50K Miles on a Y2K Connie (posted 1/2002) Reprinting my "40K Miles on a Y2k Connie", but with the service from the last 10,000 miles so that this is a record of stuff done to my Y2k Conc for the last 50k miles. I hit 50,000 miles today, and changed the oil and filter at dad's shop at 50,004 miles after work. The mile number isn't meant as a brag, this post is meant more as a service to lurkers. I'll explain.... There's lurkers here that wonder about buying a Concours or not. Heck, I lurked for a while myself before buying.... Anyway, mostly we just talk about things that break because we're venting and asking for help. Thought I'd list the maintenance my own Conc has had, and the problems, which have been few and mostly dealer-induced. This is actually one of my shorter posts, and the Conc is actually a pretty rugged piece - I don't baby it at all. Bike bought new in February, 2000. In general, oil changed every 2500 miles and oil filter changed every 10,000 miles so I won't list the oil changes.... Rear-end oil changed every 10,000 miles as well, and shock linkages greased at that interval as well. Carb synch when valves are adjusted or sometimes between valve adjusts, if I feel like it. Spark plugs changed when I do a valve clearance check, because I'm right there at that point. 700 miles: First service. Valve adjust - valve clearances all over map.... Added Hot-Grips and a grips Heat-Troller in-dash, along with some John Deere accessory sockets. Some threads found stripped on windshield when I removed it to get easier access for installing Heat-Troller, apparently by dealer at initial assembly. Sigh. Engine oil over-filled by dealer. Solved by oil and filter change, refilling with proper amount. Sigh. 3,000 miles: Clutch pushrod seal not sealing. Dealer wanted to keep bike, inspect, and then order part while holding the bike at the shop. I ordered the seal myself for $3 and changed it over my lunch hour in shop at day job. 5,000 miles: Played with counterbalance shaft adjustment. My experience - you can't make the Concours feel as silky smooth as a certain V-4 that it competes with, but you can move the buzziest points around just a bit. Get it as good as you can following factory procedure, then mark the shaft and torque arm with a punch and make TINY adjusts from there until you either get tired of fiddling or get the buzzy spots where you want them. Mine is very smooth below 4,000 rpm, a touch buzzy between 4200 rpm and 4700 rpm, then smooth at 5,000-5,200 rpm. This gives me smooth cruising anywhere below 70 mph, then 5,000 rpm equals about 85 mph - so good enough for me. 85 mph is quite comfy for all day cruising for both rider and passenger, but have only done that coming back from Daytona..... I-75 Northbound can really rock at times! 7,000 miles: Coolant drip. Dealer wanted to keep bike, inspect, and then order part while holding the bike at the shop. Sigh. I gambled and ordered the pump O-ring that seals the two halves of the pump. Pulled pump, nothing obviously wrong. New O-ring, no joy.... dis-assemble again. Closer insection revealed that the one mating surface on the pump wasn't machined - I think a quality control problem. Following BMW's lead on their K-bike water pumps, I put in O-ring and then also sealed the pump with Yamabond crankcase sealant. No more problems. Front tire wandering at high-speed traced to front wheel not being properly tightened - probably by the dealer.. There's two big allen nuts on end of axle, and they'd not been tightened properly. Wasn't obvious as the front fork pinch bolts prevented it all from coming apart, but wheel had quite a bit of side to side play. Sigh. 8,600 miles: New rear tire, OEM. 13,000 miles: New front tire, OEM. Add bungee-budddies to top of saddlebags, effectively transforming them into small luggage racks. 16,000 miles: Valve adjustment. All exhaust valves tight, all intakes unchanged from 700 mile valve adjust. Set all valves to loose end of spec, and go ride. Also added clear plastic fuel filter. 17,000 miles: New rear tire, Dunlop K-491. Strange noise after when heavily loaded on a hot day, traced to tire rubbing lower rear inner fender liner and sound being amplified via the airbox. Once the hole is rubbed through the liner (not the airbox), noise stops. Ignore and accept. Bike sometimes won't start. Problem eventually traced (by me) to corrosion on the contacts on the starter button on the RH bar switch. Dis-assemble, file, lube, and re-assemble. 20,000 miles: Added Kawasaki fairing deflectors. Bike wouldn't start in 4F weather. Problem likely weather-related. Cured when temps rose to 10F a day or so later. 24,000 miles: Hydraulic fluid change. Clean and re-oil air filter. Valve adjust, two exhaust valves slightly loose - adjust. Lube propeller shaft. New speedo cable. New front tire, Dunlop K-491 Replaced clear plastic fuel filter with a red anodized aluminum one from Lockhart-Phillips. Added Fender-Extender 30,000 miles: R&R front wheel bearings. R&R front brake pads. 34,000 miles: New rear tire, Dunlop K-491 New rear brake pads Repair RH handlebar switch again, file off black corrosion on starter button contacts. 