Hi there. It's been a while
I thought I'd share the very first time, ever, that my beloved 08 connie has taken a dump on me (well, it did it one other time during a valve adjust, but that was me doing it, and the dump was mostly on my part).
I bought her new in 08, and just clocked 95K miles. For over 10 years myself and friends go for a yearly 1500 miles ride of northern California best roads. This year, I had the bright idea of bragging to the others about how my Concours is the only motorcycle in the group which has NEVER had any issues or caused any aggravation during our 10 years of doing these trips.
Well, of course I had to say that, didn't I.
In the second day during our 5 day tour, the bike started false shifting. I would go into false neutral at least once an hour. Then the speedometer stopped working, and so did the odo.
Side fact: it as 110 degrees at times, and we were riding...how do we say...'spirited'.
Then, as I was coming out of a corner, I lost all resistance in the clutch lever. We stopped in the side of the road (in 105 degrees), and lo and hehold, there was a river right there! So, we all got undressed and took a dip. By the time we returned to the bikes, I had resistance back in the clutch lever, but as I started riding, I could not shift up from 2nd gear. I did not try to shift down, because I was 100 miles away from the hotel, and did not want to be eitehr stuck in 1st or loose gears completely, so I rode 100 miles in 2nd.
To cut story short, wife came and trailered me the next day (she was not happy, likely due to the 6 hour drive to my location).
As I have experience wrenching on the bike and knowing the consequences, I took it to the dealer.It turns out some spring came loose in the clutch and mangled some stuff in there, and the everything needs to be replaced (plates, spring, etc). As far as the speed, they say the speed sensor needs replacing.
The total damage is $1900.
So, learn from be boys. No matter how reliable the bike seems to be, never, ever, brag about it. Your bragging will eventually cause accelerated wear and tear which would not have happened otherwise.
Has anyone here ever had issues with the clutch like this?
As a side note, for years now, I've had this intermittent problem where I would wake up in the morning, specially cold days, and I would have no resistance in the clutch lever. After warming the engine a bit, resistance would come back. I asked the dealer, and they couldn't figure out, telling me in the end it would be easier to let something that is a little broken break fully so it would be easier to diagnose.
I then installed braided lines 2 years (maybe 3) ago. Since then, the lack of resistance on the lever went away.
Now, the clutch blew up. I wonder if I had this issue all along for all these years and it finally 'fully' broke now, after being partially broken all this time?
Is this THE Haroldo.....the legend? Wow good to hear from you. We've heard whispers but thought you were just a myth. Sorry about the clutch. Are you going to document the repair here where we can follow along. I heard the valve adjust was epic but all that was lost a few years back.
The two year in the planning 10000 miles ride to the arctic and back is in a month!
...Let's see, in 2012 I rode to Prudoe Bay, AK.
I'm glad the same old crew is still here! VirginiaJim, Brian, is Bob still here?
That's funny! How did I become a "legend" again? Come on, there has to have been something else to top the charts since, no? I'm shocked that 8 or 9 years later and the story still lives!
I know that this is a lot of money on this bike, but I considering the alternative....If I didn't fix it, I would have to sell it broken (for very little) or part it, which I have no time for.
The truth is that I love this thing. With almost 100K on it, I can ride the bejeezus out of it, the bike is second nature now. Plus, it is fully fitted with Ohlins front and back, PCV, etc etc etc (I don't even remember the list of upgrades, but I know its long).
Then, if I did sell it instead of fixing, I would have to spend some money on a replacement.
I am betting 2K in the possibility of it lasting another 50K miles when I'm ready to buy the KTM super duke GT.
Conrad
I'm glad the same old crew is still here! VirginiaJim, Brian, is Bob still here?
As for the last few years, so much **** happened which kept me distracted...Let's see, in 2012 I rode to Prudoe Bay, AK. 6 months later I crashed at 55mph and shattered my ankle (surgery and titanium hardware fixed it), stopped riding for a few months to make the wife happy, then started again. In 2013 went back to grad school in the evenings, and for the next 4 years up until this last May I literally had no life. Now I'm finally getting back to my hobbies
I'm attaching the work order for info on pricing (opps, had to remove, it has my info in it. Will edit and repost)
There are a lot of factors to consider. Assuming you were ready to lay out 2 grand to fix a 10 year old 95K bike, it is worth considering buying a newer used one with much lower miles, especially if you can part-out the old one for 1K. You could then transfer most of the farkles you want (seat, windscreen, risers are easy... muffler not that hard.... suspension, that would be harder.) But you could end up with something worth more and with far more years of service available. Quickly found a 2010 with 25K miles, carbon muffler, AND HELIBARS HORIZONS for $5,200! https://motorcycles.autotrader.com/motorcycles/2010/kawasaki/concours_14/200474591But then think about junking a motorcycle because the clutch gave out! I know it's all about the price, but com'on man!
To me, 10 pretty much trouble-free years on a bike with 95K miles on is a great run, no matter how I look at it, even if it meant going out and just buying a brand new 2017 Concours
I can see that there is an emotional component to this dilemma. Logging 10's of thousands of miles will have lots of memories associated with the motorcycle. I still regret selling my old VW van many years ago...
