2012 C14 touring capabilities.

[packers]

Clicked on the link and saw a yellow goldwing.  Freudian slip? 

Ok - that's funny.  Maybe it was predicting the future!  I have had the bike since March and already have about 9,000 miles on it, 2,000 of which was my trip up to the dragon and back.  That says something.  I like it, but over 2 hours on the saddle is not fun.

I bought a few of the pics...this will eliminate evidence of my subliminal thinking 






P.S.  As far as "touring" farkles, I have installed:

- Corbin Seat
- Airhawk R & Pillon cushons
- Cee Bailey Windsheild
- Phill's rack & Givi 55
- Advanced ST Pullback risers
- Pr3's
- Beemer buddies grips
- Rostra cruise control

[Pokey]

Good looking lines on the Dragon, and what in the heck is that Hog rider doing with his left foot?

[wroman]

  That's what I wondered Pokey. 

[gPink]

They always duck walk the slow turns. Can you tell if his brake light is on?

[maxtog]

They always duck walk the slow turns. Can you tell if his brake light is on?

LOL!  I was going to say- "When they go over 5MPH in a turn, they are afraid they will either fall over or scrape the hell out of their chrome exhausts"

[twowheeladdict]

Good looking lines on the Dragon, and what in the heck is that Hog rider doing with his left foot?

Common motorcycle etiquette is to put out your foot to alert the rider behind you that there is debris in the roadway.  I suppose you don't use turn signals either because they are just a courtesy?

For cruiser riders it is easier to put the foot out since they don't have any weight on their legs like a sportrider.  Sportriders typically use hand signals or just let the other guy ride his own ride.  If they are riding so close to you that they don't see the hazard then maybe they will learn a lesson. 

[Pokey]

Taking your hands of the bars or feet off the pegs on the dragon is just plain stupid and dangerous for all. Seriously doubt anything was on the road, things like that get taken care of ASAP.

[gPink]

Foot signals? Never heard that one before.

[danl]

I think as far as touring capabilities go, much depends on how long your days are going to be, where you live, etc. Out of the box, there are better bikes than the C14 for touring. The new Trophy, BMW RT/K16GT, are a few that come to mind before even mentioning the Goldwing. Even the ST13 might arguable be the better touring bike.

Where the Connie may come up short on some touring expectations is the smaller range on a tank of fuel, and perhaps more importantly the lesser amounts of wind protection. How much an aftermarket shield/wings help remains to be seen for me, but a search on the subject reveals that most are happier with the added protection from wind and weather. Also, when I think of long days on the bike, I like to have cruise control. Kawasaki should offer this as an option, however, there are aftermarket kits that I will eventually look into. 

If I lived in a colder climate, I think I would lean more toward a bike that had more fairing, etc.   

RE: the Trophy, wouldn't you expect a $19000 base price bike to be better out of the box than a Concours? I would.
 
I'd still take the Connie. Even with adding on aftermarket parts to make it better at touring, it's still less than the Trophy, BMW, ST1300.

[Necron99]

Never heard of pointing with your foot?  How unusual, don't ride with groups often?

Now....the HD guy did it wrong.  You point with your left hand to the left and your RIGHT foot to the right, so you don't have to take your hand off the throttle.

http://www.mountainshadowriders.com/HandSignals.htm

[gPink]

Never heard of pointing with your foot?  How unusual, don't ride with groups often?

Now....the HD guy did it wrong.  You point with your left hand to the left and your RIGHT foot to the right, so you don't have to take your hand off the throttle.

http://www.mountainshadowriders.com/HandSignals.htm

I avoid group riding like the plague.

[eng943]

RE: the Trophy, wouldn't you expect a $19000 base price bike to be better out of the box than a Concours? I would.
 
I'd still take the Connie. Even with adding on aftermarket parts to make it better at touring, it's still less than the Trophy, BMW, ST1300.

There are plenty of bikes that cost more than the C14. Should they all be better at touring because they cost more? Your rebuttal makes no sense.

By my definition "better" was more indicative of upright position, more fairing, more range. Certainly factory cruise, elec suspension etc may have some value to certain buyers as well.

Not every choice is defined by dollars and cents. Yes....we all know the C14 is a great value. I don't understand why cost gets dragged into every discussion here where other bikes are mentioned. If we were all so concerned with money, none of us would be parting with hard earned cash to dump into this hobby. It's all very subjective.

