2008 Kawasaki Concours 14 problems & reliability
27 owner complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2008 Kawasaki Concours 14, alongside 1 safety recall campaign. Last verified Aug 7, 2026. Complaints are unverified reports submitted by owners to the federal Office of Defects Investigation.
Each complaint is counted once (by NHTSA case number), even when it names several vehicles.
2 complaints report injuries (2 injured).
Federal crash records (FARS 2020–2023): 2008 Kawasaki Concours 14 vehicles were involved in 12 fatal crashes with 10 occupant deaths. Involvement counts are not adjusted for how many are on the road and do not imply fault or a vehicle defect.
Most reported problems
| Component | Complaints | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Service Brakes, Hydraulic | 6 | 22% |
| Latches/locks/linkages | 5 | 19% |
| Service Brakes | 5 | 19% |
| Structure | 4 | 15% |
| Equipment | 3 | 11% |
| Equipment Adaptive/mobility | 2 | 7% |
| Suspension | 2 | 7% |
| Engine | 1 | 4% |
| Engine and Engine Cooling | 1 | 4% |
| Fuel System, Gasoline | 1 | 4% |
Component groups as classified by NHTSA. A complaint can name more than one component, so shares may sum to more than 100%.
All 14 reported components →Mileage when problems occurred
Among the 22 complaints that included a usable odometer reading, the median reported incident mileage was 10,000 miles (middle 50% between 3,484 and 27,606 miles).
Complaints by incident year
What owners report
“On or about june 20, 2016 I noticed that my rear brake pedal was beginning to get harder to push to apply brake to the rear abs braking system. On december 20, 2017 I took my concours to my dealer and had 2 tires r&r and also requested the dealer to check the braking system on the rear. There was no notice from the…”
Service Brakes · filed Sep 20, 2018
“The rear brake on my motorcycle will intermittently get stuck in the up position. In order for me to get it to work again, I have press down on the pedal with more than normal operating pressure. The vehicle is in motion when this happens. I believe this is a safety issue because I am never sure if the brake is going…”
Service Brakes · filed Mar 25, 2016
“Tl* the contact owns a 2008 kawasaki concours 14 equipped with pirelli angel gt tires (na), size 120/70zr/17 (na). When the contact depressed the brake pedal after driving 35 mph, the front tire became distorted and resulted in a loss of stability. The vehicle was taken to a dealer for diagnostic testing where it was…”
Tires · filed Jun 19, 2015
Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA. Reports are not independently verified.
Technical service bulletins
1 manufacturer communication (TSBs, service campaigns, warranty extensions) are on file with NHTSA for the 2008 Kawasaki Concours 14.
Kawasaki: repair only as required on headlight aiming knob for 2008 concours 14/14abs (zg1400a8f/l, b8f/l). *pe
MC 08-10 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued May 30, 2008
TSBs are repair guidance manufacturers send to dealers — they are not recalls and repairs are not automatically free. Full documents are available on NHTSA’s site.
Safety recalls
The 2008 Kawasaki Concours 14 has 1 NHTSA recall campaign — recall repairs are free at franchised dealers regardless of the vehicle’s age.
Check whether your specific vehicle is affected
Recall campaigns often cover only certain VIN ranges. Enter your VIN on the official NHTSA site to confirm whether your vehicle is included and whether the repair is still open.
Check VIN on NHTSA →Buying a used 2008 Kawasaki Concours 14?
- · Decode the seller’s VIN with our free VIN decoder to confirm the exact year, engine and trim.
- · Check for unrepaired recalls by VIN on NHTSA’s official lookup — recall repairs are free.
- · Among complaints with usable mileage, the median reported incident mileage was 10,000 miles. This does not predict when a particular vehicle will develop a problem.