2015 connie [pre-release speculation]

[VirginiaJim]

 

[tomp]

I start next week at a dealership that sells Kawi's among other brands.  Maybe I can learn something.  FWIW, I checked, no one knows about the actual appearance of H2R's and H2 street versions.  Well kept secret so far... Same about the 14's, no news yet. 

[AlbertaDoug]

http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/motorcycles/2015/Kawasaki.htm
  2015 Connie not on the list yet.

[Scaffolder]

Copied from a friend of mine on Facebook's Kawasaki Concours 14 Enthusiasts (one of the better pages on Facebook. IMHO.)

OFFICIAL 2015 CONCOURS INFO FROM KAWASAKI WHILE AT THE AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL MOTORCYCLE EXPO IN ORLANDO TODAY.
First, Kawasaki launched several new bikes. Unfortunately, they showed only a 2014 Concours. No 2015 model or news!!!
Bummer.
This had me consented so I tracked down an official and asked if there was going to be a 2015 model at all and mention our page, or membership and what was being rumored. Specifically, I asked if there was going to be a 2015 model or if it was being phased out !!
ANSWER:
THERE "WILL" BE A 2015 MODEL OF THE CONCOURS / GTR. IT WILL HAVE MINOR CHANGES OTHER THAN JUST COLOR. THERE IS A MAJOR EVENT IN MILAN IN NOVEMBER. MAY ANNOUNCED THERE, BUT COULDN'T CONFIRM THE VENUE, JUST THAT THERE WOULD BE A NEWER, 2015 CONCOURS / GTR.
That's it hits and girls. It's official.

[aspire61]

  2015 Connie not on the list yet.

I believe every other model of Concours was announced before mid-October- am I correct?

If so- this would suggest a repeat of events of the last model change, and we can look forward to a supercharger.

Let the good times roll!

mat

[AlbertaDoug]

2015 Connie not on the list yet.

I believe every other model of Concours was announced before mid-October- am I correct?

If so- this would suggest a repeat of events of the last model change, and we can look forward to a supercharger.

Let the good times roll!

mat

I fully expect a 2015 Connie.
 I believe that one of the changes is going to be electronic cruise. Considering I grew tired of waiting for this option and pulled the trigger on the 2014. 

[VirginiaJim]

I laugh in the direction of your expectations...it would be nice to have though.

[tomp]

We still have 13's we are selling.  C14's aren't big sellers around here.  This is H-D country, for sure, so putting unchanged 15's on the floor would be a waste of time for us.  tp

[aspire61]

We still have 13's we are selling.  C14's aren't big sellers around here.  This is H-D country, for sure, so putting unchanged 15's on the floor would be a waste of time for us.  tp

Agreed. Perhaps I should clarify.  If Mother Kaw does the switch for the third generation like the second, we won't see a model yr during the change to allow them to sell all remaining (2014) stock. Now this may be lofty thinking, but given the so far non-existant '15 model, isn't it possible?
mat

[martin_14]

I think they'll bring that ZX-14R 1441 cc engine, WITH compressor, on the new '15 C14. No doubt. Kind off... well, a bit of doubt, maybe...

[twowheeladdict]

We still have 13's we are selling.  C14's aren't big sellers around here.  This is H-D country, for sure, so putting unchanged 15's on the floor would be a waste of time for us.  tp

I think the whole USA is H-D country.  I see 9 to 1 Harleys when I am out touring the country.

I stopped in Lynchburg, TN on Friday.  Strolled the square and the shops and they had a lot of HD stuff for sale.  I was looking at metal signs and the lady said she had a lot of HD stuff.  I said, "I don't follow the crowd.  Everyone and his brother has a Harley."  Of course I got a lot of looks from the riders in the shop.  LOL!

[CADMAN97]

I think they'll bring that ZX-14R 1441 cc engine, WITH compressor, on the new '15 C14. No doubt. Kind off... well, a bit of doubt, maybe...

The new concours must be pretty awesome since KAW is waiting til the show in Italy to reviel it 

[TallyRex]

I spoke with the Regional Sales Mgr for Kawa at the Orlando AIM and he said minor changes only and NO electronic cruise control.  He said that would raise the price by $1100 and they aren't selling well at the current price.

But they did have the 1000 Versys in black and orange/black.  Standard with hardbags and a center stand, weighing in at about 550 lbs and a very neat optional top case that will hold 2 full face helmets and is one button removable.  I lked it

[VirginiaJim]

I guess we'll have to see what their minor changes are.......let me guess...................wait for it.........................................wait for it..................................color change!  Just what we've all wanted.  Bet it's another shade of black.

[AlbertaDoug]

I spoke with the Regional Sales Mgr for Kawa at the Orlando AIM and he said minor changes only and NO electronic cruise control.  He said that would raise the price by $1100 and they aren't selling well at the current price.

Well then, I'm glad I didn't wait I would have missed out on 14762km on smiles. Throttlemeister does the trick for now

[Rhino]

I guess we'll have to see what their minor changes are.......let me guess...................wait for it.........................................wait for it..................................color change!  Just what we've all wanted.  Bet it's another shade of black.

Not even "Bold New Graphics".

[jwh20]

I spoke with the Regional Sales Mgr for Kawa at the Orlando AIM and he said minor changes only and NO electronic cruise control.  He said that would raise the price by $1100 and they aren't selling well at the current price.

Could be something to that.  My local dealer doesn't have a single 2014 C14 on the floor and they have two 2013's.  Last time I was there I think they had $11,999 on the tag.  I see folks asking MORE for older used bikes on CL locally.  They're probably just trolling...

I guess I don't get the delay.  If the 2015 C14 is essentially the same as the 2014, why keep the potential buyers in the dark?  All that does is discourage someone from buying a 2013 or a 2014 since they don't want to pull the trigger on that only to wish they had waited for the "new and improved" 2015 model.

Of course I'm not paid enough to be a marketing genius so we'll just have to wait and see what Kawasaki does...

[VirginiaJim]

Their (Kwakers) situation is thus..  They haven't really done much of anything to the bike since Gen2.  Their biggest worry is what color to make the next bike, other than that they're skating along.  I hates them I does.  What is also happening because Kwakers is sitting on their bums (at least it seems so to us) doing nothing but worrying about colors is that some of those that bought new are finding other manufacturers coming out with better options/gizmos/displacement and leaving the brand.  Meanwhile the used market in the C14 arena (not our Arena) isn't that awfully bad for the newcomers.  Kwakers, of course, gets very little monetary gain (nothing actually) from these transactions.  New sales are sliding.  Why should they do something about it?  Pour money into a platform that isn't providing revenue?  This to me is short sighted assuming I'm correct.

Of course, I could be wrong, and they have had their pencils sharpened working on a gen3 BMW/Yammy killer and it will come out next year in 2016, but by then the situation will have worsened even more for them and even possibly for us that want a gen3 (not me, this is my last bike and I'm keeping it forever if I can).  More potential riders will be looking at other brands the longer this plays out.  That's the way I see it.

[jwh20]

Of course there is some advantage to being the last one to introduce a next-gen bike.  In the touring bike market, Honda has updated the GL1800 in 2012, Yamaha has redesigned the FJR1300 in 2013, BMW is now all in with their K1300GT in 2009 and the K1600GT in 2011. 

So that leaves only Kawasaki with a older design.  It seems to me that KHI likes to either trump the market with something entirely unexpected (Z1, Ninja, H2 to name a few) or wait until the other players show their cards and then regroup and come up with a better one.

[VirginiaJim]

Year after year?