I was going to post again in this thread, decided against it, then saw this post so....
Yep, emotional decision, as well as a very personal one. Each person has to do what he / she thinks is the best way forward. And in the end, I think we all make lousy choices now and then but some good ones too; the problematic part is that we just do not know which we are making most of the time when we are actually doing it.
In this case, Haroldo will make his decision (maybe he already has?) and forge ahead. What I do know is that the proper attitude and tenacity will rise up and carry the day beyond which decision was made and Haroldo has plenty of both of those traits. Frankly, it has been a pleasure in the past to kind of accompany Haroldo on some of his projects and hopefully he will share some more, starting with this one, going forward. Perhaps some of us have been of some have been helpful to him as well, and can continue to be so. And trust me, Haroldo will go forward, and I mean that in the very best and most positive way imaginable.
So let us know how the C-14 part of your life is going Haroldo and maybe we can sort of work together a bit, even long- distance on the project.
And on a side- note, while it is OFFTOPIC and none of my (our?) business, did you get your advanced degree and in what if I may ask. And certainly you can just ignore that question if it is too personal or you would rather not converse about that here.... I understand perfectly and take no offense.
Brian
Sure thing.
First thing, I decided to fix the old lady. In the end, if she completely blows up 6 months from now, I won't cry the 1.9K I just spent. It will be OK either way. The added factor to this decision is that I am planning to own the KTM Super Duke GT in the future. The wife already knows about it. If I get another bike, even if it is an old used one, that would be it, as it will be considered "my new bike". So, in an effort to keep the dream alive, and considering how much I love the Concours and how confident I am riding it, it makes sense to me to drop the cash. It is more of a strategic play than a lucrative one at the moment. It does have a purpose.
About the degree. I got a masters in computer engineering from San Jose State University (my BS is in EE from Purdue). I just graduated this May about a month after I turned 40
People ask me if it was worth it, if I'll make more money, etc etc. Well, at this point in my career, with 15 years of experience, an added pedigree on its own doesn't do much. But I have surely gotten a tech refresh, and added some skills I did not have in my toolbox before. One huge outcome of the program is that it sparked my interest in autonomous driving, the new Silicon Valley fever industry. So, after 15 years of medical device history, I left a cushy safe job at a large medical device company, took a paycut, and joined a small autonomous driving start up. The other day while testing my software I was driving a car at 70mph from my laptop in the backseat. You can't have more fun than that at work, you just can't
Sure thing.
First thing, I decided to fix the old lady. In the end, if she completely blows up 6 months from now, I won't cry the 1.9K I just spent. It will be OK either way. The added factor to this decision is that I am planning to own the KTM Super Duke GT in the future. The wife already knows about it. If I get another bike, even if it is an old used one, that would be it, as it will be considered "my new bike". So, in an effort to keep the dream alive, and considering how much I love the Concours and how confident I am riding it, it makes sense to me to drop the cash. It is more of a strategic play than a lucrative one at the moment. It does have a purpose.
About the degree. I got a masters in computer engineering from San Jose State University (my BS is in EE from Purdue). I just graduated this May about a month after I turned 40
People ask me if it was worth it, if I'll make more money, etc etc. Well, at this point in my career, with 15 years of experience, an added pedigree on its own doesn't do much. But I have surely gotten a tech refresh, and added some skills I did not have in my toolbox before. One huge outcome of the program is that it sparked my interest in autonomous driving, the new Silicon Valley fever industry. So, after 15 years of medical device history, I left a cushy safe job at a large medical device company, took a paycut, and joined a small autonomous driving start up. The other day while testing my software I was driving a car at 70mph from my laptop in the backseat. You can't have more fun than that at work, you just can't
Sure thing.
First thing, I decided to fix the old lady. In the end, if she completely blows up 6 months from now, I won't cry the 1.9K I just spent. It will be OK either way. The added factor to this decision is that I am planning to own the KTM Super Duke GT in the future. The wife already knows about it. If I get another bike, even if it is an old used one, that would be it, as it will be considered "my new bike". So, in an effort to keep the dream alive, and considering how much I love the Concours and how confident I am riding it, it makes sense to me to drop the cash. It is more of a strategic play than a lucrative one at the moment. It does have a purpose.
About the degree. I got a masters in computer engineering from San Jose State University (my BS is in EE from Purdue). I just graduated this May about a month after I turned 40
People ask me if it was worth it, if I'll make more money, etc etc. Well, at this point in my career, with 15 years of experience, an added pedigree on its own doesn't do much. But I have surely gotten a tech refresh, and added some skills I did not have in my toolbox before. One huge outcome of the program is that it sparked my interest in autonomous driving, the new Silicon Valley fever industry. So, after 15 years of medical device history, I left a cushy safe job at a large medical device company, took a paycut, and joined a small autonomous driving start up. The other day while testing my software I was driving a car at 70mph from my laptop in the backseat. You can't have more fun than that at work, you just can't