Well, I'm batting 100% on predictions. Pure luck though.

1) 2011 ZX10 designed for WSB competition, homologated with a ECU nerf mostly.

2) 2011 ZX14 nothing new but paint

3) 2011 Concours 14 major improvements - heated grips, improved ABS, 2nd gen traction control, better venting to reduce heat blown onto rider

Pretty much what I expected when R&D dollars are so thin and KHI only wants to spend them on sure winners. So which of the above is a sure winner?

1) If they get a good pair of riders, it will be. Otherwise, wasted money.

2) Free money from new purchases with no increase in investment, and the ZX14 is a) all paid for, and b) obsolete.

3) Will spur large increase in new purchases, and older model riders trade up for big improvements. The Concours Owners Group is rabid about their ZG machines.

Heck, I might even trade up to a new Connie if I can figure out how to swing the finances without starving.

* Last updated by: privateer on 10/20/2010 @ 9:05 AM *

Heck, I might even trade up to a new Connie if I can figure out how to swing the finances without starving

I rode a Connie a few years back it had a slip on and PC. It was a nice bike but being a sport bike junkie I could never own one. The bike just felt like a stock zx14 in 6th gear, two up, pulling a house boat up the Dragon. From what I can see you already have the perfect compromise for touring or even aggressive sport touring and that’s a zx14 with hard bags.Besides you can tour on any bike I'm 40 years old and just did a over 1000 miles in two days on an 08 CBR and 902 miles in two days a week earlier on the same bike but with rearsets,a pipe and stock wind screen. No doubt a zx14 would have been more comfortable and I would have still had lots of performace. IMOP the zx14 is the perfect bike to cover lots of open road quickly there is simply is no better all around street bike.

Yes, my ZX14 works great.

But, for two up with loaded hard cases, the ABS and 2nd gen Traction Control and heated grips of the 2010 C14 are pretty much great things, to save you from trouble.

Granted, 35+ years of riding, I know how to not get in trouble, but like the tv advertisement says, "Mayhem happens" when you least expect it.

So since I'm not wealthy enough to buy a 2011 C14 these days, I am still set up good for sport touring.

Over the winter, more pullback and up bars and add-on risers are going on, but thats pretty much it. Well, and some BMW style power outlets and a connection block up front under a ram tunnel cover or something.

I think the Connie is going to be my next bike too.Just for more 2 up'n.Plus that big windscreen does make a difference!!!!

after 15 years with no fairing on my harley I can't get over how little wind I do get riding on the zx14.

I however would buy ABS in a heart beat. While I don't know much about traction control it really interests me also.

I think privateer has hit the nail pretty much on the head

* Last updated by: Fr8flyer on 10/20/2010 @ 5:42 PM *

Number 3 for sure will be the big winner in that group. The new 10 is done for...overpriced and overhyped. The 14 will do okay as usual. But the connie just keeps getting better and better for its market

True on the tooling for the 14 is bought and payed for; so, most of that bike today is pure $$ in the bank, and I like to see it come out year after year with NO changes; big supply of parts for my 06! The Connie is nice, but my $$ won't allow it -- yet, so, my 14 is going to morph into a hard bag, bigger screen bike, and perhaps get a 'play' bike like a leftover Z1000!

I'm not all that excited about improved ABS and 2nd gen Traction Control on the 2011 C14 though.

Traction Control is really only necessary when the motorcycle is being pushed to the limit of tire adhesion. And still only then if the rider is not going to back off or otherwise increase adhesion by standing the bike up, or can't manage
rear tire slide with the rear brake and the throttle.

It also is good on ice (do not know about you, but two things I never ride on are loose gravel and any form of ice) and in the rain. But most of us have ridden enough to be fine in the rain with decent tires, so the benefit is only slight.

ABS is good stuff, but again, an experienced rider can brake to a stop from 60 faster than a rookie can brake using a bike with ABS. On my car, it rocks, for sure. Not sure I need it on a bike. But again, it will save some newbies from mistakes and such.

And still, if I come into some money, I'm getting a 2011 or 2012 Connie, because KHI will continue to spend R&D bucks to improve it.

Traction Control is really only necessary when the motorcycle is being pushed to the limit of tire adhesion. And still only then if the rider is not going to back off or otherwise increase adhesion by standing the bike up, or can't manage

TC is good stuff on a Street bike no matter how long you have been ridding. No one ever purposely leans a bike over and runs into gravel in a corner right? No one ever purposely hits a wet patch while the bike is leaned over or runs wide in a turn to make the back end catch the grass. No one purposely leans a bike over and gets on the gas way to hard. My point is TC is more of a safety net than something that going to allow 99% of street riders push beyond their own limits and certainly not the bikes limits. Also standing the bike up while the rear is spinning and the bike is leaned way over would require Rossi type skill. Standing the bike up even if you had the time and skill to do so is still a problem as you are no longer turning. Which on the street would put you into on comming traffic or into a guard rail or a curb etc...? I guess my point is very good riders’ crash everyday because of mistakes and devices like TC and ABS might save your skin. I hear the argument that electronics won't help you become a better rider while that’s true they might help a street rider to live long enough to become a better rider

ABS is good stuff, but again, an experienced rider can brake to a stop from 60 faster than a rookie can brake using a bike with ABS

Thats only true becuse a new rider can't bring the front brake to the point of almost locking or using body position to aid braking while an more expiranced rider might. Even and expiranced rider can accidently lock the front when panic braking. It only takes one hard stab at the front for it to lock momentarily and wash the front end out. when it rains I'll take ABS check this video out ots a good example of a bike with ABS and one without tring to brake hard in the rain ABS in the rain

You might be right.

But you usually only care about gravel when you are in a turn, and the solution then is beyond the capability of TC to save your ass. You either adjust your line for it, or slide and pray. Having slid on gravel around thousands of turns in 35+ years of riding, I can guarentee part of the solution IS standing the bike up some, so you HAVE to alter your line before you reach the gravel. Or just wing it and hope for the best.

In the wet maybe TC is of more value. The most bang for the buck on the cost of TC is still only in racing, where it manages tire slippage so the rider can go in faster and deeper and come out smoother.

And ABS on a bike is not nearly as effective as ABS on a car. By the time ABS lets up on the caliper pressure on a bike, it might not be soon enough. The video shows a rider who a) knows what he is doing, and b) is doing a rehearsed demonstration to prove a product / point.

Still, you are correct. It will *help* to keep novice riders alive until they have ridden long enough to gain real skills.

The real solution to rain-wet roads is to reduce your speed and avoid going into the territory where the machine is operating at a traction limit, and to lengthen your trailing distances so you don't have to brake so hard.

The Australian 2010 model had heated grips and ABS..... Dunno about the TC though?

OZ