Love the Triumph brand, owned a Speed Triple and currently have a Tiger 800XC SE but I've found the Tiger just not that exciting to ride and a little top heavy. Have test ridden loads of bikes now including the Tiger Explorer (too big and un-sporty) Tiger 1050 sport (Slightly old hat and didn't like the riding position) BMW 1200GS (nice but bloody expensive and the gearbox is still agricultural) Yamaha Tracer MT09 (great value, good fun but not a looker and no hard panniers) Up to now I have ignored the Kawasaki Versys 1000 as it was so ugly but today I took out the new face-lift 2015 model and for a big bloke like me it fitted like a glove, so comfortable and was surprisingly quick..... proper quick! The GT model comes with all the panniers, top box and touring bits. The other plus point for me is the Kwaka dealer is 5 mins up the road from me. Will probably still hang around the forum as you are such nice people lol. The mrs still has her Street Triple which is a great machine.
rich you been around here for a while, stay by association and we'll wait for the kwaka kudos komments
I can't say I blame you. It's been discussed on here enough times that Triumph are being left behind. You've got to get the bike that suit's you and your needs. The new Vesys looks so much better than the old one,good price as well. Pic's and report will be expected
Don't you dare abandon us matey, all that knowledge and experience is well needed for the new and experienced rider. Lean on your lass's Trumpet whilst yer type. Great you have found a bike that excites you. I went to see some Can Am Spyders by accident as a mate was trading his America (hip problem) in Darlington. From "Rubbish" to "Blimey" in the space of minutes.
A mate of mine has just bought a 14 plate Honda crosstourer 1200 - and I went for a ride on it the other day , got to admit - it was very impressive . I've not ridden any of the above other than the BMW , which was okay but this Honda was so much better . The handling was the best thing about it , felt very stable & planted , the power delivery was smooth & turbine like . There were lots of complicated controls that I didn't have a chance to play with , but the luggage was impressive & overall it felt like a bike I would probably choose to cross Russia on , very good workhorse
The Honda Crosstourer....... Dodge can I ask if you ride a cruiser? As for owning a Crosstourer its a no brainer, its rubbish. I have been on two of them, plus the Crossrunner, in all cases the engines are smooth with reasonable power deliveries. Thats the end of the good points, the Crossrunner is incredibly uncomfortable, only lasted 10 miles on the thing. The Crosstourer is only slightly more comfortable but the handling is dire on both models with tramline tracking, on smooth roads its vague and the front end moves on hitting any inperfections in the surface, bad skipping of the front end on rough bends, a poor ride quality and seats that Ducati would be proud of, and as for the luggage they are something a hairdresser would use to carry their kit around, plastic with zipper fabric extender now that is secure for you. No its a dire bike, avoid like the plague. If my TEX is 100% the Crosstourer is 50% Crossrunner 30% and the Beamer GS 75%.
For once I'm almost in agreement with you Col I had a go on both the Crosstourer and Crossrunner when my bike was in for a service. I really liked the engines and the power delivery but the throttle (ride by wire?) was less than reassuring. I also found them desperately uncomfortable. I didn't have a chance to look at the luggage. I wouldn't go as far to say they were rubbish but they certainly wouldn't tempt me to part with any money no matter what deal they were offering.
don't know anything about the crosstourer other than it's very tall. I do know a bit about crossrunners, which version are you all talking about? The mk1 grafted an upright top half riding position onto the standard VFR800 bottom half. Not surprisingly a lot of riders had trouble adapting to that strange mixture. The 2013 model corrected this, the bike looked pretty much the same, but the footpeg positions were moved forward (a lot) and down (a little). This suited most riders much better, but the model was now reputed to be uncomfortable and the 2013 model never caught on. Now we have the mk2 model which does look very different from the mk1. I'm guessing they've kept the footpegs in a similar position to the 2013 model. Interested to hear which versions you found uncomfortable. please excuse the thread hi-jack, but it is (sort of) related! a question for you Richard, have you looked at the new Tiger800's, the XRX and XCX ? They look similar to the 2014 models, but incorporate a lot of changes.
Thanks for the reply's I have signed on the dotted line and the Tiger goes in a couple of weeks. Thought the £7500 p/ex was quite good considering the new model is out and I had clocked 8000 miles. Roadtrip in answer no I did not even test the new Tiger 800 as I found the power a bit lacking and Triumph have not given the new model any more go. The bike I almost went for was the Yamaha Tracer, well priced, fun, but looks wise not so impressive and no hard luggage. I would say the Z1000 engine in this bike reminded me a little of my old 1200 bandit, loads of power from low down but probably 30% more powerful. Unlike the Tiger the Versys carries it's weight much lower, yes its a heavier bike at 250 kgs but I found it much easier on the slow maneuvers and when on the move it handled way better than I expected.
I've no idea. It was the middle of last year and I don't know if they were old/new/demo stock. I simply didn't like them. A pity as they looked good, went well but I didn't get on with the throttle or the ergonomics.
Fair play on the P/X price. Looking at the new bike sales Kawasaki are really struggling selling bikes at the moment. I hope you don't have any issues with the bike as from my own experience Kawasaki are the worst bike company for after sales support ever, and due to the issues I had with the local dealers and Kawasaki UK I will never have another one. I sure you won't have the problems with the bike that I had and you won't have another Multistrada repeat again. Cheers Steve
I went for a look out of curiosity,looks good. It's a lot of bike for the money and you won't have to spend a lot on extras as it's all there. I'm sure you'll have loads of fun on it.
my recent experience with Kawasaki was all good - there were no significant customer support matters to follow up, but you can't blame Kawasaki for that! my recent experience with Yamaha was very bad - customer support seriously in denial and unhelpful. good luck with the Kwak Richard, looks a good bike.
That new Versys looks a very nice bike. I'm particularly attracted to the 650 v-twin as that sounds light, cheap and great fun to ride.
each to their own lol - I have toured Europe on a gixxer thou, a fireblade & a zx9r though , luggage & pillion on the latter two , so most bikes are comfortable for me unless its a Laverda
Picked her up today and clocked up 100 miles, so much nicer to ride than the Tiger on the road. Still awaiting the GT kit which is panniers, top box, hand guards, power socket, gear indicator and engine protectors.
WOW ! that's a nice looking bike. I was in a Kawasaki dealers last week (Wheels Peterborough) we were looking at the new Z1000, I can't believe that bike has changed from the lovely looking legendary thing that it was, into the ugly mess it is now...I didn't spot a Versys in the showroom though, but I wasn't really looking if you know what I mean ? I was looking for a new lid, not a bike. Hope you enjoy your new bike Richard, it looks like a fun bike, and love the colour.