another test ride 2016 Versys

[the Ferret]

Yesterday, I rode up to Jeffersonville, Ohio to meet my buddy Jnor. He is a good friend and travelling companion who I ridden with to California on one trip, to North Carolina on another trip, to Virginia and West Virginia on another trip, and he will again be joining us for the Men's Fall Trip this year in south eastern Ohio. We have owned a similar number of similar bikes, ride a similar pace and are similar enough to get along but different enough to drive each other crazy. Jnor has given up riding a couple times in the past couple of years, once right after we got back from Cali which I documented on this forum.

http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread....ing+riding

At any rate he is back riding again. Picked up yet another Kawasaki Versys (his 3rd..or 4th?) a new 2016. He has modified it to suit him with Givi luggage, heated grips, larger handguards, GPS etc and I wanted to get a look at it, and discuss routes for the MFT ride this year, so we decided to meet for lunch 1/2 way between our residences..

Anyhow on the way up I was reminded once again why I am not tough enough to ride a Harley. Passed this guy in riding attire typical of my area. Note: it was 68 degrees out.

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I was a bit chilled in full gear lol. At any rate, an hour and a half later met up with Jnor early, as we both usually are, and did a walk around of his bike. Very nice looking motorcycle. I had ridden to Clinton Co Motorsports in Xenia Ohio a few weeks back to look at one of these as it was in consideration for a replacement for my ST someday as a lighter solo sport tourer when my wife decides she's had enough, but when I tried sitting on it, it was WAY too tall for me. Anyhow after the walk around, we went inside had lunch (burger and fries for him and a short stack of buttermilk pancakes for me) and when we came back out I mentioned how his bike looked lower than the one at CCM and could I try sitting on it? Sure. I climbed on and was able to get both toes on the ground. Huh? In the showroom at Clinton County I could get 1 toe down but the other hung precariously in the air. Jnor said he had dropped the tubes in the trees 1/2" and had cut some of the foam from the seat, and that was pretty close to enough for me. Could I test ride it? Sure he said, let's go.

So we took off across St Rt 41 towards Washington Court House. Right away I noticed the comfortable ergos. It really is a tall and comfortable perch with sit up and beg ergos. The hand guards worked well, the windshield worked well, mirrors were usable and clear of vibration, transmission shifted well (not as good as the CB imo). The bike was noticeably smoother than his last Versys and it felt really light. The bike really did have plenty of power (as he keeps telling me) but I did miss the abundant torque of the ST. I am such a sucker for liter bike torque. I noticed at 55 mph he was turning over 4000 rpms (which would be 2500 rpms on the ST) even though he said it was geared up a tooth in front. While riding I became very confused. I could ride a bike like this solo, and thoroughly enjoy myself, although honestly I'd hate to give up the big torque and low rpms of the ST. I may have to change my preferences. At Washington CH we traded back, said our goodbyes and he headed north on ST RT 22 while I turned south on the same road. In a couple of weeks I am going to get the opportunity to ride another 650 Suzuki SV, this bike, and maybe the ST (or CB) side by side. Haven't decided which bike to take on the Men's Fall Trip this year. Should be interesting.

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[redbirds_imp]

I do like the ergos of tall bikes. My Tiger 1050 was all day comfy as is Sparky's V-strom. I was sorely disappointed that Triumph no longer imports the Tiger Sport, it has many improvements over the 2007 I had and that triple is smooth as silk with gobs of low end grunt.

[4 Paws_imp]

Not into tall bikes anymore. Versus was high on my list of alternates when I was having problems locating a cb500x. So was the NC700x.
Don't think it would be very close to a "replacement" for a ST.
Saw a surprising number of low mileage BMW R1200s available at moderate prices, a solid road eating bike, more comfortable - to me - than the GS.

Been riding the lightweight bike a fair bit recently, well suited for its intended purpose. Not sure I'd want a sub 1000cc bike as a distance sport tourer but mid range rides and local you can't beat the 600-800 cc bikes.