Ok, so 4300 miles in I've decided to put fingers to keyboard and give a review of the bike I bought new on March 1st. Firstly, the reasons why I chose it. After having what's called a mini-stroke 4 years ago I've found certain things aren't as easy to do as before, one of them being able move my eyes upwards in their sockets, so I found myself struggling to see where I was going without giving myself neckache as I tilted my head backwards. A more upright riding position was vital, so bikes like Bandits etc were considered and rejected on the grounds of their bulk. Another reason I wanted something like the Versys was to help me cut down on the amount of bikes I own, so the new bike had to be a do-it-all type of machine. Thirdly, I wanted a middleweight because I struggled a bit with my GSXR1000 and Daytona's power, weight and bulk. Another reason was the cost of it - 5400 quid OTR with ABS, Givi panniers and an MRA Vario screen, and on top of that I could get it on 3 years 0% finance with 99 quid down and stash the cash I had to pay for it in the bank to make a little money instead. A mate popped in to see me with his missus one day on their way through to Dover, him on a TDM900 and she on a Versys with panniers. Both bikes were fully loaded and I asked if I could take a short spin on both. The TDM was too tall and I didn't really like the feel of it, so I hopped on the Versys and was almost immediately at home. It's comfy like you wouldn't believe, which is something I found the V-strom 650 I rode wasn't. The bars are in just the right place, the seat is comfy for all day riding and the 19 litre tank isn't too wide. I'd spent 5 minutes on the TDM before riding home, the Versys ended up being ridden 26 miles to my then local Kawasaki dealer for me to have a quick word about buying one before I popped down to a petrol station to put some fuel in it. Talking about the tank, it doesn't need filling up anywhere near as often as the SV650's 17 litre jobbie. Where I used to get a maximum of 130 miles from that, the Versys can be taken to 250 miles if I treat it nicely, which I often do. It handles reasonably well, to the extent that I had the footrests down regularly before I lowered it, and now that's been done I've had to remove the hero-blobs from the footrests. That was on the standard Dunlop D221s, which weren't as bad as I was expecting them to be, but the new Avon Viper Sports I fitted a week ago are miles better. It now turns in almost like a sports bike - it can be a bit bouncier mid-corner, but it never gets out of shape, no matter how rough the going gets. Suspension is adjustable for rebound and preload, but to date I've left everything as it came from the factory because nothing is so bad I want to change it. For the sppeds it can manage the suspension is more than adequate, and I don't want to compromise the ride quality for a sharper handling ride. It's all about compromise and versatility with this one. One of the things I've had to compromise on is speed - it's not fast. It's not slow but it ain't going to win any drag races or top gear roll-ons. Max speed on the clock is 128mph, which equates to 118 on my GPS. These figures were taken on a French Autoroute on the way back from Chimay a few weeks ago. My naked SV650 was faster, but a damn sight less comfortable and didn't handle as well. The faired SV was much faster but drank petrol like a pissed fish and wasn't anywhere near as comfy as the naked one. The engine in the Versys is the tried and tested ER6 lump, but retuned (OK, made slower) but it hasn't suffered for it. There's enough oomph to get it off the line in front of any car it's encountered so far, and it's tractable enough to be rideable from 20mph in top gear without shaking my teeth out. There's a definite power step at the top end, but so far I've not felt the need to go as far as the redline because the motor sounds a bit thrashy at th top end. Speed isn't what this bike is about so I'm treating it with a bit more respect than I normally do. Having said that, I've had some pretty good thrashes on it, namely a fast A road ride to Bath and back on Sunday. I keep referring to comfort, did I tell you it's really comfortable? the seat is wide enough to take all of your arse, but not too wide it forces my legs out at a stop. I can move back and relax, or move forward and corner super-moto style if I wish. The pegs are quite low so my legs don't get cramped up by rearsets, but I can still hang off and get my knee down if I decide to play silly buggers. Best of all gfor me is the ability to ride for more than an hour without my neck feeling like it's on fire. One of the other things I'm quite pleased with are the brakes. They are the same set-up as the SVs, but they just work better on this bike. The ABS is an added bonus - I was a bit sceptical at first, but after binning my faired SV while on the brakes when I hit a manhole cover I thought I'd try them out. They've been a godsend; three times they've helped me keep the bike upright where I'm sure I would have either hit a car or locked up the front. Worth every penny I didn't spend on them[1] Over the past few months I've added some things to the bike that I thought would be useful, and most of them have been so far. The one that hasn't been is the Daytona heated grips - it's not really been cold enough to bother turning them on yet. The 12V power socket runs the compressor that inflates my airbed in less than a minute, the Baglux cover and Tweety bag have proven themselves to be invaluable and the handguards do a good job of deflecting water off my hands when it rains. The most impressive thing has been the Scottoiler. It was fitted the night before I was able to ride the bike, so the chain was as new when it started working. In those 4300 miles I haven't had to touch the chain at all - the adjustment is still perfect and the touring resevoir is still 1/8th full... who needs a bloody shaft drive? There are a couple of points that have pissed me off a little. These mainly revolve around the finish and paint. The heelguards were worn through in less than 1500 miles, and Kawasaki would only replace them with another set of standard ones which would wear again in 1500 miles, so I bought some gel heelguard protectors from a guy on the Versys forum. 12 quid well spent because they aren't showing any marks in 2500 miles. The other thing is nuts and bolts. Kawasaki need to get their act together on this one. I've only had the bike 5 months and there are corroding fasteners all over it. Most of these have that green passive coating on them, which has now turned a furry looking white. Bearing in mind the bike was delivered in late Feb and didn't go out on the road until march 1st when the winter was all but over, that's appalling. I'll be spending a few nights in the garage taking bolt sizes and placing an order with Namrick for stainless replacementsin the near future. People reckon Suzukis corrode, but I never had a 3 year old one that was as bad as this has become in 6 months. Triumph manage to make bikes with decent quality fasteners, isn't it about time Kawasaki at least tried. It'd add maybe 20 quid to the price of a bike, but they'd last so much better and make them more desireable at resale. Overall I'm very pleased with the bike - it does everything I wanted and needed it to do and it does everything pretty well. Would I recommend one to someone I knew? A definite yes, but as long as they knew what Scottoilers are for and what Scottoiler FS365 does. [1] I got the bike at base price, with the 'Touring' model accessories and ABS thrown in.
