Studio711.com – Ben Martens

Buyer’s Remorse?

I bought my black 2009 Kawasaki Concours 14 ABS one year ago this week. In honor of that event, I decided to check out the 2010 model and see what they changed. It’s the third year of the Concours 14 and they made quite a few significant improvements.

  • Traction control
  • Coactive-braking technology which links front and rear brakes (can be turned off)
  • Fuel economy assistance mode to improve mileage by about 25% when cruising on the highway.
  • Blue color (they still offer black too)
  • Redesigned side fairings to redirect exhaust and keep the rider cooler
  • Heated handgrips
  • Tank bag hooks
  • Side mirrors were raised
  • Larger, redesigned windscreen which is supposed to reduce turbulence around the helmet

A lot of these things would be nice to have, but if I had to pick two I’d pick the new side fairings and the fuel economy mode. I might stop by the dealer to see if the fairings are compatible with the 2009 bike.

But do I really have buyer’s remorse? Nope. You know what the 2010 model doesn’t come with? The 5000 miles of good memories I put on my bike in the last year.