive shocks in the rear. You can choose no air or air shocks for the rear.

I went with RaceTech Gold Valve Emulators and RaceTech Springs rated for my normal riding load. I also put Progressive 'no air' shocks on the rear. The bike was transformed from a touring bike to a sport touring bike. I also gained an inch or more in cornering clearance with the settings I chose.

[David (N. Alabama)]

They do offer a 55 liter trunk. The new FJR and Trophy SE have added cruise so Kawasaki will probably have to step up to the plate to stay competitive. I don't much care about radio and my GPS streams stereo MP3 to my SENA headset. I think bluetooth headsets are the future. I rarely have the need to use the CB on the Voyager.

I know they offer a top trunk, but I would like to see it a little larger. Is that an accessory trunk that is available through Kawasaki, or what appears to be an accessory from Givi. Don't know if Givi makes the trunk that Kawasaki supplies as an accessory. Radio's come in handy when traveling and you might like to zero in on a fairly local station to get severe weather reports if the weather is threatening. CB's come in real handy when riding with a group of people which I do often.

This one is 68.5 liters. http://www.corbin.com/kawasaki/kc8trnk.shtml Worth the money if you carry your honey.

GIVI does make the Kawasaki accesory trunks. They are monolock instead of monokey. Monolock bags can only carry 2.2 Kg Monokey can carry 10Kg.

My IPOD Nano has an FM radio built in if I need it. My smartphone can bring up weather radar. With the SENA bluetooth headsets you can set it up where multiple people can talk and listen on the same frequency. You can even get GPS units that display the weather radar on top of your route. You can have the GPS route around the storm. Big bucks though.

[bikerking.biz]

This one is 68.5 liters. http://www.corbin.com/kawasaki/kc8trnk.shtml Worth the money if you carry your honey.

GIVI does make the Kawasaki accesory trunks. They are monolock instead of monokey. Monolock bags can only carry 2.2 Kg Monokey can carry 10Kg.

My IPOD Nano has an FM radio built in if I need it. My smartphone can bring up weather radar. With the SENA bluetooth headsets you can set it up where multiple people can talk and listen on the same frequency. You can even get GPS units that display the weather radar on top of your route. You can have the GPS route around the storm. Big bucks though.

I know about the corbin, and also know you can set up your own stuff to get what I would like, however it's much more expensive that way, so the reason I mentioned I would like to see this things as stock or at least options from Kawasaki. A radio is much less expensive than a smart phone that you have to pay for every month. I'm also guessing the other people need to have those SENA headsets or at least bluetooth to connect. It has to be something more standard than such speciallized stuff since most in any particular group won't have all that. Just sayin.

[David (N. Alabama)]

I know about the corbin, and also know you can set up your own stuff to get what I would like, however it's much more expensive that way, so the reason I mentioned I would like to see this things as stock or at least options from Kawasaki. A radio is much less expensive than a smart phone that you have to pay for every month. I'm also guessing the other people need to have those SENA headsets or at least bluetooth to connect. It has to be something more standard than such speciallized stuff since most in any particular group won't have all that. Just sayin.

The SENA is becoming more the standard in the circles I run than the CB radio system. Even on the Voyager XII the percentage of bikes that have CB installed is pretty small from what I have seen at rallies.

Smart phones have become necessities of life for the under 40 crowd and for the rest of us tech geeks. We already have it for non-motorcycle purposes so might as well take advantage of it on the bike.

Just like the IPOD. The modern bike and car stereo systems have IPOD connections. They could have just made it where you uploaded your MP3s to the stereo, but they realized that the majority of folks already have IPODS for their music collection.