2012 Kawasaki Concours 14 ABS Super Sport Touring

The Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14-based 1,352cc inline-four with variable valve timing provides smooth power across a wide rev range. Kawasaki Traction Control (KTRC) reduces engine output when wheelspin is detected, helping the rear tire to regain grip. Kawasaki Coactive-braking Technology (K-ACT) links front and rear brakes and has two modes to suit different riding styles, aluminum monocoque frame is lightweight, narrow and rigid. The 2012 Kawasaki Concours 14 ABS tuned to provide smooth power across an extremely wide rev range, the Concours 14 has power to spare. Variable valve timing improves the engine’s flexibility and efficiency by altering camshaft profiles to boost low-end and mid-range without sacrificing top-end power. Its compact and narrow engine design minimizes weight for maximum handling and performance. Chrome composite-plated aluminum cylinder bores are lightweight, durable and quickly carry heat away from the combustion chamber and piston for supreme durability under high loads.

Expertly mixing high performance and long-distance functionality, the 2012  Kawasaki Concours 14 ABS inspires riders to pull out their big maps and harness the full capabilities of this sport touring motorcycle. Continuing the 26-year tradition of sport touring, the Concours offers just the right ratio of technology, comfort and reliability that coax riders to soak up the miles. This sport-oriented tourer can go the distance with the best world-class touring rigs yet still negotiate the twists and turns of America’s backroads in fine, Ninja-inspired tradition. Through canyons, over highways and even through the cities, the Concours is a category-defining motorcycle.

The Concours 14 boasts several features that enhance comfort, convenience and safety, solidifying its position atop the sport touring heap. Dynamic bodywork increases comfort by routing heat away from the rider and passenger. A tall, electrically adjustable windscreen creates a calm cockpit experience with help from ducts above the instrument panel, which balances pressure areas outside and inside the screen. Handgrip heaters come standard, providing comfort when the temperatures drop to disagreeably cold temperatures. The Concours is packed with technological features that enhance the riding experience. The bike’s K-ACT (Kawasaki Advanced Coactive-braking Technology) braking system offers two modes of linked, anti-lock braking and great overall performance. A high-tech traction control system (KTRC: Kawasaki Traction Control) not only reduces wheelspin on slick surfaces, offering riders more confidence-inspiring feedback, but it can be easily switched off at the rider’s discretion.

The heart of the Concours sport-touring package is an amazing and thoroughly modern 1,352cc DOHC inline-four sourced from the legendary ZX-14 sportbike. The Concours 14 engine generates excellent low- and mid-range power, all followed by a top-end rush that would turn most open-class sportbikes green with envy. A big part of its tremendously wide power delivery is due to its variable valve timing (VVT) system, which automatically alters camshaft profiles according to rpm to boost low-end and mid-range power without sacrificing top end. Advanced fuel injection, ram-air induction and decades of experience building the world’s most potent motorcycle engines add up to a simply amazing powerplant, one that makes the Concours 14 ABS a force to be reckoned with in the performance sport-touring segment – just as the original Concours was 26 years ago.

The Concours 14’s chassis is very much up to the challenge of controlling this prodigious powerplant. Its unique monocoque frame provides massive stiffness along with excellent handling characteristics and a high degree of rider feedback. Cradling the engine from the top, the frame’s compact structure keeps the bike narrow where it needs to be and allows optimum packaging of the bike’s vital systems. The Tetra-Lever shaft drive, which routes all that power to the rear wheel, uses a four-link design to offset the lifting and squatting tendencies of lesser shaft drive systems when the throttle is opened and closed, all of which results in true sportbike handling. Plus, the Tetra-Lever system is almost completely maintenance free. No mystery, then, why the Concours 14’s powertrain has earned critical acclaim around the world for its silky smooth power delivery.