Kawasaki Versys 1000

This entry is part 9 of 22 in the series Adventure Rider Issue #2

Not every adventure ride has to cover trackless desert or teeter on the edge of a treacherous mountain ledge. There’s amazing destinations and routes that require covering long, long stretches of bitumen, forest thoroughfares the maps call “secondary roads” and stretches of dirt that are basically flat and in good shape. In that terrain the Versys is at home. And a very quick, comfortable and capable home it is, too.

Afuel-injected, liquid-cooled, 1043cc in-line four built from the white-knuckle Z1000 motor powering a dualsporter! What was Kawasaki thinking?

Mr K was probably thinking, “Hmm…there’s a lot of people with a roadbike background who’re moving into dualsporting and adventure riding, and they’d like a bike with a familiar feel.”

Mr K was right. As unlikely as the Versys may look to the hardcore single-cylinder, blood-and-guts guys, there’s a huge swag of mature road-riders who’ll climb on this bike and be surprised at how comfortable and non-surprising it is. They’ll head down the Great Ocean Road or out to Broken Hill on some of the lessthan-perfect backroads – especially if they’re two-up – and rightly feel they were on the perfect bike for the job.

Yikes!

Looking at the spec sheet the Versys can seem a little startling. As we said, this motor earned its stripes in the take-no-prisoners world of the streetfighter bikes, but in the Versys’ incarnation it’s been tamed to a mere 118 horsepower. In keeping with the current trend on some of the power monsters we’re seeing lately, there’s a thumb switch that allows a ‘Low’ or soft setting, reducing the horsepower output by around 25 per cent.

That’s still a big handful of mumbo for those not used to it.

Combined with the nifty power settings are three traction-control settings (plus ‘Off’) and ABS. There’s no option to switch off the ABS, but for once we’re pretty comfortable about that. If you had in mind to tackle the type of terrain where ABS was a problem, this isn’t the sort of bike we’d expect you to be considering.

Of course, horsepower needs to be considered alongside mass, and measured at the brochure this is a 239kg bike, fuelled up and ready to go. That’s actually very manageable, and with figures like that it’s a weapon

Kawasaki also explains in the media kit that the tuning of the motor has been aimed at a strong low- and mid-range response, and that seems entirely sensible given the bike’s intended use. The bike pulls away well from idle and is very forgiving at low revs once the rider becomes accustomed to just how lively that motor is. Still, peak horsepower is at 9000rpm. That’s a lot of revs for those used to singles and loping V-twins.

Comfort and able

The first impression of the bike revolves around what seem to be big, wide sweeping ’bars. It feels as though you’re sitting on a long-horn cow and steering it by the horns. That only lasts about a second, because then it becomes obvious that the ’bars are no wider than those we see on most dualsporters. They have a kind of sweep where they curve down inside the fairing and that makes them seem long. By the time the rider’s mind has grasped that, it’s already spinning away on just how comfortable the riding position is. Riders around the 170cm to maybe two metres tall will sit on the that wide, comfortable seat with their

backs fairly straight and their arms in the sweetest, laziest position with their hands on the grips. The ’pegs allow a very open and easy seating position, and overall, the comfort of this bike is pretty damn amazing.The more we rode it, the more we felt that reinforced. Comfort is a very big factor on the Versys.

A great package

Before we get too carried away we should cover some of the other tech features.

Suspension is Kayaba front and rear, and both ends are adjustable for preload and rebound. The fork rebound is adjusted by a clicker on the right fork leg, while the shock has an easy-to-use winder on the side of the frame. We thought the winder was for rebound, but as the Kawasaki guys patiently explained, “The tank at the end of the flexible hose is the preload adjuster hydraulic system. Wind the adjuster and it puts oil in to expand the adjusting mechanism and preload the spring. The shock is a sealed design and is gas pressurised without a separate reservoir.”

Oh.Anyway, the winder is covered by the panniers, but they’re so easy to click on and off the bike it’s hardly worth mentioning. Shock preload is the adjustment that would be used most, so it makes sense it’s in such a convenient position.

Braking is superb. Twin Tokico four-spot calipers at the front are moderately sensational and, along with the single pot rear, offer great feel. The braking isn’t incredibly strong at the first touch of the lever or pedal, but as we settled into the bike we realised it was a beautiful asset.

Instead of a sudden snatch whenever the brakes were touched, the stoppers come on with an incredible linear application that inspired huge confidence in late-braking on the tarmac, and offered no intimidation whatsoever on the dirt. The ABS actually allowed some fairly aggressive application of the stoppers at both ends, even on loose surfaces. It was a very impressive feature of the bike.

