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New ride
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After a month and 1,500 miles on my Ninja 250, I moved over to a new ride: a new 2008 Kawisaki Versys.
It’s not that I was growing tired of the Ninja. It was the perfect introduction to riding, and there was still plenty of learning I could do on the bike. It’s just that I’m commuting 60 miles a day on fast-moving interstate, and speed was becoming a safety consideration. I was planning to wait until spring to make the move, but a local dealer is going out of business, and I found myself in the rare situation where I could pickup a Versys at dealer cost with no additional fees (plus sell my used Ninja at virtually no loss whatsoever).
I got a chance to put 40 miles on the Versys today, and it was a real pleasure. I’m amazed how nimble the bike is. It’s not the 250 mind you, but it’s not nearly as far off as I expected. I wouldn’t have done anything differently–the Ninja was a terrific introduction to riding–but I think the Versys is going to be a terrific next step.
congrats on the new bike.
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If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…25 hours into new bike ownership, and I dropped the Versys. Ooof. (1500 miles on the Ninja 250 and I didn’t so much as stall, much less drop, that puppy.)
I was peddling backwards into a parking space, talking with my friend, and didn’t notice that I was turning back on a slope. I lost a little traction on my foot, the bike tipped, and slowly it got away from me. Fortunately, it was about as graceful as such a thing can be (or so I tell myself). While I couldn’t stop it from going over, it really was more of a slow lay-down, since I was on top and pushing back till the end.
Total damage: very slight scuff on the edge of the right brake lever and a my right brake pedal bent just a little bit in. I picked the bike right up. Reset it and everything ran just fine. My ego was left to take brunt of the damage
So, Ranette, the added height is really just fine… until I get stupid, distracted, and haven’t gotten into good habits managing it.
As soon as I got home I plunked down the $ for the Kawasaki lowered gel seat. The 2-inch difference it makes should help a great deal with the footing.
Despite that, um, hiccup, it was a joy out on the road. I’m still amazed how well the bike handles, and the extra power is mighty handy. I hopped online and ordered a new brake pedal ($25 total damage for a drop seems like a good deal, and it’s entirely rideable in the meantime.) It’s getting a bit nippier here in DC, so I ordered a larger Givi windscreen, and while I was throwing money at the new baby I also ordered a Zumo 550. Fun, fun, fun.
I’ll try to take some pics and post them over the weekend.
I still haven’t taken out the dSLR to take any proper pics of the Versys–work’s been hectic, and it’s far more tempting to ride than photograph–but here’s a snapshot I took with my phone while out on a lunchtime ride along the Potomac.
Well I’m not about to turn down a Chuck Norris comparison
The Versys seems to be one of those bikes that people either really like the look of… or really don’t. Personally, I love it.There’s a lot of bags available for it, and a lot of folks set them up as sport tourers, like this…
While they’re new to the states, they’ve been popular in Europe for several years, so there’s already lots of good OEM and aftermarket accessories for it. It’s been getting stellar reviews, and Motorcylists named it 2008 motorcycle of the year (http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/features/122_0809_motorcycle_of_the_year/kawasaki_versys.html).
As for the ride, that’d be great.
There’s some gorgeous riding around here, parkway and small twisty backroads all along the Potomac.
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