Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge Long Time Returning

Well, it's been about 7 years since I sold my much modified '02 America and been here. One H.D. Deluxe and Kawi Concours later, I'm considering returning to another America--something about the 'look' of that bike...Guess what? Did you guys know these bike don't have carbs anymore?! LOL! Yea, pretty sure ya'll knew that. So, I think I'm gonna try and find an '07 America--something about faux carbs on a FI bike that rubs me wrong. Let The Search and then the Mods Begin!

FWIW, USA-spec bikes had carbs through the 2008 model year. The tank changed for the 2008 model year, though.

there is a nice America with carbs and spoke wheels in the classifieds for a steal if you want to make a cross country trip

welcome back!

I found an '07 with 11K miles in the blue and creme two-tone. Nicely accessorized with screen, leather bags, backrest/rack. No performance mods. Wants $6500, which I think is about $1000 too high, but maybe for $6K? Quick sum of what I like as far as mods looks like another $3K. But, money is for spending, right?

Hmm...Roadworthy. I looked in the classified section; couldn't find the America you mentioned.

Welcome back. My question is. Do you still have the Harley or Concours?

Pes, no, the Deluxe left quickly as I was spending more time polishing it to keep the rust from building on it due to the harsh invironment I had her in as opposed to time spent riding it. I just sold the Concours two weeks ago. Hard for me to justify having more than one 'horse' in the 'stable' at a time.

Nice bike, Moe; good deal, too. Oh, that strategy of selling your stuff "before she can get it in the divorce" has been countered by the civil courts; at least, in states that have community property laws. Friend of mine here in WA tried that with his Porsche (against my advice); selling it for about a quarter of it's value. His X-to-be, at the request of her lawyer, had his 911 valued by an independent appraiser and he got stuck paying her half of it's value anyhow; just like I told him would happen.

Any recommendations as to which exhaust is the hot set-up these days? My old '02 had Epcos--pretty nice, but it took me about 5 tries to get the jetting right. I like the look and especially the length of the Sceptres.

tell me about the connie

The Connie? Not sure what you want to know. Back in the mid-80s, Kawasaki decided, very intelligently, to get into the sport-touring arena that had been basically dominated by BMW. They took a Ninja, hung wwhat turned out to be the best fairing ever for protecting the rider from the elements on it, a shaft drive, de-tuned the motor for more low-end and mid-range power, some easily removable and cavernous saddlebags and, Voila! Minimum investment on Kawasaki's part and a bike they could sell quite cheap relative to the competition. And, with very small changes in MY '93, the bike was the same and sold like hotcakes for 20 years ('86-'06). 10,500 redline. Very top heavy and takes some getting used to at slow speed due to it's 7.5 gallon tank. Once on the road, no problem and handles well. After laughing all the way to the bank for 20 years, Kawasaki finally had to succumb to the competition and released the new Concours 14 in '08. That bike has since 'spanked' all of it's competitors in every bike rag comparison to include the Beemer costing $5K more.

But, "never fly the 'A-model' of anything." Get at least a 2010 model if you want a newer 14; improvements were made. For a commuter bike and value for the $, there simply is no better bike; IMHO than a '93-'06 Concours. Some of these bikes have more than 200K on the clock!

Back in my motor-cop days here in WA, my motor partner had an '88 model Connie and I was an admitted Beemer-Snob then. We traded personal bikes for our 3 days off; he on my '87 K100RS and I on his '88 Connie. When we returned for work and traded back, my youthful BMW snob self could not admit that his Concours was a better bike, and he was humble enough to say that he liked my Beemer well enough.

There is a Concours Owners Group (COG) on-line that has an almost fanatical group of Concours owners and tons of information on the bikes.

Roy, JR wants to know about the Connie because there are some here lusting after the new Trophy 1200 SE due to be released next month. The SE is going to go for 20K and I'm thinking (and maybe JR too) the Concours may be a better deal or even a used R1200RT. Is that what you are thinking Yota or am I putting words in your mouth?

LOL! My bet is on wheelies and burn outs!

"...the Concours may be a better 'deal'." Well, I don't think we need to break out any calculators for this, but the big question, to my mind, (and I know absloutely zip about the new Trophy 1200) is the difference in a new Trophy vs a nice, well-farkled, older model Connie, worth roughly the $16,000 difference? Not to my mind. But, if I were only to have one bike, and face it, we all want a bike that "speaks" to us, I'd drop the $20K because the Connie, to me, was just too...what's the proper adjective here...AHH!...'Vanilla;' that's it. But, again, if utilitarian, bang-for-the-$ transportation is what you're after in a bike that performs
pretty well even by today's standards, that older Connie is the hot set up.

Now, if we're comparing the new Trophy to the new Concours, well that's a whole new world. I've ridden the new Concours--impressive indeed. But, even with getting a nice used 2010 model at around $10K, I just didn't see basically $6 more bike compared to my '02 Concours; let alone a $11K difference for a new, 2012 model.

I think one, being pragmatic, would have to make the same comparisons to the new Trophy. 'Course, this whole 'motorcycle disease' we have doesn't lend to being pragmatic at all, does it?

I'm gonna have to do some research on this new Trophy. Is it gonna be a ST? Compete against their own Sprint GT?; which I've ridden...NICE motor, that 3 cyl 1050, but very poor protection afforded by it's fairing and kinda soft in the suspension area for a ST bike. But, every ST bike I've ridden, including the Ducatis (with the exception of their adjustable "S" versions) have all had way too soft suspensions.

Hmm...well, just finished reading three reviews of the new Trophy. What I found most telling was that none of the authors made any mention of the Concours 14 as being a competitor; it was all countered toward BMW, especially BMW's R bike. There was some mention about the 3 cyl motor not quite being up to the task...hmm.

Just my $.02 opinion, but if I were in the market for this kind of bike, I think the $10K difference between a nice, lightly used, '10-12 Concours 14 and a new Trophy would seal it for me; unless after riding both bikes the Trophy was clear and away the winner by a large, in this case $10K margin. Then, of course, there's that ambiguous element called "loyalty to the marque" that might sway some here to go with the Trophy. Admittedly, that is a big reason I'm looking at an America this Thursday after a 7 year Triumph hiatus.