metrorollah
OWHLY?
I started riding dirt when I was 9, and have been waiting for somebody to design the Kawasaki Versys since just about a year after that. Back when I was a teenager and a college man, I had a parallel twin, and it was grand. It was the 1971 Honda CL450E (the CB450T with the scrambler pipes) a real 'enduro'. :teeth I rode it at 80mph on the highways, and at 20mph through the fields and woods. It was the kind of bike that leaked as much mud water as it did oil. It was comfortable for one person or two, and it had enough torque to get out of its own way. It also sounded like a real motorcycle, loud, lumpy, and a bit raspy, like a proper motorbike should… and whatever happened to the parallel twin configuration? Triumph made that Bonneville 650 twin right? Doesn't KTM have a parallel twin? Who knows? Cripe, I don't even know anyone that has a KTM. Oh well, it must have been phased out by all the V-twins and the inline four. But wait; how about putting that great 650R Ninja motor in a dual sport? Thank you, Kawasaki!
I got my 2009 Versys on Saturday, and it’s got 126 miles on it, it’s a demo model, and it never mattered to me what color it was. All I knew was that I was getting it from Kawasaki cheaper than the dealership did. The very first thing that I did was a huge skyward wheelie coming out of the parking lot. Nothing but blue sky and clouds all of the sudden. Wow, this bike has some power, like 70hp, and its light! 400lbs light… similar to a Ducati I once owned that claimed to be a "superlight". It’s also tall, really tall. I am 6'0" with shoes on. The second thing I did was switching my footing from the left to right, then was suddenly wondering where the ground went, WHOA! A few more inches later I was using my right leg-stand awkwardly. Have you ever stepped over the second-to-last stair thinking it was the last one? Well I found out that with both feet down I can just touch the balls of my feet. The Versys is also thin, nice and thin between the legs, and you can hardly see your knees under the generous five gallon tank. The handlebars are wide, and the view is strictly top and wide, like a good driving game. It’s like you’re sitting on the top of the rear window. People in Range Rovers are right at your level. So, onto the freeway I go.
The ride home was interesting. The stock seat is crapola, it’s titled forward a lot, kind of like the new Monster... and the suspension is set up for doing six foot jumps on pavement. It’s really hard. The gearing is a bit low, which explains the wheelie tendency. I think I’ll go two teeth down in the rear, which should make it 75mph friendly. It’s not fun to look for a 7th gear, so that will be taken care of.
So I get it home and find out that both the front and rear suspension are fully adjustable, both spring preload and dampening. YES! So it’s ‘position one’ for the rear spring, and softest setting for the dampener. Next, five or so more full turns out on the fork springs (from the stock 7/15 possible turns from bottom), and set the dial dampening to the softest setting, then a half turn out. That should do it. Then I take the bike down to Pacifica and STOMP… hitting huge pot holes at 30mph, and slamming over road ridges, thundering through mini whoops. It’s just about perfect, no back pain, and the handlebar wants to stay in my hands. That’s really all I ask from a dual sport, is that it will stay underneath me if I jump a curb and ride though somebody's garden at 30mph. It definitely has happened. I ask that my bike is safe and comfortable when I can't be. The rear brake is a bit soft, but that’s ok, who cares. The fuel injection is good, no real complaints. The torque is usable, the high speed power band is too. It’s a great engine in a frame to grow old with. I’m looking forward to my 600 mile service.
---------------------------------------
For a long term Versys review contact Gabe Ets-Hokin, CityBike editor, Cycle World contributor, and BARFer.
http://www.bayarearidersforum.com/forums/member.php?u=1479
http://www.cycleworld.com/article.asp?section_id=12&article_id=1025
I got my 2009 Versys on Saturday, and it’s got 126 miles on it, it’s a demo model, and it never mattered to me what color it was. All I knew was that I was getting it from Kawasaki cheaper than the dealership did. The very first thing that I did was a huge skyward wheelie coming out of the parking lot. Nothing but blue sky and clouds all of the sudden. Wow, this bike has some power, like 70hp, and its light! 400lbs light… similar to a Ducati I once owned that claimed to be a "superlight". It’s also tall, really tall. I am 6'0" with shoes on. The second thing I did was switching my footing from the left to right, then was suddenly wondering where the ground went, WHOA! A few more inches later I was using my right leg-stand awkwardly. Have you ever stepped over the second-to-last stair thinking it was the last one? Well I found out that with both feet down I can just touch the balls of my feet. The Versys is also thin, nice and thin between the legs, and you can hardly see your knees under the generous five gallon tank. The handlebars are wide, and the view is strictly top and wide, like a good driving game. It’s like you’re sitting on the top of the rear window. People in Range Rovers are right at your level. So, onto the freeway I go.
The ride home was interesting. The stock seat is crapola, it’s titled forward a lot, kind of like the new Monster... and the suspension is set up for doing six foot jumps on pavement. It’s really hard. The gearing is a bit low, which explains the wheelie tendency. I think I’ll go two teeth down in the rear, which should make it 75mph friendly. It’s not fun to look for a 7th gear, so that will be taken care of.
So I get it home and find out that both the front and rear suspension are fully adjustable, both spring preload and dampening. YES! So it’s ‘position one’ for the rear spring, and softest setting for the dampener. Next, five or so more full turns out on the fork springs (from the stock 7/15 possible turns from bottom), and set the dial dampening to the softest setting, then a half turn out. That should do it. Then I take the bike down to Pacifica and STOMP… hitting huge pot holes at 30mph, and slamming over road ridges, thundering through mini whoops. It’s just about perfect, no back pain, and the handlebar wants to stay in my hands. That’s really all I ask from a dual sport, is that it will stay underneath me if I jump a curb and ride though somebody's garden at 30mph. It definitely has happened. I ask that my bike is safe and comfortable when I can't be. The rear brake is a bit soft, but that’s ok, who cares. The fuel injection is good, no real complaints. The torque is usable, the high speed power band is too. It’s a great engine in a frame to grow old with. I’m looking forward to my 600 mile service.
---------------------------------------
For a long term Versys review contact Gabe Ets-Hokin, CityBike editor, Cycle World contributor, and BARFer.
http://www.bayarearidersforum.com/forums/member.php?u=1479
http://www.cycleworld.com/article.asp?section_id=12&article_id=1025
Attachments
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versys20.JPG
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