Kawasaki Concours Forum
The C-14, aka Kawasaki Concours-14, the new one :) => The Bike - C14/GTR 1400 => Topic started by: 4cedars on May 11, 2012, 02:45:56 PM
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[/b][/u][/b]I got home last night from a overnight 1000 mile round trip to eat some wings in Omaha.
I pulled in the garage and while unpacking I noticed the tell tale oil on the rear wheel.
This is the second leak in 12,000 miles >:(
I ordered the seals from Ron Ayers and will change it myself rather than the dealer having it for a week and the hassle of getting rides to and from since I am 60 miles away, even though it is a covered warranty issue.
Part #92049-1280 was the culprit before, so I ordered them all for the final drive, plus the 2 for the front.I noticed they were getting a little sloppy on the bushings when I replaced the tires this winter.
I am thinking of just replacing the seal each winter during the down time and avoiding the inconvenience of this happening. Last year it happened after about the same mileage out of the box for the year.
Anyone else have an issue more than once on this?
John
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Sorry about your issues.
Dang, those must be some good wings! :P
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You are in the minority with a final drive leak, are you 100% sure it just isn't from being overfilled?
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Well let's see, original final dr was splattering seems like since I bought the bike, played it off as spline grease for awhile, level never low. Took it in, can't remember mileage but they replaced the inner seal and bearing, started leaking again, replaced inner and outer seal, bearing and o-ring, started leaking again out of warranty, brand new final dr assy. All is well...great bike eats miles...early 07/07 ABS production date bought new 2/08...
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You are in the minority with a final drive leak, are you 100% sure it just isn't from being overfilled?
Absolutely positively 100% not from being overfillled
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Absolutely positively 100% not from being overfillled
Got an 09 and had a heck of a time with mine.....spent lots of time speaking with customer service about it and they admitted there was some issues with them (08-09) leaking. I assumed they made some changes on the newer models. Not just the C14 though I have a close friend with a Vulcan and he has had the same problem. Mine now has new seals and bearings and has not leaked in the last 8k.
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My '08 is leaking for the the third time. It has 38ish thousand on it. The first time they replaced the outer seal and it started leaking again within a few hundred miles. The second time I took it back to the dealer where I bought it and they replaced the bearing, inner and outer seals. That fix lasted about 10k miles but is hosing out again. I am currently about 1200 miles of riding from getting home so I just let the dealer know and bought a bottle of gear oil. The first two times the oil level didn't go down, this time I have had to add a few ounces every thousand miles or so. It was leaking before I left on this trip but I decided to not let that stand in the way of a good ride.
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22,000 miles on my 2010 and not a drop of leakage anywhere. (Knock knock knock on wood) Are you sure your bike is equiped with KIPASS?;D
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Just another data point for those keeping score. 2011 with 4800 miles and final gear drive started leaking. Dealer replaced seals twice within 500 miles with no joy. I now have a new final gear drive assembly. I hope this is the end of my problem. I had a 2008 with 20k on it, before I got the 2011, and had no final gear drive problems with it.
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22,000 miles on my 2010 and not a drop of leakage anywhere. (Knock knock knock on wood) Are you sure your bike is equiped with KIPASS?;D
+1
52,000 on my '10 and no leaks. If your bike is equipped with the magical KiPass, insure the battery in it is fresh. The mad pow-ah of KiPass is the only reason my "Kawi" hasn't had trouble of any kind. And it makes a little girls Barbie grin as well =)
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j180/stevewfl/LR%20700/SRW_2726-Edit.jpg)
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I got home last night from a overnight 1000 mile round trip to eat some wings in Omaha.
I pulled in the garage and while unpacking I noticed the tell tale oil on the rear wheel.
This is the second leak in 12,000 miles >:(
I ordered the seals from Ron Ayers and will change it myself rather than the dealer having it for a week and the hassle of getting rides to and from since I am 60 miles away, even though it is a covered warranty issue.
Part #92049-1280 was the culprit before, so I ordered them all for the final drive, plus the 2 for the front.I noticed they were getting a little sloppy on the bushings when I replaced the tires this winter.
I am thinking of just replacing the seal each winter during the down time and avoiding the inconvenience of this happening. Last year it happened after about the same mileage out of the box for the year.
Anyone else have an issue more than once on this?
John
That sucks big time.
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+1
52,000 on my '10 and no leaks. If your bike is equipped with the magical KiPass, insure the battery in it is fresh. The mad pow-ah of KiPass is the only reason my "Kawi" hasn't had trouble of any kind. And it makes a little girls Barbie grin as well =)
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j180/stevewfl/LR%20700/SRW_2726-Edit.jpg)
It must be the jelly Steve ;D
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Yes, I lost my KiPass a week ago and immediate sadness and despair enveloped my entire being, not to mention the disappearance of $200 for a new one. Life won't be the same until my new one arrives and since it's not the original, life will really NEVER be the same! 2011 C14 with 1500 miles and dry as a wine bottle at a Grateful Dead concert.
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I let my dealer do the first service on my Concours. I had read the service manual prior to going to the dealer. I watched the technician rotate the rear wheel during the filling of the final drive and then start to put more oil in. I stopped him and said "you now have to wait until the oil settles back down off the gears", "check the manual". Sheesh. So, overfilling can be done if the person isn't reading the manual.
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Yes, I lost my KiPass a week ago and immediate sadness and despair enveloped my entire being, not to mention the disappearance of $200 for a new one. Life won't be the same until my new one arrives and since it's not the original, life will really NEVER be the same! 2011 C14 with 1500 miles and dry as a wine bottle at a Grateful Dead concert.