The six-speed box was a smooth-shifting delight and the cable clutch was quite light. We kept thinking we wanted an extra top gear, but we realised we were riding the Versys like a twin, and thanks to the willingness of the motor we could coast along at very low revs and get done all we needed. It was only when we noticed the redline was all the way up at 10,000rpm that we thought, “Maybe we should give it a little squirt and see what happens”.

Snort and rort

Holy mother of Dog! That motor is a sweetheart, but it’s a snarling beastie too.

When we finally let it have its head it’s as though it rewarded us for working out what it was made for, and the traction control suddenly went from being something we thought a bit interesting to something we found a genuine and welcome asset.

On the road at around 6,000rpm in top the Versys is sitting on about 160kph. From there you can twist the throttle and launch away with little or no effort.

On the dirt, 3,000rpm or 4,000rpm with the traction control off will be lively enough to test a rider’s competence in any gear. With the traction control on, and at the power setting which best suits the rider’s ability, the Versys once again settles down to being a very frigging exciting and fun bike to ride. The muted howling of the induction noise combines with the very quiet exhaust note and will pitch a tent in the pants of any red-blooded speed hound, but the electronic rider aids will make even a squid (like the AdvRider staffers) look good and in control.

We really enjoyed this bike, and a large part of it was down to the motor and how manageable and exciting it was.

Be sensible

We did take the Versys off-road, because that’s the type of riding we like. In general the bike did well, but the biggest limiting factor was the Pirelli Scorpion tyres. There’s nothing wrong with Scorpions, they’re a good tyre, but they’re a very smooth road pattern with no knobs or bite at all. The Versys did well to cope with the dirt as it did, but with a little bite from the rubber we think it’d be quite capable in the leaf litter and loose going of State Forests.

On the bitumen it’s a delight, and of course the Scorpions did really well, so that’s a fair observation.

The 17-inch wheels front and rear shouldn’t be too restrictive for tyres, especially the rears. There should be some good performers to choose from. Mitas has a couple of good options, so there’s a start.

Over all

Not to be too general about things, but we loved the Versys. The suspension was very capable, the motor amazing, and above all, it was extremely comfortable and a scream to ride.

The 21-litre fuel capacity gave a comfortable 300km range – and uncomfortable 50km or so with the fuel gauge flashing after that, with us having no idea how much further it’d go. That should be plenty for the riding this bike is designed for.

Our test bike also had a pair of Kawasaki hard panniers fitted. The pannier rack was incredibly sturdy, and the system for clipping the pannier boxes on and off was brilliant. We chucked all our tools and camera gear in there and forgot all about them. We couldn’t even get any water to make its way inside the panniers with the pressure washer, so we felt pretty comfortable leaving our clobber in there.

One last thing we want to give a thumbs up: the screen. It’s not huge, but it offered great protection, and the adjustment for height was the easiest and best we’ve seen. No tools needed. Just undo two thumbwheels, slide the screen to the position that suits, and tighten the thumbwheels again. Sweet!

It’s not a hard-core adventurer for tackling rocky, mountain single-track. It’s a bike made to cover long distances and crappy, second-rate bitumen and dirt road, and it does those things with incredible comfort for the rider.

And of course, when you hit a road in good shape, especially if that road has a few curves and bends, the Versys will treat you to the kind of ride only a four-cylinder powerhouse with this kind of pedigree can offer.

Kawasaki Versys 1000
Web: www.kawasaki.com.au Rec retail: $15,999 plus ORC

Engine type: Liquid-cooled, four-stroke, DOHC, 16-valve, in-line, four-cylinder
Displacement: 1043cc
Bore/stroke: 77mm X 56mm
Compression ratio: 10.3:1
Fuel management: Keihin electronic fuel injection
Ignition: Digital
Lubrication: Forced lubrication, wet sump
Starter: Electric
Fuel tank capacity: 21 litres
Final transmission: Sealed chain
Transmission: Six-speed
Length: 2235mm
Width: 900mm
Height: 1430mm (with windscreen raised)
Seat height: 845mm
Wheelbase: 1520mm
Brakes front: Dual semi-floating 300mm petal discs. Dual opposed four-piston caliper with ABS
Brakes rear: Single 250mm petal disc. Single-piston caliper with ABS
Tyre front: 120/70 x 17
Tyre rear: 180/55 x 17
Ground clearance: 155mm
Kerb mass (with full fuel tank): 239kg
Maximum power: 86.8kW (118PS) @ 9000rpm