Best in Class

The Kawasaki is not alone in its class, but it is the best. BMW’s G310 GS is mostly a road bike. See inverted shocks. See mag wheels. See the G310 R hidden underneath. Likewise the CRF250 Rally is mostly a dirt bike – just a CRF250L playing dress up. The CSC RX3 is tailormade for adventure, but will vibrate itself to pieces thanks to a buzzy single cylinder. In fact, the only mini adventure besides my Kawasaki that isn’t plagued by a thumper is the V-Strom 250. Which we won’t get in North America.

And so I’m very happy with this – a frame, bodywork, suspension… everything built just for mini adventure.

Well … almost everything.

The engine is a ninja. 296ccs of parallel twin, ripped straight from Kawasaki’s sport bike. Torque is too tiny to mention, but the 39 horses are significant. If you do the math, the Versys’ power to weight ratio is literally identical to the much-larger KLR650.

With a slight tailwind, having eaten a half portion of poutine for lunch, and riding north to exploit the earth’s geomagnetic pull… it’ll do 167.

Déjà vu – the top speed is literally identical to the much-larger KLR650. Put the Versys up against its thumper competition in the CRF250, G310 and RX3… and you won’t even have a contest.

Of course being a little twin, that power comes wayyy up the tach. We’re talking 11,500rpm for peak output. It won’t even wheelie unless you dump the clutch above 10k.

However, this engine enjoys the high life. With weightless 62mm pistons travelling an imperceptible 49mm stroke… they can zip back and forth all day without actually moving that fast or pulling that many Gs.

In fact the 12,750rpm redline seems to be set more out of mercy than necessity. From where I’m sitting, this engine feels like it could be tortured even higher.

Much of that has to do with the utter and mysterious lack of vibration. The bar ends and pegs are heavily weighted – fine. The engine is an internally counterbalanced twin – fine. But still, it’s a sub-300cc hard-mounted powerplant. How on earth can I cruise at 130kph, 9500rpm, with no numbness in my hands and no fuzziness in my mirrors?

It’s incredible. Once you get used to the sound of 200 explosions every second and learn to keep your eyes off the frenzied tachometer, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t hit MotoGP revs in the most inappropriate places.

So the Versys-X is brilliant on pavement. But let’s say we take that pavement and twist it. Turn it. If a cheap bike can go fast, is it also possible to turn fast? Common logic says no. Power and handling are mutually exclusive on cheap bikes. Where a manufacturer spends in the engine, you can expect them to save in suspension. That was my beef with the Rebel 500 last week.

But the Versys is different. The KYB forks might be the wrong way up, but they’re fatter down low to reduce flex and twisting. Plus everything is perfectly sprung and damped. My Versys feels poised and planted on pavement, yet shockingly surefooted off road.

I mean sure, the critic in me wants to complain that only the rear is adjustable, and only for preload. But honestly, if you want one setting to ride on and off-road… there’s nothing to adjust. It’s perfect.

Put me on a track with the Versys-X, and I reckon I’d lap within a second or two of the Ninja 300. It really is that good performance-wise. But what about the long haul?

Well the 17l tank is best-in-class. I’ve been getting over 400km between fill ups, which blows away the little CRF or Beemer, and is actually more than some of the big, “round-the-world” adventure bikes.

Of course whether you can sit for 400km on the hardest seat in the world is another question.

At least the cockpit is spacious. It starts with that low 32.1-inch seat – that giant chunk bitten out of the middle of this motorcycle, so even at 6’3 I’m well-covered by the immovable windshield. Then the fairing obviously feels the need to compensate for something, because it looks for all the world like the front end of a 650.

These plastics mainly enclose empty space, but at least the bike doesn’t look dinky. And Kawasaki used the extra room for clever ducts, which deflect hot air coming off the radiator. As a result this bike is very cool . Although with the flawless colour-matched plastics and nonexistent panel gaps, I’d think it’s cool even if it weren’t that cool.

Round the back end, we have plenty of space for a pillion. Good thing the suspension is up to the task, because there’s room for luggage too – a stock mounting plate you could easily drill and bolt with aftermarket bags, a milk crate, old pieces of luggage, whatever. Kawasaki also makes their own overpriced hard cases, which is both unusual and unnecessary for the weight class.

Speaking of unusual, this is the strangest clutch in the world. It’s an assisted slipper that is so light one wonders if it’s attached to anything. Especially since nothing happens for most of the travel… the engagement point is sudden and brief.

The Versys face won’t win Top Model, but it’s pretty enough. Analog for the important information, digital for everything else. Including immediate and average consumption, range, and an eco symbol when I’m running at max efficiency. I guess we always knew Kawasakis were green.