[danl]

We're talking about a specific class of bikes here- Sport Tourers. Not Goldwings and Geezer Glides or chromed out garage queens that don't see as many miles in a year as most people put on a ST in a month.

If I pay 19k for a ST class bike, I expect it to have better features and be a better bike overall than a lesser priced bike. But when you get down to it, you can pay less for a C14, add on the things that are missing from the 19k bike, and come out ahead with a better overall bike. The C14 out performs all of them aside from the K1600, and that is really in a class of it's own since it costs almost double what a C14 costs and is more in the Goldwing category when you look at the LT version.

All I'm saying is you can have upright riding position, wind protection, cruise control, comfortable seating, all the features a good touring bike has for less than the price of any of those you said were better. What are you missing, a gallon of fuel? That isn't even a factor for me because I like to get off the bike every 200 miles or so anyway. 

I don't only look at the bike. My money is hard earned and I want the best value for the dollar. So in that case, yes, price does matter when you are looking at a hobby such as riding. 

[SPX]

What are you missing, a gallon of fuel? That isn't even a factor for me because I like to get off the bike every 200 miles or so anyway. 

You can still get off a bike that has 300 miles range every 200 miles or so. The issue with a fairly short range motorcycle like the Connie is that if you're riding on some of the more desolate roads in America, you become dependent on the gas station 150 miles up the road being open and operating, because you don't have the range to make it to the gas station 100 miles beyond that one.

[eng943]

We're talking about a specific class of bikes here- Sport Tourers. Not Goldwings and Geezer Glides or chromed out garage queens that don't see as many miles in a year as most people put on a ST in a month.

If I pay 19k for a ST class bike, I expect it to have better features and be a better bike overall than a lesser priced bike. But when you get down to it, you can pay less for a C14, add on the things that are missing from the 19k bike, and come out ahead with a better overall bike. The C14 out performs all of them aside from the K1600, and that is really in a class of it's own since it costs almost double what a C14 costs and is more in the Goldwing category when you look at the LT version.

All I'm saying is you can have upright riding position, wind protection, cruise control, comfortable seating, all the features a good touring bike has for less than the price of any of those you said were better. What are you missing, a gallon of fuel? That isn't even a factor for me because I like to get off the bike every 200 miles or so anyway. 

I don't only look at the bike. My money is hard earned and I want the best value for the dollar. So in that case, yes, price does matter when you are looking at a hobby such as riding.

I don't know that I would agree that you can simply add things to the C14 to make it as good or better as let's say a Trophy. You can certainly iimprove the C14's touring capability through the aftermarket.

The bigger point here that gets missed is that "value for the dollar" is only relative to the person writing the check. 

[maxtog]

Foot signals? Never heard that one before.

Me neither.  Maybe it is taught in a cruiser school or something?

[Pokey]

I avoid group riding like the plague.

No more than 4 "that includes me" if I can help it, any more and it sucks IMHO.

[katata1100]

My computer says I average over 50 mpg on long trips. Don't know how accurate that is, but I have no complaints about the range.
I have a Shad 50 trunk, I use that for everything. I am getting ready for a 2000 mile road trip that will start this saturday and culminate in Denver at the Great American Beer Festival. I plan on those saddlebags to be able to hold all of my clothes and junk, the trunk will be filled with Colorado-sourced bottles of microbrew.
Handling, the bike is tall and feels sort of clumsy in the city. I won't lane split in CA like did with my soft bag equipped Katana 1100 as the C14 is pretty wide. But, on the open road, I have no complaints.

[twowheeladdict]

Never heard of pointing with your foot?  How unusual, don't ride with groups often?

Now....the HD guy did it wrong.  You point with your left hand to the left and your RIGHT foot to the right, so you don't have to take your hand off the throttle.

http://www.mountainshadowriders.com/HandSignals.htm

The problem with that is the rider behind you doesn't know if you are pointing out an obstacle or waving to an oncoming rider.

[Pokey]

Me neither.  Maybe it is taught in a cruiser school or something?

Cruiser schools teach "the wave" and how to properly park under an overpass when it is raining. They also teach how to avoid scraping the pegs or floorboards, and not to exceed 50 mph in most instances. And lets not forget the LETS DRESS LIKE THE VILLAGE PEOPLE classes "that is the most popular".