2017 Versys 650 Grand Tourer - ongoing review

[Kwacky]

Jason at Addison Tyres has sent me a photo of my new Z8s, waiting for me.

I need to get the bike in for a service as I've hit 3,500 miles.

[Cav]

What cover do you use Kwacky?

A mate of mine has just bought a Triumph Bonneville Custom and doesn't have a garage.. 3 days after purchase it's become truly sodden after the thunderstorms last night and he feels guilty

[Kwacky]

http://www.tankslap.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=4205" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Both me and D6Nutz rate them

[Kwacky]

I'm now finding Im using the top box quite a lot. This morning I took into work my papers from yesterday's conference, so that was 2 lever arch files, 2 ring binders, my notes, a laptop and some other papers. To make my life easier I used the Kawasaki bag from the top box yesterday so I simply dumped the bag in the house and then threw it into the top box this morning.

[Cav]

Thanks for that Kwacky.. I've informed him.

I should get a top box for the track bike... because downforce yo

[D6Nutz]

http://www.tankslap.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=4205

Both me and D6Nutz rate them

Excellent cover, really protects the paint work while keeping the bike amazingly dry.

[Kwacky]

Hugger fitted. Bit of a crap photo but you get the idea.

What a massive pain in the arse to fit. There are no mounting points so you have to make up clamps with are two pieces of formed metal, slot some rubber in to protect the swingarm, slide the twp pieces of metal together then line up all 4 mounting points. There's little room to move and you have to shove the screw through the hugger into the hole and then hold the nut and screw it all in. It took about an hour to marry everything up and get the screws into the nuts. What made it worse is that the angle and position of the screws means that the real pillion pegs are in the way.

[Kwacky]

Z8s fitted at just over 4100 miles and booked in next Saturday for a service.

[Kwacky]

216 miles in between fuel stops. I reckon 250 is doable if I took it easy.

It looks like we're due rain this afternoon, so I'll be able to see what the Z8s are like on the Versys in the wet.

[Cavetroll87]

216 miles in between fuel stops. I reckon 250 is doable if I took it easy.

It looks like we're due rain this afternoon, so I'll be able to see what the Z8s are like on the Versys in the wet.

That's good tank range, if I end up commuting by bike again Ill give the versys a serious look now coz that's a nearly a full weeks riding, which would be amazing, even the Honda I still had to fill up every 3 days, and the less we talk about the mt09's tank range the better

[Kwacky]

As an all rounder for commuting it's doing really well.

[C00kiemonster]

How do the Z8's feel on the Versys compared to the old ones (in the dry)

[Kwacky]

Hard to say at the moment. I've not really pushed them. They're quick steering enough, as my "ride like a muppet" ride home last night showed.

I have done some hard braking on them to bed them in and to make sure that the pads were working after the wheel change. They dig in hard without grabbing.

I'll take the winding route home one of the evenings and see what they're like. To be fair to the Dunlops they were fine in the dry, it was the wet weather performance that let them down.

[Kwacky]

It was dry on the way home. I can wait for the rain, there's no rush to ride home in the wet.

[Kwacky]

All clean

[C00kiemonster]

I do like the paint on that bike.

How many zillion miles has it done now?

[Kwacky]

About 4,200

[Kwacky]

Bike serviced. No issues apart from an adjustment on the rear brake.

[Kwacky]

How does the Versy compare with the SX Kwacky?

I imagine it's lighter and nimbler

Chalk and cheese.

The SX was lower and sportier. I reckon the Versys weighs about the same and its about 55 bhp down on the SX. As it's taller it's a different riding style. The brakes aren't as strong as the SX brakes and with limited power it's about planning ahead. To corner the SX you would hammer it up to the bend, slam on the anchors, V the corner then accelerate out - pretty much the standard approach for an older IL4 1000cc bike.

The Versys lets you carry decent corner speed provided you've done your breaking early. You can start to accelerate much sooner and use the twin grunt to get out of a corner. There's a lot of travel in the front forks so you can get away with trail braking into corners if you need to.

For a big tall bike it doesn't mind being chucked about. I can cut through the traffic without issues and I've got a good vantage point to see around me.

[Blade]

Sounds like your having fun