Kawasaki Concours Forum
The C-14, aka Kawasaki Concours-14, the new one :) => The Bike - C14/GTR 1400 => Topic started by: mopar71 on March 27, 2013, 06:09:29 PM
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Hello
I just purchased a 2012 Kawasaki concours. Looking for suggestions on seats, at 5'8" i have to be on my toes when stopped. I do not want to do lowering links. Can the original seat be shaved or not enough padding there? also would like to get a GPS mount what is good. Also i will be heading to California this summer to see my daughter so any comfort items?
Thanks for any and all replies
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Hello
I just purchased a 2012 Kawasaki concours. Looking for suggestions on seats, at 5'8" i have to be on my toes when stopped. I do not want to do lowering links. Can the original seat be shaved or not enough padding there? also would like to get a GPS mount what is good. Also i will be heading to California this summer to see my daughter so any comfort items?
Thanks for any and all replies
After some trial and error with some other seats, I bought s Baldwin, and am pretty happy with it.
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Welcome and congrats.
I strongly recommend searching first. http://www.zggtr.org/index.php?action=search2 (http://www.zggtr.org/index.php?action=search2) There are many dozens of relevant seat/comfort/gps threads.
The answer to your seat question is "yes".
As for lowering, start with: http://www.zggtr.org/index.php?topic=260.0 (http://www.zggtr.org/index.php?topic=260.0) Seat will gain you about 1.5" max, but probably less, and that is only if you replace it.... far less if shaved.
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Have a look at Laam seats. He'll know how to rebuild your seat so you are lower and make it far more comfortable at the same time. I'm a bit partial because he just did my seat. I'm sure the other reputable builders can also help.
http://laamseats.com/ (http://laamseats.com/)
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Welcome mopar71. The 3 main things I added for long range comfort was seat, looks like you are already working on that. I went with Corbin but there are lots of good aftermarket options. Among others Spencer can lower your stock seat and add better cell type support for a very reasonable price at www.greatdaytoride.com (http://www.greatdaytoride.com). Second is I brought the handles bars up and closer. I eventually went with Horizon ST bars from www.heilbars.com (http://www.heilbars.com) but there are lots of other lower cost riser and pull back options. Just search for risers in the forum. And third I added the canyon cages from www.mcenterprisesusa.com (http://www.mcenterprisesusa.com). You might wonder how these help with long range comfort. Well the reason is they make it easy to add highway pegs. I find having the ability to change you leg position from time to time makes a huge difference on a 900 mile day.
BTW: welcome to the forum and tell us about your mopar ride 8)
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Wow fast response to this forum, all the info is great. thanks so much everyone.
Rhino, to answer your question i found a 1971 440 4speed dodge challenger in a garage. i bought the car from the original owner for 2000.00 the guy was a old hippie he moved here from California in 1976. he gutted the car to be used for drag racing, fortunately he lost interest in it. I bought the car and restored it except color. the car had no rust and documented by Mecum appraisers. Had the motor done by Opel engineering. painted the car black.
Unfortunately had to sell it. my daughter got very sick needed the money to take care of her. Just a car, my daughter priceless!
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Welcome!
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Wow fast response to this forum, all the info is great. thanks so much everyone.
Rhino, to answer your question i found a 1971 440 4speed dodge challenger in a garage. i bought the car from the original owner for 2000.00 the guy was a old hippie he moved here from California in 1976. he gutted the car to be used for drag racing, fortunately he lost interest in it. I bought the car and restored it except color. the car had no rust and documented by Mecum appraisers. Had the motor done by Opel engineering. painted the car black.
Unfortunately had to sell it. my daughter got very sick needed the money to take care of her. Just a car, my daughter priceless!
Sweet car, sorry hear you had to lose it but absolutely the right priority. I hope she is better.
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Gratz on the new ride!
Personally, I like mounting my GPS via a RAM mount on the left side clutch bracket.
Jeff
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Congrats and welcome MP71! :chugbeer:
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Gratz on the new ride!
Personally, I like mounting my GPS via a RAM mount on the left side clutch bracket.
Jeff
+1 (http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j180/stevewfl/icon10.gif)
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Welcome!
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Drove a 1969 Dodge Super Bee in high school. I kept it for 10 years after graduation and sold it because I did not have a garage and could not afford storage at the time. Man I wish I had that car again.
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Welcome Mopar!
I'm 5'5" (~30" inseam) and I've been using the Kaw low gel seat on my bike. It's VERY firm but I like it that way. I still can't flat foot the bike on both sides. I normally just put my left foot down and lean just a bit, that way I can flat foot her on one side at least.
:)
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Drove a 1969 Dodge Super Bee in high school. I kept it for 10 years after graduation and sold it because I did not have a garage and could not afford storage at the time. Man I wish I had that car again.
My first car was a 66 Olds 442. Paid $400 for it in 74. Drove it 2 years and threw a rod street racing. I just junked the car. Man I wish I had that car again!
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Hi Mopar, I picked up a 12 candy arabian red c14 at the end of last year. I was unhappy with the seat too, I thought it was a little too soft and couldn't flat foot the bike. I wasn't prepared to spend several hundred dollars for a seat yet so I ordered a used ZX14 seat off of ebay. It isa relatively inexpensive alternative. It cost me $80 including shipping and bolted right on when I swapped the brackets from the stock c14 seat.
The seat is lower and firmer than the stock seat. It also has a more aggressive forward angle. I wasn't sure that I liked the ZX14 seat until I swapped back to the stock one and realized that the lower height on the ZX seat really helped my confidence with holding the bike at stoplights.
For reference, I have a 30" inseam and I was on the balls of my feet with the stock seat. With the ZX seat, I can get one foot down and almost the other.
I'd like to get a custom tailored Laam seat at some point, but this was a much cheaper alternative and I find that I'm ok with this seat. Plus, I should be able to resell this ZX seat without much of a loss if I wanted to upgrade to a custom seat later.
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i do not know how to navigate this forum yet so please be patient!
a lot of great cars and bikes, a lot of good memories. just thankful for family and friends. i purchased my first big street bike in 1977, at 17 i was not able to ride legally yet. so rode around the block hundreds of times. neighbors hated me. the bike was a 1975 Kawasaki Z1 900 then a 1980 Kawasaki 1000 LTD, 1983 Suzuki GS1100E, then started buying Harley's first was a 1980 shovel, 1996 low rider evo, then my last bike i just sold was a 2001 Screamin Eagle Road Glide. at 96000 miles need to replace for something more reliable. The Connie demo unit i rode was awesome, the bike brought the kid out in me again, what a feeling! after muscling a 900+ Harley for the last 96000 miles the Connie seemed effortless. Looking at the cost factor this is a no brainier. Thanks for all the input on the Connie really appreciate it!
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Have a look at Laam seats. He'll know how to rebuild your seat so you are lower and make it far more comfortable at the same time. I'm a bit partial because he just did my seat. I'm sure the other reputable builders can also help.
http://laamseats.com/ (http://laamseats.com/)
Big definite +1 on LAAM Custom Seats!!!
Aaron
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I am 5'7" with a 30" inseam and an happy with my Sargent Low so far.
I am amazed at how much smaller my Z1000 feels when I ride it--but I am quickly loving and getting accustomed to the C14. It is sooooo much smoother... .
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welcome