37,000 miles: New front fork oil. Made some front fork deflectors to supplement the factory parts with more length, until such time that I can install fork boots. Valve adjust - one exhaust valve tightened up slightly from max clearance setting. 40,000 miles: Milestone! May be the quickest I've ever racked up 40k miles on a bike..... Changed engine oil changes from 2500 mile intervals to 3300 mile intervals. 42,000 miles: Front brake pads. 47,000 miles: Cleaned front brake light switch. 48,000 miles: Needs new front brake light switch. New thermostat, modified with a bleed hole aimed at gauge temp sensor. Valve adjust, couple exhaust valves tight. New spark plugs, NGK platinum plugs. Cleaned petcock, added magnet to inside of tank to try to catch rust particles if any. 49,800 miles: Clean and re-oil air filter. Rear-end oil change Rear wheel bearings Lube propeller shaft Uni-track linkage greased 50,004 miles: Oil and filter change Splines in rear wheel replaced under warranty. Front brakelight switch replaced under warranty. Needs in the near future: New front tire, K-491, after 26,000 miles on the existing front tire Fork oil change Hydraulic fluid change Front steering bearings lubed Swingarm bearings lubed. Comments: With 40,000 miles on my bike, I got to ride a 1992 Concours with 24,000 miles on it that was dealer maintained. In spite of being from different generations, both bikes felt pretty much identical on everything except brakes. Both bikes stopped equally well, just different "feel" at the front lever. Dealer competency has been a low point on the bike, see the beginning of this post. I've had more problems with the things that the dealer assembled in initial set-up than anything else. Bear in mind that they normally give that job to the shop lackey at most Japanese shops, and you'll see why I'm not going ballistic - I've been around an realize that that's the way life goes, at least at the J-bike dealers. Sigh. Dealers are also the low point when it comes to stocking parts, and so the Concours Parts List on the 'Net maintained by Bryan Moody is a lifesaver. See: http://www.concours.org/se/parts.htm Flip side is that the large amount of info available on the 'Net via stuff like Bryan Moody's page, and www.buykawasaki.com mean that you can usually find a way to get what you need without going to the dealer. In light of the above, I'd venture to say that the 'Net may account for the resurgence of the Concours after Kawasaki had halted production - was that once or twice now??? The Cog list and info available via the 'Net is a far better salesman than any ad campaign that Kawasaki has launched. Also, my petcock now seems to have problems with reserve - I'm walking at around 6.5 gallons. The engine also doesn't come back to normal very quickly when you start to run out of fuel and you switch the tank from ON to RESERVE, it spits for several miles before finally "catching on". Don't know if this is a clue to a developing problem, but I'm keeping my eye on it and will probably pull the petcock and see if the rather ineffective screen around the petcock intake tubes is crudded up at it's base. Just haven't had a chance to do so yet. Ok - pulled petcock at 48k and found no problems, and no rust in tank. So, a new theory, from Leon Begeman - there's just enough obstruction in the fuel filter to slow the flow of fuel at high speed to the carbs. Lending creedence to his theory, I've noticed that I can run the tank dry to 7.5 gallons at low speed in town - but at high speed on the Interstate I'll be walking at aroud 6.5 gallons. Strange - would love to cobble up a dual line, dual filter (in parallel) system to cut the fuel filter resistance in half but haven't had the time to do so. Or a manual high-flow petcock from the aftermarket. So far, the Concours is a satisfying piece with quite a bit of personality for a Japanese bike. It's reliable, low maintenance, and pretty comfy for one-up or two-up touring due to it's large size and good ergonomics. Weather protection is excellent, and alternator output is Ok - my SO and I can overwhelm it but then we have rather high demands for lotta watts when traveling in the cold, like to Bike Week from Ohio in February..... The cams look great in my bike, engine is pretty smooth, I've had none of the problems that are so often discussed here other than the short front and rear wheel bearing life. 30k and 50k respectively. For the record, both myself and my SO are about 5'-6", I weigh about 140-145 lbs. but I won't guess her weight as that's a game a man can't win even if I get the right number.... ;);) But I'd guess we're in the same ballpark on weight as we can wear the same size jeans and T-shirts, though not jackets. What's up with that...? Anyway, that's what's up with the bike..... Want me to report back around 60,000 miles, or more like 75,000 miles in another year? By then we might even be able to tell if the bike is going to hold up in the long run.... Best, Doug Grosjean Pemberville, Ohio http://www.gr8designs.com Trip Reports: http://www.gr8designs.com/Trips/TripReports.html PS - Guy Young, if you've read this far, is there anything special I need to do to get my 50,000 mile pin? Thanks!!!!