Another new bike thread - Versys

Id say it was on par with the SV. A couple of things I have been disappointed with - the gear and brake levers, the heel plates and I keep rubbing my boot against one of the plastics above the foot pedal. I think historically, Kawasaki & Suzuki are about on par with build quality

I see...seems like all the same bits on kawasaki's and suzuki's furr up / corrode. I think your right in saying the build quality of kwaks and suzuki's is similar.




mind you, are you comparing to a 1999 curvy (great build quality!) or a 2009 pointy (turns to dust even when you spell the word "salt")...?

[TheRamJam]

Doesn't do it for me am afraid

Although I just love all the Kwak colour ranges. Black, Green, Blue, Orange all look great on their bikes.

I would say it is of pointy build quality. On the plus side it wheelies on big throttle openings in first gear. Wind up the throttle fast and up she goes.

Originally Posted by cmit37

I would say it is of pointy build quality. On the plus side it wheelies on big throttle openings in first gear. Wind up the throttle fast and up she goes.

Yeah I did notice that on Saturday for the first time. It was coming out of a turning too so wasnt fully straight!

Comparable with a K3 Pointy

Originally Posted by alpinestarhero

Rob and loz, how are you finding the build quality of the versys?

I'm not, to be perfectly honest.

I washed it with Autoglym Motorcycle cleaner the other day and I'm seeing passive coated parts looking like they are starting to corrode. It may be a film left by the cleaner, but I doubt it. Also, I have already worn through the paint on the left heel plate. This shocks me because I have only worn my Daytonas on this bike, and they are inside a pair of Cordura HG trousers. There's a 20mm diameter hole worn right through the black finish. The bike has just over 1500 miles on the clock.

Paintwork is marginally better than Suzuki's, in other words they waved the spray gun over it for a second longer. It picks up scratches quicker than the SV did, but the paint thickness is better able to cpe with polishing them out (I wore right through the paint on my original SV fairing trying to polish a light scratch out).

It's a shame because I love the way the bike rides, but it looks like it may appear to be an old skanker in about half the time it takes an SV to look that way... about 6 months.

Well I've now had the whole of the summer with the bike, and after having some initial worries about build quality, nothing seems to have corroded, only the heel plates have scuffed.

From a riding perspective, its a great bike. I'm sure anyone who fancies having higher bars will love riding this around the twisties, b roads and less. On the A roads, the bike has the ability to keep the wind off you, and the screen does a great job of providing some weather protection from the elements.

The 64bhp is surprisingly nippy when out in the twisties, with a lot of low down torque and it does bely its small number of horses. I really do enjoy riding this bike, probably more so than the SV as I prefer the upright riding position.

If you're someone who likes to sit about the national speed limit for any length of time or likes to have that power on tap anyway, it'll let you down. I would imagine that top speed would be somewhere in the region of 115mph and 3 figures do take a little winding up. Up to around 85mph (indicated), it has no problem but above this and you feel like you're wringing its neck.

As you can see, I have made a few more mods to the bike since the last photo on this thread but I still cant quite settle on the overall look of the bike. I think once I replaced the baffle into the pipe, things started to go a bit pipe and slippers for me. Its seriously loud with it out and maybe a bit too loud although I did love it, I'm just not sure if the traffic boys would. I had it Dyno'd in June (free Dyno with HG) who said it was running too lean with the baffle out and needed a PC to rectify this. Whether its worth spending another £250 on just to make more noise and sort the fuelling out i'm not sure. With the baffle in, it ran as it should.

Part of me is still telling me to keep this bike, as it rides great and does attract some attention wherever it goes. (A lot of people who ask me what I ride still dont know what it is and some still dont know what it is when they see it). The other half of me says to sell up now before winter, keep the money to one side and get something a bit more alluring next spring. Currently in mind is the Street Triple and now the KTM 950. I do love the 690SM but having a big single, although putting out the same power it will be seriously struggling at speed.

Anyway, for those that havent had the opportunity to see what its current look is:







I might look to remove the extender on the fairing to clean the lines at the front up if I decide to keep it. The decision to buy the PC still wrestles with me....

[Richie]

that last photo is stunning...
sorry this isn't helping you sell you bike.. but OMG... Stuning...

Rim tape actually looks good for once

[STRAMASHER]

Maybe you feel its too loud cos of that short exhaust system sitting under your ear!

Interesting read and great photies.

I'm still hoping for Yamaha to give us a 1000cc+ Super Tenere. But imagine a big cc version of a versys.

The japs have not got it right for years with their big trailies/ adventure() bikes. They must have summit in the pipe-line to easily beat GS/Tiger/KTM?