Team Green also picked out spots for a 12V outlet and an auxiliary light switch. Not much point speccing the former though, as the little alternator only turns 21amps at 5000rpm… it won’t power much more than your phone.

All in all it’s an above-average dash for the price, as long as your eyes are sharp enough to see the smaller-than-average symbols. But I guess this bike isn’t meant for old folks anyway.

The Versys-X is well-kitted for touring. And we’ve already seen how surprisingly smooth and fast it can be. I suppose that’s why we say Versys and not KLR300. It’s a street bike first. Then dirt.

This fact is well-evidenced by the power delivery. Kawasaki says they tuned the airbox shape, fuel injection, header length and sprocket ratio to make more oomph in the bottom end.

It wasn’t enough.

I need to rev the shit out of this bike to get it to break traction. Either that or use the clutch to store up revs and dump ‘em.. basically you’re trying to do a wheelie every time you want to steer with the rear wheel. And that’s annoying.

Then there’s the ABS. On pavement it was a non-issue… the single front rotor is so weak that it takes a herculean squeeze of the lever to feel the slightest hint of anti-lock action.

But here on dirt, I can see that it’s out of whack. The rear sensor has a super high sampling rate,meaning I can’t trick it into locking up at all. When I mash the lever, there’s no deceleration. I just cruise into whatever I’m trying to avoid.

The front has the opposite problem. Its anti-lock is extremely relaxed, alloying me to lock up and wash out the front tire.

If I could switch the two actuators, this might be one of the best ABS systems off-road. But as it is, it’s probably the worst.

So here I am, flogging this poor little engine off-road. Firing 12,000 blasts into each minute. Firing 12,000 blasts into the choice I made. Firing 12,000 blasts into time itself.

Tick, tick, tick, tick

Hello. I’m going on an adventure (putting watch away) with six grand in my pocket.

And it better be the dual-sport.

The CRF250L was rubbish on the pavement. Slow, sloppy, uncomfortable and unrefined. But here on the dirt it’s exceptional .

What surprises me is how much I’m reminded of the Versys-X. The wire wheels aren’t much different, though the Versys wears 17-19 while the CRF wears 18-21.

The weight is shockingly familiar too. Of course the Versys was heavier. But with a tubed-steel frame, drilled through with lightening holes and using the engine as a stressed member, it only clocked 386lbs. Not hugely dissimilar to this dual-sport.

In fact when I’m up on the pegs – riding on serrated metal as the Versys’ removable rubber also allowed – I can see how both bikes would outrun any large adventurer or scrambler.

Of course the CRF is much better on dirt. But all it does is show me how close Kawasaki came to being damn good as well.

Imagine you’re watching a movie. And it shows you everything that goes bad in the future.

But the movie hasn’t happened yet. So you can change it, right?

Hello. I’m going on an adventure with six grand in my pocket. But I have some changes to make first. There’s the ABS fuse… SMASH We’re going up two teeth on the rear… need more low end snap.

On the dirt… the Versys is just fine. Without ABS I can properly control deceleration off-road.

With a few extra teeth on the rear sprocket… it’s easy enough to get the back tire to break free.

And with knobby tires, I don’t always have to steer with the rear wheel anyway. I have enough grip to simply lean the bike over and carve. The Versys is a bike I can live with. Anywhere, anytime.

So I’m beating this thing up and there’s still no skid plate available. I could reroute the headers to get another 4 inches of ground clearance or just weld something to cover ‘em… I guess the 7.1 inches I have is still enough.

The… front fender is wearing away from rocks and mud and stuff… probably should have raised it last year.

Flat tire… I didn’t get the centre stand so we’ve gotta jack it up on the … swingarm I guess. I dunno. Just gotta be careful not to drop it ‘cause the mirrors stick out so far.

The mini adventure got me here. To this place where I’ve built adventure skills. To this place where I can push a 500lb, 150hp motorcycle off-road. And the mini adventure bike was a good way to learn.

But if you go back five years… didn’t we already have a perfect way to learn?

A way that was cheaper. Easier.

A way that was more bulletproof.

A way that was more focused on off-road skills.

A way that was more fun?

I wouldn’t recommend the Versys-X to new adventurers. It’s a nearly flawless motorcycle. But if you want the best introduction to ADV riding… you should look to the past.

To the dual-sport. It’s how all of us got here. And it’s still the best way to learn.

But as I walk around this cave I hear echoes. From another path.

This bike isn’t meant for old folks anyway.

Isn’t meant for old folks anyway …. For old folks anyway… old folks … old folks…

And I realize… the Versys-X was never about looking back. It was never about what would have made the perfect starter bike, if I were to start adventure riding all over again.

It’s about looking forward. To myself in 50 years. Having already lived on dirt bikes with narrow seats, and with big adventurers that are too heavy to pick up. When I get old… what will I want then?