NHTSA Complaint #10546434 — 2012 KAWASAKI CONCOURS 14

UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS, USE OF THE REAR BRAKE PEDAL CAN CAUSE AN UNEXPECTED, SUDDEN GRAB OF THE BRAKES. THIS PROBLEM CAN BE DEMONSTRATED BY APPLYING THE REAR BRAKE PEDAL AFTER LIGHTLY APPLYING THE FRONT BRAKE LEVER. BASED ON MANY DISCUSSION THREADS ON THE COG-ONLINE.ORG AND ZGGTR.ORG WEB FORUMS, THIS IS A COMMON ISSUE REPORTED FOR THE CONCOURSE MODEL MOTORCYCLES SINCE THEY BEGAN BEING DELIVERED WITH A LINKED BRAKING SYSTEM. THE RIDER DOES NOT HAVE THE ABILITY TO DISABLE THE LINKED BRAKING SYSTEM. IN A LIMITED TRACTION SITUATION, I BELIEVE THIS GRAB COULD BE SUFFICIENT TO CAUSE THE RIDER TO CRASH. ON THE ABOVE MENTIONED FORUMS, MANY RIDERS COMMENT THAT THEY HAVE STOPPED USING THE REAR BRAKE PEDAL TO CIRCUMVENT THE SITUATION. THIS IS A DANGEROUS ACTION BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT ABLE TO MAKE USE OF THE FULL CAPABILITIES OF THE BRAKING SYSTEM ON THEIR CONCOURS., AND FOR RIDERS WHO ALSO OWN MOTORCYCLES WITH NON-LINKED BRAKE SYSTEMS, IT IS ESPECIALLY DANGEROUS BECAUSE THEY HAVE NOW TRAINED THEMSELVES TO NOT INTENTIONALLY APPLY ANY REAR BRAKE. OTHER POSTERS ON THE FORUMS HAVE REPLUMBED THEIR BRAKE SYSTEMS TO REDUCE THE IMPACT OF THIS CONDITION, AND SEARCHED FOR A THIRD PARTY WHO CAN POTENTIALLY UPDATE APPLICABLE PROGRAMMING TO CORRECT THE CONDITION. I BELIEVE KAWASAKI NEEDS TO REPROGRAM THEIR LINKED BRAKING SYSTEM TO BETTER ALLOCATE BRAKING FORCE, THUS ELIMINATING THIS DANGEROUS GRAB, AND PROVIDE THE RIDER WITH THE ABILITY TO COMPLETELY DISABLE THE LINKED BRAKING FUNCTION. *TR