2015 KAWASAKI CONCOURS 14 ABS
RIDING IMPRESSION
P80
easily achieved on a motorcycle.
Sure, I get the added comfort
and reliability part, after all it's
a long-haul touring bike, but I
was a bit surprised at how much
emphasis the new Concours has
on the sportier side of riding.
Most of the big touring competi-
tors on Kawasaki's radar are, I'm
sure, nice and very capable but,
according to Kawasaki, lack the
extra motor performance and
chassis setup that make its latest
Concours 14 ABS so unique,
at least that's what their selling
point is.
It does seem to me, however,
that it would be indeed hard to
compete against Kawasaki's
Concours given that the basic
foundation of their iconic tourer
is the Ninja ZX-14. Throw in
some superbike-style inverted
forks and radial-mounted brakes
and you've got a great platform
to build on. By combining the
best of all three worlds—speed,
chassis, and comfort—Kawa-
saki has, over the recent years,
undoubtedly produced a better
Concours, especially this one. A
Velvet Hammer, as they put it.
The 2015 Kawasaki Concours
14 ABS features one of the fast-
est production motors around,
the ZX-14 powerplant, plus its
chassis follows some of the
same concepts as their Ninja ZX-
10 superbike, and as far as lux-
ury goes, it's a Concours. And
don't forget reliability, always a
must on long-haul touring bikes
and one of the mainstays of the
Kawasaki's Concours series.
It all started back in 1986. Af-
ter achieving great success with
the Ninja 900, Kawasaki wanted
to take the basics of their new
