Can't decide between C14 and ZX14R

[Cablebandit]

Maybe I'll get an insurance check on one.  Last time I considered changing bikes, the insurance increase over the Sprint was enough to stop me.

 -Dan

The other upside to the C14.  It costs nothing to insure.

[ConPilot1]

The other upside to the C14.  It costs nothing to insure.

We can thank the squids for that. They have defined "old man's bagger bike" and "sick hyper-sport bikes" and
the insurance companies have paid attention to this.

[dan88z]

My wife was complaining to some friends about the Connie's insurance, so I checked- it's only 100 bucks a year more than her Vulcan 1500 for the same coverage. 382 to 282.

[kwb377]

Maybe I'll get an insurance check on one.  Last time I considered changing bikes, the insurance increase over the Sprint was enough to stop me.

I was surprised when I checked on mine before buying it. At the end of last year, I sold my '05 Road King and bought an '02 Ducati ST4S, and my premium increased $1.80 every 6 months...then in March I decided to sell the Duc and was looking at an '08 ZX14. I was expecting the insurance to be outrageous, but when I called to check the premium increase was only $2.85 more every 6 months over the Duc. (State Farm)

[skater69]

Get the C14, you'll enjoy the extra comfort and I doubt you'll be wanting more performance.  I've ridden both.  The ZX you also really sit "on top of" of the bike rather than in it. Sort of a bummer to me as I'd rather be sit "in" the bike.

[KodiakRS]

Test rode a C-14 a few weeks ago and was utterly unimpressed.  


First off that seat does the stupid gradual slope from the pillion seat thing which may look good but removes about 6 inches of usable seat area.  I was pretty much locked into one position due to the lack of seat room, not what you want on a touring motorcycle.  The seat setup has obviously been designed to accommodate shorter riders and help them handle the substantial girth of this motorcycle.  I also had issues with my feet hitting things but that's because I have giant feet and have an issue with this on most motorcycles.

We didn't get a chance to actually corner the motorcycle's very hard but I still managed to drag a peg.  The pegs touch down surprisingly early, earlier than any motorcycle I've ever ridden, including the much more comfortable k1600gtl land barge I had ridden a few minutes earlier.  I've followed a C-14 on a twisty road before and noticed that the rider was grinding pegs on almost every corner.  I assumed it was just someone riding over their head but now I wonder.  Combined with the high weight my guess is that things will get interesting in a hurry if you enter a corner too fast or it tightens up on you.  

Then there's the engine.  Brace yourself for this: The C-14 has the worst (stock) engine of any motorcycle I have ever ridden, ever.  What makes it so bad is that a high performance 1400cc engine from a sport bike should be a fire breather, but it's not.  There is so little torque down low that every single person who test rode that bike stalled it at least once.  It's truly anemic.  Of course once you hit 6K+ RPM the thing takes off like a freaking missile but by that point it's got the inline 4 buzz going so hard that you can't tell if everything is blurry because the acceleration or the fact that your face shield is about to vibrate out of it's helmet mounts.  I really wonder how kawasaki got this motor so damn wrong, because I've ridden a zx-14 and it has plenty of low end with an utterly savage hit up top.

A couple other nitpicks:

-Kipass is stupid.  I own a keyless motorcycle at the moment and have no intention of buying another.  It's a car technology that just doesn't transition well to motorcycles.  

-The linked braking is weird on the road, and terrifying in a parking lot.  A small application of the rear break in the parking lot caused the front to grab hard and I almost dropped the bike.  The next rider did the same thing and actually dumped the bike pulling into the lot at the end of the ride.

-The little little glove box thing looks and feels like it wouldn't last more than a year or two, if that.

Compared to the K1600GTL the C-14 was uncomfortable, unrefined, and just felt cheap.  Compared to the FJR it was anemic, chubby, and a little bit awkward.  It's sad because this is a bike I really wanted to like.  Now that there's a new FJR to compete against, and a new ZX14 to source the motor from maybe Kawasaki will learn from their mistakes and give us a killer sport tourer sometime in the next few years.  

[mcrider007]

Test rode a C-14 a few weeks ago and was utterly unimpressed.  

Everyone has an opinion and now we know yours..................

[ABADV]

Get the C14, you'll enjoy the extra comfort and I doubt you'll be wanting more performance.  I've ridden both.  The ZX you also really sit "on top of" of the bike rather than in it. Sort of a bummer to me as I'd rather be sit "in" the bike.

