[dcJohn]

I have a Versys–a Kawisaki dual-sport built off the Ninja 600’s engine–and love the bike. That said, the tendency of dual-sports to be tall can be an issue with beginner riders. At 5’8″ tall, the Versys (and other dual-sports I’ve tried) means I can’t flat-foot the bike at stops. I didn’t have a hard time transitioning to a tall bike after I had a few thousand miles under my belt, but I wouldn’t have wanted to start on the bike.

[dcJohn]

1. Matt’s comments deserve repeating. But just remember, you do want the clutch out, and some power going to the wheels as you make your turn. He goes on to describe this as just enough gas to maintain speed. Actually, you want to be accelerating (slightly) through the turn. (It’s partially a semantic thing–you need to be accelerating to ultimately maintain consistent speed and properly load the suspension.)

2. Don’t, don’t, don’t downshift and then wait for the turn to let out on the clutch. Need for accelerating through the turn aside, of all the places to be surprised that you’re in the wrong gear for your speed, finding out mid-turn is one of the worst.

3. Downshifting is debated with cars because, by some accounts, the wear on the clutch may be ultimately more costly than the wear on the breaks. You don’t have the same question/issue on your bike; it can take the downshifting just fine.

I was surprised in my MSF course that they didn’t teach blipping the throttle up to match RPM’s in the downshifting process. Personally, I think it helps with smoother downshifts.

[dcJohn]

Clay, I agree, I loved how that Ninja looked in black. I’m glad I moved up to the Versys, but it’s not nearly as purty as the Ninja was.

[dcJohn]

I started on a Ninja 250…

And have since moved over to a Versys (650cc dual sport)…

[dcJohn]

Glad you had a great holiday. It was a gorgeous day here in the DC area, 52 degree high and a bright and sunny day. I got a few hours of riding in, headed down through DC and then along some VA backroads.

[dcJohn]

Nah, I just haven’t been willing to commit the time to WoW (I suspect I’d get sucked in, big time). My geek-outs involve booting up the xbox 360 for some fun.

[dcJohn]

It looks like a ton of fun. Happy riding!

[dcJohn]

Matt, I agree, the R 1200 GS is huge. I’d assumed that when I was eventually ready to “move up” from the Versys, that it would be in my future. But after sitting on the R1200GS at the local BMW dealership, I’m a lot less sure of that.

At 5’8″ with a 30″ inseam, the Versys already has me on the balls of my feet. It’s not a big deal on the Versys, and I can even flat foot it at stops if I lean it slightly. The R1200GS has a similar seat height, but its extra weight and width made a big difference when I was sitting on it in the showroom. The F800GS and F650GS are probably more likely follow-ups.

In general, since I’m relatively light (160lbs) and don’t have a passenger (wife is adamant amount not wanting to ride), I don’t know if I’ll ever really need to go in the 1,000+ cc range unless I switch over to cruisers.

Unfortunately, it’s hard to find a <1000 cc bike with the stuff I want, because it seems that manufactures often treat smaller cc bikes in the US market as budget machines. Finding smaller standard and dual-sport bikes with ABS and the higher-end electronics and components is tough.

[dcJohn]

Nice project Munch. I’m curious, any particular type of paint (and primer) you’d recommend?

[dcJohn]

I also really like that bike, along with the slightly less expensive R 1200 R, and (since I’m going down the dual sport path for the time being) the R 1200 GS.

[dcJohn]

That’s a gorgeous bike Munch. Congrats!

[dcJohn]

If someone was really nervous about learning to ride a motorcycle, than I’d say it would be better to take the course while it’s dry–take out the distraction. But otherwise, no big deal.

I think here in MD you get excused from taking and passing the quick-stop portion of the riding test if it’s raining, but I’m not positive about that, and it may vary slightly by state.

[dcJohn]

You know, you really can get both worlds. There’s the Versys–Kawi’s dual-sport adaptation of the Ninja 650. This past year it won Motorcyclist’s Bike of the Year and Motorcycle News’ “All Rounder Machine of the Year.” The stock setup is much more on-road oriented than off-road, but it’s very easy to tweak for more serious offroad riding if you like. (It’s also what I’m riding, so plenty of bias.)

If you lean a bit more toward the off-road than on, there’s also the Suzuki V-strom–also a dual-sport, just leans a bit more toward off-road performance than on-road in comparison to the Versys.

Check out advrider.com for a great discussions of these and other dual-sport options.

[dcJohn]

I just wanted to echo this. I also started on a 250 (Ninja) and quickly moved up to a 650 (Kawasaki Versys) less than two months later. Despite the fast move up to a bigger bike, I don’t at all regret starting on the 250. I gained confidence and pushed my riding skills up much, much faster starting on a smaller bike than I would have on the 650.

[dcJohn]

Good point. In this case, the two of us lugged his bike up a small hill(ish) in the parking lot (not fun), and thinking back I think even with me pushing and him riding it down the hill it was probably significantly less than that. Whatever the mph, it was a moderate jog for me pushing.

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