I did my 100 miler lunch ride today. This time I rode with friends on their Suzuki's. I was on the Kawasaki Concours (My 2Up ride). We took back roads to Knoxville, TN for lunch at Frussies (Fondly referred to, as the sandwich nazi). It was a wonderful fall day with the weather in the mid 70's. I wore a mesh jacket with a vest underneath. Perfect.

Lance, we were on some of the roads you were on when you were up here. Dripping Springs, Dupont Shiloh Road to Goose Gap and places like that if you remember. Enroute to and from Deals Gap. Kate rides a Suzuki SV650 and her hubby has a 650 Vstrom. I led the way and they, of course, didn't know where the hell they were.
Sound familair?



:P :P :P 8) :P :P :P :P

I loved when you'd pull over and go "OK, we had to take that road to get to here. This will be a good road." And I'm sitting there thinking "Man that was a great road!" :lol:

Oh, and... You Bastard! :wink: :lol:

I road the Niner today. Took it out to Pigeon Forge for a snack. The winter weather may set in soon so I may not get to ride much more until the days start getting longer. It may warm up just enough to ride and exercise the engine in Jan and Feb. Other than that, I'll be waiting on early spring to take a big outing.

Tom, you are still the wealthiest guy I know.... :thumbsup

Spring sounds good to me... We should try to make it a group thing. That area is rather central to a large group of East coasters...

Tom, can you write up a review of the Concours sometime? I'm in the market for a 2-up bike, and it's on my list.

The Concours that I have is a 2004 and had 6000 miles on it when I bought. Thr Concours has good performance and is a very comfortable to ride. The main reason that I went with the used model is the weight and price. The weight is 550 lbs or there about. The other sport touring bikes are over 100 lbs heaver. I needed something light to manhandle on tight mountain roads especially with 2up.

The knock on my bike is that it is an older design, although it not that is noticeable without riding other bikes and doing a comparison. The windshield is fixed and you run hotter without a breeze.
Most all of the sport touring bikes have to address some windshield solution either from buffeting or to improve breeze. The ST1300 is motorized for height adjust. The FZ1 is sometime classified as a sport touring but is really more a standard or naked bike.

The valve schedule for the the new Concours is 24000 miles which is definitely ahead of the 6000 recommendation for the older bikes. If I was looking for a new bike, I would look at ones with low maintenance schedules and modern windshields for air flow.

I bet the adjustments are a screw adjuster type. Kawasaki makes a special tool that makes it really easy to do. No shims to mess with and the cams never need removal.

The old school connie has a big cult following. A bikers bike for sure.

I've read up on the procedure and now that there is less riding 'fever' time, maybe I can tskrke time to do the adjustments. I have to be careful with valve the cover gasket and maybe have a new on hand in the event of damage. I want to do the concours first and then I'll need to check the Niner's clearance. Both are overdue.

I don't like riding behind a windshield and a used windshield installed that is cutoff to not more than fairing screw cover. I can put the OEM shield back on but it is unlikely that I do so. I like it with no windshield but get increased wind noise the way the wind is deflected over my helmet so I now use ear plugs when riding the Concours.


Spring sounds good to me... We should try to make it a group thing. That area is rather central to a large group of East coasters...

:clap An idea whose time has come. Keep vacation time open and jump ship on the rallying call.[/quote]