2020 Versys 650 Test Ride Review
Hi my name is Kevin Jackson and along with Bob Kimpton Im the Club Kawasaki Ambassador for Bolton Motorcycles. I currently ride a Kawasaki H2 SX SE which I consider a Fantastic Motorcycle at the cutting edge of modern technology but this review is on the Versys 650Saturday morning I picked the Versys up from the shop and immediately set of on a planed route which consisted of A and B roads along with a short Motorway ride,first impression of the bike is how comfy it is,I’m 6’3” and immediately found a natural riding position,next how good the engine is(is this really a 650 parallel twin) it pulls like a train from very low revs and although it’s not super smooth like a 4 cylinder it has a pleasant power pulse low down which smooths out the higher you go up the Rev range and gives you all the power you need for any situation you come across. Next comes the handling/suspension,on paper there is nothing special about the suspension but it works really well at coping with real roads and makes tight twisty B roads a doddle so much so that it’s so easy to exceed the national limit without noticing(beware) the handling is confidence inspiring and due to the wide bars and light weight you find yourself throwing the bike into corners and riding technical sections of roads with ease.20 miles into the ride and time for a bit of motorway,wind it on up the slip road and your at motorway speed easily with no effort, after passing a few cars at legal(ish) speeds I settled down to cruising speed and noticed how good the bike feels at speed,very little wind blast and the engine just laps it up and is surprisingly comfortable with no hint that it’s working hard. Back off the motorway I found myself changing my route to get back onto some twisty B roads to enjoy the great handling again. Looking down at the dash I notice it’s time to head back( a word about the dash, it’s not a fancy tft screen full of modes and settings that you need a university degree to operate but it does contain everything you need to know, fuel,speed,gear position,time etc and it’s easy to read) after deciding where to stop for some pictures I returned to the shop to give the bike a big thumbs up. To sum up the Versys does everything you could ask of a modern motorcycle and it does it well,it’s not pretending to be a high performance Superbike and it’s not stuffed to the brim with electronics but everything just works together to make a fantastic value for money motorcycle that is more suitable for real road riding than most people realise.If you want to be as surprised as I was then book a test ride and see for yourself,you won’t be disappointed ???? Ps I WILL own one of these bikes as soon as I’m able
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