Best thing will be if you fly me and my bike over to New England
from Old England, then you can give it a good tryout on roads you
know. Can't say fairer than that!
I have to say that my initial feelings are that the Versys would be
highly unsuited to dirt roads due to it's rather revvy nature. I
think what you need is a W650 engine in a Versys frame. That's a
little job for the weekend....
Pete
--- In W650riders@..., "Charles Graves" <bxf7check@...>
wrote:
What follows is a true story, Pete.
Last Wednesday (a week ago) I stopped at a bike dealership as I
was
riding through Maine. The reason for the stop was to check if they
might happen to have a Versys on the floor (Kawasaki dealer).
Imagine my delight when I discovered they did! (First one I've
seen.)
Better yet, being a Suzuki dealership too, they also had a V-Strom
on hand (granted, not the 650 model I am interested in, but the
1000
model instead). The sales fella I was speaking with volunteered to
take both bikes out in the yard and start them up for a better
comparison. Not being from the area, I mildly discouraged him from
doing so, but he insisted ¨C and, suffice to say, I did not let my
objection to the idea get out of hand. :-)
I got to sit on both bikes. Please don't be offended, but my
initial
impression of the Versys is that it's not a pretty bike. However,
I
had a similar experience the first time I saw a V-Strom on a show
room floor. Looked at it. Thought it was ugly. Sales fella also
thought it was ugly. So I didn't give it much attention. (Looked
at
prettier bikes instead.) Later discovered all the great things
about
the Strom and after many subsequent views, guess what ¨C it doesn't
look so bad now. So the initial impression of the Versys is not
important at this time ¨C with further inspections and all the good
stuff I'm hearing about it ¨C I'm sure it'll look a lot better with
time.
Anyway, the amusing part is that as I rode away I had the very
distinct thought that what I really needed was for Pete (that
would
be Pete Cordell from the W650riders forum) to buy a Versys. That
way
I would be able to get a 3-way W/Strom/Versys comparison from
somebody who would know all three very well. The thought, however,
was a fleeting one. Imaging my amusement when I was catching up on
the W650riders postings and discovered you had actually purchased
a
Versys!! :-)
I am hoping that as you get to know your new friend you will pass
along tidbits of information regarding how the Wee Strom and the
Versys compare in ways that would be of interest to somebody who
is
hoping to take a cross continent bike tour sometime during the
next
few years. Will include a lot of unpaved roads (trans Labrador in
the Northeast and Yukon/Alaska in the Northwest) and probably
quite
a bit of luggage. One of the things I like about the 650 bike size
is that if I'm out in the boonies and the bike does down on some
dirt, it's not so heavy that I can't lift it up by myself.
Delighted to hear about your new toy (though a little disappointed
to hear you are actually considering parting with the W). Will
probe
further on this topic after you've had more time to get to know
the
Versys.
Charles
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--- In W650riders@..., "petetibble" <petetibble@>
wrote:
Its happened, somehow my credit card broke free of its chains, and
next thing I know I'm the owner of big orange Versys!
I borrowed it for the morning and had a long, very wet and
blustery
test ride. Its very comfortable and though the little screen
doesn't
really keep much weather off it does an excellent job of keeping
the
wind blast at bay. None of the usual neck ache after a long high
speed blast. Its going to take a little while to get used to the
slightly snatchy fuel injection, but the next couple of days
should
rack up some miles as I've managed to get it in time for a trip up
to the Busy-Bee Reunion this weekend which is doubling up as a
reunion with a bunch of old chums from my yoof.
W seems to be taking it quite well so far, no tantrums. I'm going
to
put some time in titivating her, but then I'm afraid she'll have
to
go in the springtime. Sob. Unless I come into some money in the
meanwhile...
Can't get over how tiny the W feels now!
Pete
