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New member, Phoenix AZ area

A

AZconserv

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Hi, I'm Gene.  :s_hi:

New forum subscriber from the Phoenix, AZ area. Just picked up my 2013 C14 a few weeks ago and have just been doing research, trying to get to know what exactly I got myself in to..haha

About me, I've been riding off-road (2 & 4 wheels) pretty much my entire life. I have had a few sport bikes ('01 GSX-R 600, '07 GSX-R 600) in the past, but have been away from street riding for the last 7 or so years. Just recently decided to get another bike and the wife is actually into it as well this time, so will be doing a lot of 2-up.

My C14 is pretty much stock. Has a V-stream windshield, risers, couple other small upgrades from the previous owners. Performance wise, appears to be bone-stock.

So far, this forum seems to have a MASSIVE amount of useful information, and is also very organized.

Anyways, thanks for letting me use your forum. I look forward to participating when I can and possibly meeting other riders at some point.
 
Welcome to the COG Forum.
Your gonna like it here..
Good people..  {even Harry}

DO,,, come ride with us!

Ride safe, Ted
 
:welcome: Hi Gene! Welcome to COG Nation and the best region here in the Southwest! We have a great group of members that reside and ride in Arizona! Dan (Charby) is the AAD in Arizona and is a great source of information on roads and everything Arizona and hosts a wicked Meet and Greet in Springerville, Arizona likely in September. I am the Area Director in the Southwest and wish you a ton of fun with your wife and your bike! Love that blue color on the 2013! Hope to meet and ride with you soon!  :)

:motonoises:  :motonoises:  :great:
 
Gene, I live over on the westside the wife and I ride two up often sometimes I just like to ride alone. Looking at going for a ride tomorrow if you care to join me    send me a PM, haven't made up my mind on where I will go but tired of sitting around the house.

    Scott
 
Gene, welcome from Tucson. I often ride 2 up with my wife. Leaving Friday for about an 8-9 day ride around the southwest but when I get back, I'll be posting here for some day rides. Often we go up to Clint's Well for lunch on a Saturday to beat the heat. And as Russ said, I will be putting on an event in Springerville towards the end of September. Hope to meet up with you soon. A lot of good info with this group. We'll even help you spend your money on things you gotta have. ;D
 
Hygiene, wash your hands.

I have a 2013 as well! If yours is bone stock, for the love of mike get a flash done! I was really starting to have buyers remorse 6 months in on mine then heard of the benefits of an ECU flash and now am on my second one. Transforms the ol girl! But just my opinion.

Welcome
 
I second the "get it flashed" recommendation.
Initially you'll think, do I really need to spend the $$ for that little improvement..
You do, you REALLY do!!
    B'cause it isn't just "more power".  It's "better power"...

Ride safe, Ted
 
connie_rider said:
I second the "get it flashed" recommendation.
Initially you'll think, do I really need to spend the $$ for that little improvement..
You do, you REALLY do!!
    B'cause it isn't just "more power".  It's "better power"...

Ride safe, Ted
Click to expand...
Amen to that re: flash!!!
 
Gscott said:
Gene, I live over on the westside the wife and I ride two up often sometimes I just like to ride alone. Looking at going for a ride tomorrow if you care to join me    send me a PM, haven't made up my mind on where I will go but tired of sitting around the house.

    Scott
Click to expand...

Sorry I'm just seeing this, would have gone. Didn't have my notifications turned on..  :-[

But I do now..
 
Thanks to all of you for the warm welcome.. I'm a little rusty on the "forum" usage as my notifications weren't turned on, but that problem has since been corrected.

As for the rides - I too want to get out. I often want to do a "quick ride" by myself, or the wife, but spur of the moment is always nice. My current situation, is that both kids are home from school (like the rest of our over-reacting country/state), but they are self sufficient. My wife had her gallbladder removed last week (ouch!) so she's down for I guess at least a month.

That being said, doing a full day ride is out for me, but a quick couple hours or less I am in.

As for the bike itself...

When I bought it, I thought it was mainly stock, and it is.. In cleaning/exploring it a little but I have found a few nice upgrades that I was unaware of. (See below..)

-R&G Radiator guard
-Front fender extender (not sure the brand but it's shorter than Blue One's, possibly Murph's?
-RAM X mount in center and a ball type mount on the handlebars. Don't use the latter, yet.
-Foam hand grip covers, hated them at first but trying to decide if I should remove or just live with them.
-GIVI monokey rear box and luggage rack
-Almost new Bridgestone Battleax Hypersport S21 tires - 190/55 rear, stock size front
-Possibly has bar ends, but sure if they are stock.
-Bar risers (not sure brand)
-Techspec tank pads
-Copperdawg Sport screen (windscreen) **Recently installed**
-Came with a V-stream windshield
-38k miles +/-

I was told most maintenance was up to date, and so far it appears to have been taken care of. The previous owner only had it about a year and had to downgrade to move back to Idaho.

As for the tune, I assume it is stock. Stock 'massive' exhaust. Not sure on the plugs, filters, valve adjustment, etc. But those things are obviously on my to-do list.

Any recommendations on a good shop to use for maintenance? I can do oil changes and basic stuff, and plan to. But don't plan on messing with the valves, coolant change, etc. Planning on going to Kelly's Kawasaki possibly this week to get a new back-up fob as it only came with the main fob w/tiny key. It has the main key in the ignition of course, but just the 1 fob.

