Motorcycle Shopping

On Saturday Josh and I went around multiple dealerships and looked at candidates for my bike in the next few months. It was really down to the Kawasaki Concours 14, and the Yamaha FJR 1300. Unfortunately there were not as many bikes around the Seattle area in the Sports-Touring category, but there was enough that I could get something.

The first dealer had a FJR 1300, and although he seemed like a really nice guy and all, he wouldn't let me test ride it due to my international licence without putting the whole amount of money down first. And if after riding I said I didn't like it, they'd cancel the transaction. This may have been the dealer's policy, and I'm sure they weren't doing the dodgy, but it seemed like they would have been in too much of a position of power if in the end I didn't want the bike.

A Kawasaki Concours 14

So we moved on to the next dealer in Lynnwood, who had a brand new Concours 14. Luckily they actually did let me ride the bike. I only took it around the block, but it felt pretty good. It had strong power delivery and actually handled pretty lightly for a bike of that size. It has a lot of technology on it: Adjustable windsheids, ABS brakes, traction control, 'eco drive' thing etc. I'd didn't have the grunt of my Hayabusa, but I wasn't really expecting or needing that!

Then we looked at a second hand 2008 Concours 14. Which looked good but was a private seller who wouldn't allow test rides unless he had all the money (which is apparently common here in the US). Also there is a big difference between the 2008 and and the 2010+ models, in 2010 Kawasaki put a whole lot of fixes and features in (including traction control).

Finally Josh and I went the Ducatti dealership in the middle of Seattle, as they had a second hand Concours 14 and FJR. It was too late in the day by then to test ride, but both bikes at least looked pretty good. They Ducatti guys obviously suggested I buy a Multistrada, which was very nice, but probably way out of my price range. The Concours 14 was at least a newer version, a 2010 model.

The Harley Road King I test rode

On Monday Josh and I went to the local Harley Davidson dealership. Before coming over I was moving away from the idea of a Harley, mainly due to the back problems you get on cruisers, the lower top-end power on them and the cost of one. However, I thought it was a good idea to give one a ride. In my price range I only really had the choice of a Road King or a very old Electra Glide. The Harley dealership allowed me to take a black Road King out for a test ride, and it was a beautiful bike. Quite hard to ride I found, although it would be something I could get used to, the way the handlebars are positioned and how my feet sat forward took some getting used to. And I guess like all cruisers, this thing shakes when stopped at lights. Also the indicators are all weird, a button on each handle bar is pressed to turn on or off the respective indicators. Also the luggage capacity was pretty small, but in the end the bike looked really cool!

After much deliberation, I decided to put a deposit on a bike, a 2011 Kawasaki Concours 14. I wish I had more time to think about it and ride some more bikes, but I'm running out of time. The 2011 is basically the same as the 2012, but $3K cheaper. Only problem is that I have to go pick it up from a town 180 miles away called Kennewick. The other issue is that I'm going to have to get the first 600 mile service on it, as there is no Ks on this bike at all. But hopefully it was the right decision in the end, the bike should be pretty sweet and hopefully I get a good sale price on on it back in LA.