Kawasaki Versys

[Robchester]

I know there are a few owners on here and Im thinking about buying one. In the shortlist with a Street Triple & a new Pegaso.

Can those who have one or who have tried one give me any feedback on the bike?

Secondly they seem very cheap at the moment - theres nearly new bikes going for around £3k when the bike was £5k new. Is it the Credit Crunch or are these gonna be bikes which depreciate quickly?

[sagalout]

Hi,

Just noticed your PM. Had a few from people interested in the Versys, so I'll just copy and paste what I told them!

basically, its no worse on depreciation than any other bike, becuase I dont think anyone paid anywhere near £5k to start with. I bought mine for about £4300 brand new. As for the bike...

Absolutely love it mate.

You might have seen in my sig, I've had quite a few more powerful bikes (Blackbird, GSXR, ZX9R) but can honestly say that this is the most fun....well, the gsxr was bloody good fun but only on the right road and for a hundred miles at a time. The Versys is fun on any road and any speed.

You can slide forward in the seat and ride it like a supermoto and blast round B roads, or attach hard luggage and tour with it (I went to France on a 1400 mile trip the other week) and it will do it all in its stride, and at about 55mpg.

Handling is great - its setup like a sportsbike so its very firm compared to other bikes of its style (my mates BMW GS is much softer) but you can always adjust it for more plushness if you want.

The engine is a peach too - the figures dont suggest it, at 65bhp, but all the powers bang in the midrange, so it feels like a bigger capacity, and has plenty of overtaking grunt. It doesn't have a huge top end, but between 30 and 90 its loads of fun. Tops out about 120. What I like is that at 60 its still entertaining to ride, whereas a lot of modern bikes almost ride themselves and dont get interesting until over a ton, so theres a better chance of keeping your license! I used to do banning speeds all the time on the GSXR, because the suspension only started to work over 80.

Its also nice to turn up somewhere and not be on the same bike as everyone else!

Its even been named Motorcycle of the Year by the biggest US magazine:

https://www.motorcyclistonline.com/features/122_0809_motorcycle_of_the_year/kawasaki_versys.html

The only downsides to the bike are the stock exhaust, which is far too quiet (I replaced it with an IXIL twin ) and the build quality could be better in places, but then its only about £4300 new. Its not bad as such, just one or two places you can see where they cut costs.

Hope that helps
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Current Bike: Triumph Speed Triple T309
Previous: CBR600F => ZX9R => Triumph Tiger => Honda Blackbird => GSXR 750 => Versys =>ZX12R

[js]

I did 9k on mine all over the UK, Ireland and France and it did not miss a beat its very economical 200mile from a tank (19 liters) there is one on ebay now £2795 for a 2007 which is silly money when you consider I got 3k in September when I traded in for a sports tour.
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Ducati Hypermotard

[pyx_e]

Only my second bike (prev ER5) had it two months done 2k miles. Love it. Mostly I am round South Bristol and out in to North Somerset for a run. Great round town, comfy for longer rides. Missus happy on the back, we are planning on some touring next summer.

Economical, good looking, easy to tart up, handguards, mirror extenders, horn plus many more.

Great upright position, can see over the top of nearly everything. I loved riding my ER5 but this is different, even my missus will suggest I go out for a run to chill me out. I could go on ........
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Shiney!
Kawasaki: ER5, Versys, VN900.

[Robchester]

thanks for the responses, I test rode one at the weekend from Autorama in Batley

My initial thoughts are that it handles superbly. So easy to flick around and very good visibility from where you're sat. The brakes werent too bad but the fairing was rattling. I also found the rear kicked really hard over little bumps, probably due to lots of preload.

I thought the engine felt agricultural at low speeds (heavy on the vibes) and opening it up, i found myself hitting 4th gear really early on (about 30mph) purely because at 3-4k it sounded like I was thrashing it. Im not sure if my ears were hearing it right (I have heard of a whine coming from the standard exhaust being an issue) but loads of power spread all over the range.

Going to test ride a Shiver and a STriple and then come back to the Versys again on a different demo bike as I'd like to make sure htere was nothing wrong with the one I rode

[Robchester]

bought one at the weekend, pick it up on Saturday

Didnt test the other bikes as they didnt really meet the criteria I was looking for in the bike

Same colour as yours Sagalout.

Didnt like the stock exhaust, and so Im going to upgrade. Someone has offered me a straight swap my stock exhaust for a Stainless Scorpion as they dont like it but Im wary that the Scorpion will fail on emissions at MOT as theres no CAT
I have the offer of a single IXIL at £160 (used). Cant afford the doubles as theres a few other mods I want to do to the bike

[MarJay]

[Robchester]

Excellent, just what I wanted to hear Marjay. Its got a DB killer in so shouldnt be a prob. Had one on the SV and that always got past it.

[pyx_e]

Welcome to the Club.
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Shiney!
Kawasaki: ER5, Versys, VN900.

[sagalout]

Yeah, saw your post on the Versys forum - congrats - and by far the best colour too

I've put a few more mods on mine now, so in total:

Twin Ixils - seems to gather a lot of interest at Squires
Givvi Rack and E46 topbox - allows the kawasaki panniers to be used at the same time which I might buy later this year
Kawasaki GPS mount - puts the GPS right behind the screen so in good line of sight
Heated Grips
KTM handguards
Just ordered an Ermax colour matched hugger
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Current Bike: Triumph Speed Triple T309
Previous: CBR600F => ZX9R => Triumph Tiger => Honda Blackbird => GSXR 750 => Versys =>ZX12R

[Robchester]

Sagalout,
Ive been offered a single Ixil for £160 or a Scorpion as a straight swap for my standard. Im thinking of buying a standard exhaust, swapping it for the Scorp and buying the ixil too and then choosing between them both and selling the other one.

The Ermax hugger, and possibly bellypan is something ive considered, as are a set of Heated grips, and KTM guards. I dont like the rear much either but it seems to be pretty expensive for tail tidys.

As far as luggage is concerned, Ive got the topbox, and can always throw a set of Oxford panniers over if needed.