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Dang fer’ners get all the good stuff, right? Neat, cool bikes that we should have, not just the Europeans. Well, Kawasaki has just done something about that particular imbalance of trade, announcing that the Versys 650 is coming stateside for 2008. In fact, it should be in showrooms within the month, priced at $6899.
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| New standard? Versys mixes several styles of bike to come up a superbly balanced ride. |
Versys stands for “Versatile System,” which gives a clue as to the bike’s all-round goodness. After 500 miles aboard one, I’d have to rate it as one of the most competent bikes I’ve ever ridden. It’s capable of probably 115 mph flat-out if you insist, but feels really at home in the 65-to-80-mph range that most of us operate in most of the time. It’s a great city bike, a highly capable commuter or a decent solo sport-tourer, entirely your choice (see the video).
Winding backroads bring out the best in the bike. Thanks here to the high-quality, fully adjustable suspension—a 41mm inverted fork up front and a single side-mounted shock out back (with high- and low-speed damping), bolted to a stout aluminum swingarm. If potholes, tar patches, crumbling asphalt or gravel are on the menu, so what? The suspension has enough travel (5.9 inches front, 5.7 back) to handle it, and without the bothersome fore-aft pitching that some longer-travel dual-sport bikes have to deal with.
Also helping in a big way is the sporty but not extreme riding position; in fact, it’s quite rangy, putting the rider’s knees into a reasonable bend, his hands falling naturally on the wide, upright handlebar. It’s a position of command and comfort. All-day rides, not a problem.
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| We get the bike, okayfine, but the Europeans get the ABS option. Coming here soon, Kawasaki? |
Power is provided by Kawasaki’s neatly packaged 649cc parallel-Twin, as used in the Ninja 650R. It was new in 2005, debuted in the Euro-only EN-6n naked bike, so it’s got all the mod-cons: liquid-cooling, semi-downdraft fuel-injection, twin cams, four valves per cylinder, under-piston oil jets, counterbalancer, etc. Between the stacked transmission shafts and a semi-dry-sump lubrication system that stores scavenged oil in the transmission cavity away from the crankshaft (allowing a smaller, shorter crankcase), the engine is a tightly drawn, densely packed lump. Smaller, even, than the Ninja 500’s, claims Kawasaki. Our Canadian-spec testbike churned out almost 60 rear-wheel hp, but more importantly its torque “curve” was darn-near flat, with 42 foot-pounds at peak. That makes for a bike that is always ready and willing to accelerate.
The Versys has proved popular in Europe and Canada, and because its engine/exhaust package is virtually identical to the Ninja’s, save for a mild recamming and a lower compression ratio, it was a relative no-brainer for Kawasaki to bring the bike to America. Brochures had to be printed, spare parts stocked, technicians trained, but the big expense—in money and time—of getting the motor EPA-certified had already been done.
Sadly, the go/no-go decision was made late enough in the new-model process that there wasn’t enough time to re-tool the gas tank and fit the evaporative-canister plumbing that California (and only California worldwide) requires. There also doesn’t seem to be any plans for an extensive advertising campaign. For an oddball bike like the Versys, a new-style combination standard, adventure-bike and supermoto, that borders on the criminal. It needs as much—and I’d argue more–exposure as any sportbike or cruiser. Instead, it’ll have to get by on word-of-mouth. From where I sit, all those words are good.
Sound off! Is the Versys your kind of bike?
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