Also has stock seat, which I don't mind when I'm by myself but for 2-up the sliding forward is unbearable. I will be replacing that as well, just not excited about the inve$tment. Thinking about the Kawasaki Touring seat, that it probably should have come with in the first place, but I digress.

Bring on the recommendations!! haha

 
Find out if it has been flashed.
If yes, there will be a sticker on the ECU. {Under the seat}
If no... Flash it!!!
                    {and add a muffler} Delkevic has lots of choices and their pretty reasonable.

Ride safe, Ted
 
connie_rider said:
Find out if it has been flashed.
If yes, there will be a sticker on the ECU. {Under the seat}
If no... Flash it!!!
                    {and add a muffler} Delkevic has lots of choices and their pretty reasonable.

Ride safe, Ted
Click to expand...

I will check for a sticker on the ECU today. As for the exhaust, I saw a lot of people have the Delkevic exhaust, I assume for the price. Though it looks nice for the price, I hate the "Made in China" stuff and avoid it whenever my wallet allows. That being said, considering the 2-brothers slip-on. Also AreaP full system crossed my mind, mainly because of their claimed "heat reduction", any opinion/experience with that?
 
I have 2 Area P mufflers on mine.
Definitely runs cooler than the stocker and probably cooler than any aluminum muffler.
Reason is mine is the Carbon Fiber body. So, it's not the manufacturer, it's the material.

ie; The Delk. Carbon Fiber is also cooler than the aluminum models.

fyi; I follow you on the Chinese stuff.
    If it makes any difference, I think the Delkevics are made in South Korea.
    The Delk. people {here in the US} are good folks, and work well with COG.

NOTE: They even offer a full exhaust system, {headers, mid pipes, (no Catalytic Converter)} in a 1 or 2 muffler system.

Ride safe, Ted
 
connie_rider said:
I have 2 Area P mufflers on mine.
Definitely runs cooler than the stocker and probably cooler than any aluminum muffler.
Reason is mine is the Carbon Fiber body. So, it's not the manufacturer, it's the material.

ie; The Delk. Carbon Fiber is also cooler than the aluminum models.

fyi; I follow you on the Chinese stuff.
    If it makes any difference, I think the Delkevics are made in South Korea.
    The Delk. people {here in the US} are good folks, and work well with COG.

NOTE: They even offer a full exhaust system, {headers, mid pipes, (no Catalytic Converter)} in a 1 or 2 muffler system.

Ride safe, Ted
Click to expand...

I should have been more specific. I knew that the carbon fiber body would run cooler, never compared side/side but seems to be widely known/accepted. I was more thinking of a full exhaust because it would remove the catalytic converter, for heat reduction reasons. Do you run a cat on yours? If not, was there a noticeable heat difference after removing? As you know, in AZ they no longer require motorcycles to take emissions. In my mind, the massive amount of heat the C14 produces, especially in traffic with no air flow, has to be compounded by the catalytic converter being tucked in there as well? I actually did try and search on that but didn't really find anything on that topic specifically.

If not I would probably just do a carbon fiber slip-on. Appreciate the info on the Delkevic's too btw. I've actually read all good stuff about them here.

 
Just looked and ECU appears stock. Only sticker I see appears OEM, 'Mitsubishi Electric Corp' who I assumed manufactures the ECU for Kawasaki. I'll definitely want a flash, i assume after exhaust is replaced.
 
You might also look at the Area P, carbon fiber slip-on.

I know Shoodabeen Engineering used this slip-on, when designing/developing at least one of their recent ECU flashes; the Mountain Runner Premium flash.

My 0.02
 
Here ya go.
https://delkevic.com/complete-systems/kawasaki/2013-models/concours-14-gtr1400/?sort=featured&page=1

My bike has 2006 ZX-14 {catless} headers and 2 Area P Mufflers.
I had to hand build the mid pipe and convert a right hand Area P Muffler for my left side.
Mucho work and cost me more $$ than the Full Delkevic system.
  But, the Delk system wasn't available until last year.

I have the Shoodabeen Mountain Runner Premium flash on my bike.
Steve says it is not build expressively for a bike with headers, but I sure like it.

Ride safe, Ted
 
Thanks for the link. The prices on the Delkevic are definitely hard to pass up.

Anyone have any before/after experience with putting on a full/catless system? Is there a noticeable or worthwhile heat difference? That is my main motivation for wanting the full exhaust.
 
connie_rider said:
I'm in Houston. Not as hot as your location, but a lot more HUMID..  :mad:

Without the CAT, The heat is improved in traffic, but, not much difference while on the road..
{with headers and flash} mebbe 15-20 more peak HP, and lots more low end grunt..  :great:

My bike;
http://forum.cog-online.org/concours-14-zg1400-general-chat-and-tech/zx-14-or-zx-14r-exhaust-for-a-c-14/msg650239/#msg650239

Ride safe, Ted
Click to expand...

Yeah the heat in traffic is my main complaint on this bike. It gets warm pretty quick, but understandably so, and certainly not a deal breaker for me (obviously).

I feel your pain on the humidity too, I grew up in Georgia, also spent a few years in San Antonio.. As they say in AZ, "It's a dry heat".. which it is, but 110°+ is HOT no matter how dry it is, haha

VERY nice bike btw, I like the red.
 
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