Could not agree more. I own a 2012 and it is an amazing machine in every sense of the word.  I am a very seasoned rider whom is 6'4 and 200lbs and this bike from stock fits me like a glove. There is literally nothing I'd change (except I'm putting the VH - CS One exhaust on it this spring). This motorcycle has huge power with incredible handling and two up touring capabilities. Last year I owned and toured on a BMW GS1200R, although this is a great bike for what it is designed, the even bigger GL1600 is just not work the extra $10K over the new Connie IMHO.

But at the end of the day it comes down to what puts a smile on your face. The "Connie" does this easily.  

[bluedogok]

A new K1600GTL is almost $10,000 more than the 2012 C14 that I bought brand new, out of the crate. I would hope there are significant differences between the two bikes for that kind of money.

[Silverbird]

I'm going with Kodiac on this one.  One of the more overrated bikes out there even though he was being pretty harsh.  

[KodiakRS]

I'm going with Kodiac on this one.  One of the more overrated bikes out there even though he was being pretty harsh.  

My biggest complaints are the ergonomics but I'm 6'4 so I'm in the 90th percentile for height.  A taller seat and correspondingly taller pegs would make a big difference.  My other big complaint was the engine.  If you read the COG forums, or even the STN forums, you'll hear a lot of people talking about pulling the flies and changing the exhaust to wake up the bottom end of the bike.  So for a few extra $$$ you could solve the two big issues I had with it.  It was a brand new bike so maybe the engine buzziness would go away after a few thousand miles.  However, think the main problem was that I rode the C14 right after a k1600gtl and right before an FJR.  Both of which just seemed like much more rounded well thought out motorcycles (excluding the beemers price tag, YIKES!).

Kawasaki seems to be on a roll recently and I'm hoping the c-14 gets a major redesign soon because it could be such a great motorcycle.  Also, the kipass system isn't as bad as the one on my ducati, but keyless ignition on a motorcycle is just a moronic idea.  

[tankertruck]

It's very interesting to hear different peoples opinions on the bikes I've been looking at very seriously, and what they consider unacceptable vs what they will accept or modify.

I narrowed my search down to the C-14, K1600, Multistrada, and FJR, and of the 4, I thought the C-14 was the best bang for the buck (followed very closely by the FJR).  I wasn't perfect (but, lets face it, none of the bikes listed were), and with a very small amount of money, I can have a ridiculously fast, 2-up touring-capable bike, at a really reasonable price.  I was planning on doing tuning to any bike I got, so that basically made the 'anemic' motor of the C-14 a lot more fun.  (As a side note, if you are stalling the C-14, I don't think you are riding it correctly.  Yes, it feels detuned down low, but I jumped on and had no issue with stalling at all, and I was coming from a speed triple. It felt a lot like many of the older inline 4s I've had.  However, the linked brakes aren't a good addition - but $200 can fix that very easily Rear to front anyway.)  

For me, the BMW was just too big for my needs.  It was awesome (basically a little better than the C-14 in every category), but it costs more than my brand new 2013 wrx, which is unacceptable in my world (it was also $15k more than I can get the 2012 C-14 OTD).  The multistrada was awesome, but the coolant recall (this one isn't acceptable on a $20k bike from a designers point of view) and the fact that my wife had to be exceptionally limber to get on and off the back made it a no-go - otherwise an awesome bike.  The new FJR was really quite nice, but the Concours was just a bit better for me all around, but there wasn't anything to complain about - it was really nice and I almost bought a 2013 but just didn't like the grey/green 2-tone color scheme.  Plus, I just can get a better deal on a C-14, which basically sealed that deal.  

Is the BMW better?  Sure.  It costs literally 2Xs the price of a Concours near me.  Is the BMW worth a 2012 concours, and a 2010+ ducati hypermotard (or other fun bike)?  No way.  

[Royal Tiger]

The K1600GTL is more Goldwing then Concourse.  The K1600GT is the one to compare.  I was cleaning out old magazines today and found MCN's comparison between the C14 and GT.  They picked the GT.  Granted there is a sharp price difference, but many who have ridden both back to back say they can feel it and prefer the GT if they could swing it.  That question is up to you to answer.  Good luck.