I understand completely, but I suspect life will be great again when the replacement arrives (http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j180/stevewfl/bigthumb.gif)
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Yes, I lost my KiPass a week ago and immediate sadness and despair enveloped my entire being, not to mention the disappearance of $200 for a new one. Life won't be the same until my new one arrives and since it's not the original, life will really NEVER be the same! 2011 C14 with 1500 miles and dry as a wine bottle at a Grateful Dead concert.
KiPass is KiPass. There is no lesser or weak KiPass. Once your replacement FOB arrives you will be KiPass equipped and will benefit from its mad pow-ah.
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KiPass is KiPass. There is no lesser or weak KiPass. Once your replacement FOB arrives you will be KiPass equipped and will benefit from its mad pow-ah.
OMG - that's the best news ever! Not sure what to say; Hallelujah? "Thank ya KiPass"?
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(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j180/stevewfl/avatars/dblthumb2.gif)
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6-8-12
After locating a dealer that I felt capable of doing the final drive work, I received a call from the service manager telling me that the problem with the inner seal leaking was caused from premature wear in the location where the seal rides.
It seems there was a slight groove wore in the metal that was located when the technician miked the hub that sits in the bearing and then into the seal. He said it was definitely in the location of the seal and not the bearing. He felt if he would have reinstalled it as it was it would be leaking again in short order.
I asked if this was very common and assured me it was not, but he has seen it before, but not consistently in any particular models.
I asked if they were going to replace the entire final drive and he said not at this time, just the affected parts. I assured him there will be a problem if this happpens again and he completely understood.
As a little insurance against this happening to me again during the riding season, being without a bike, I purchased a complete final drive off a wrecked 09 Connie with under 5000 miles on it. The wrecked unit had heavy front end damage. I got it for $120 shipped. Regretfully, I have lost all confidence in the final drive unit on this bike, and if nothing else, its just a little peace of mind for myself and hopefully I never need it.
John
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Glad things have worked out, but your experience is not the norm at all. Go buy a BMW and just wait for a final drive failure, and it will typically strand you. Then be out of warranty and you will pay bigtime for the repair and the parts, so in all actuality your initial problem was fixed and the dealer caused the most recent issue. For a bike model that hasn't been out that long, the C14 has probably been one of the most successful launches ever, but you gotta do what makes you feel comfortable. ;)
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6- 13
Just got a call from the service manager with good news. He said he nudged Kawasaki about this being the second problem with this final drive, and were they sure they wanted to replace the ring gear unit and have the mechanic go through the very involved process of getting clearances with new and old parts.
Their response was, after second thought, lets just replace the complete unit.
This is exactly what I was wanting in the first place, just a long way around to get it
John
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Sounds like this particular service manager was looking out for the customer (you), and not simply waiting for when it happened again.
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This is what happens when you have a dealer going to bat for you.
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I would like to know who this dealer is. Probably not anywhere near this corn field, but would like to know anyway.
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I would like to know who this dealer is. Probably not anywhere near this corn field, but would like to know anyway.
Yes would be good to know who the dealer is as good ones are few and far between and normally we only hear about the bad ones...
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Yes would be good to know who the dealer is as good ones are few and far between and normally we only hear about the bad ones...
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j180/stevewfl/avatars/eek.gif)
there are "good ones"
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The dealer is Willy World in Joliet, IL.
They are a Yamaha/Honda/Suzuki/Kawasaki dealer. The service manager's name is Craig.
I got the usual call from Kawasaki Corporate asking about my experience with the dealership, and I also sent a note through the dealerships website informing them of what I considered excellent customer service.
John
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The dealer is Willy World in Joliet, IL.
They are a Yamaha/Honda/Suzuki/Kawasaki dealer. The service manager's name is Craig.
I got the usual call from Kawasaki Corporate asking about my experience with the dealership, and I also sent a note through the dealerships website informing them of what I considered excellent customer service.
John
Thanks for the report on Willy World John. Periodically I get e-mail from them and I wondered if they were any good.
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The dealer I originally bought the Connie from in Merrillville, IN gave me the run around on getting the service I felt I should have especially being it was a warranty issue and the second time around for that final drive unit. When they told me to get it to them ASAP and they would get on it as soon as they get it, then not even looking at it over the next 4 days, did not sit well with me at all. The "does not play well with others" came out in a bad way ;D
I made the 130 mile round trip and picked up the unit then done a little research, ruled out 1 Dealer not far from me because of the appearance of their "service" area. Ended up calling and talking with the service manager at Willy World telling him the situation I was in and asked if he would be interested in my business and also asked if he was capable of being honest and straight forward with me knowing that there may be times it was not what I wanted to hear. His reply was get it up here and I will have it ready for you by weeks end. By weeks end I had the replacement unit on the way to me. Can't ask for anymore than that :)
John
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:thumbs:
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Awesome! Joilet is a bit from where I live, but not that far in grand scheme of things! Maybe I will visit them for my services. I am not quite sure of the dealer in Springfield, IL. They mostly have cruisers and lots of 4 wheelers.
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The dealer I originally bought the Connie from in Merrillville, IN gave me the run around on getting the service I felt I should have especially being it was a warranty issue and the second time around for that final drive unit. When they told me to get it to them ASAP and they would get on it as soon as they get it, then not even looking at it over the next 4 days, did not sit well with me at all. The "does not play well with others" came out in a bad way ;D
I had the same experience but waited for TWO MONTHS before I demanded the bike back. Got caught between the goons at the Kawa dealer and the goons at Kawa USA in California. Both vilified the other, yet neither wanted to help me. Kawa USA guys told me angrily, that the dealer mechanics said nothing was wrong. The dealer mechs were horrible and said Kawa USA would not approve repairing the rear drive. They closed up the stealership later that year.