Orange is the new.... bike?

It was just another summer Sunday in South Louisiana. Hot and sticky, and not a whole lot going on. Mike and I got together early in the morning to share some miles. I should have left the camera at home, really. After all, you peeps have seen this ride report 1000 times before. We rode to some where, ate something, and rode home. A couple hundred miles of fun. Nothing special to see here.

Now hold on just a cotton-pickin second - one of these is not like the other.



Yeah that’s right, Mike’s got a new motorcycle! Meet the 2015 Kawasaki Versys 1000LT.



Mike has decided to move toward something lighter and a little more upright. We looked together for a while. He shopped quite a few bikes and this one seemed to meet his needs. We both test rode this bike a month or so ago. I found it to be quite a bit more on the touring side of adventure than it looks, if that makes sense. Better wind protection than I expected. The hard saddle bags are a little smaller than the FJR, but plenty big enough. Good power, good clutch, good transmission, good suspension, good ergonomics, etc.

He looks very comfortable on it, for sure.





I only took a few pictures. We were too busy riding and having fun.



I think the burnt orange is very nice – I like it.



I’ll make that 2 thumbs up Mike!



Mike’s got some farkling to do (of course!!!). All things come in good time, I suppose. Even though he is soon to be out of the FJR group, I’m sure he will hang out with us from time to time here.

Besides, he will still be a ride report star!!! I’m sure you will be seeing more of this bike in the future!!

Stay thirsty, my friends….

I like it! I pictured KTM orange which IMHO is rather ugly. How high is the seat?

I deal with chain on dirtbike but do not want that on street.

I was sorry Mike never got comfortable on the FJR but the big Yamaha is not for everyone. The big Versys has gotten good reviews from the magazines and it does look like a fun and useful motorcycle.

If he is more comfortable and happy he will ride more often and ride more safely. That is a Good Thing.

I do agree fully with N4HHE, I do NOT want to maintain a chain on a big road bike. I really do not want to maintain or worry about a chain on a multi-thousand mile road trip.

I hope he is happy with the Kawasaki, happiness is why most of us buy a motorcycle in the first place.

I thought I saw a centerstand in that last photo, if so, it will be MUCH easier to do chain maintenance on trips.

Congrats to him!

Well, I know petey did quite well kicking our asses in the curves on that bike in Arkansas a few years ago...so that bike will do just fine.

wheatonFJR said:

Well, I know petey did quite well kicking our asses in the curves on that bike in Arkansas a few years ago...so that bike will do just fine.

Click to expand...

It's Petey, and he could likely kick our asses on a Harley Bagger, Honda Spree, or a unicycle.

Well now--what do we have here? I have heard the temps in Louisiana have been somewhat bearable thanks to all the rain lately, of course I am not there to share in that little miracle. So Mikey has a new bikey me likey. Nice color and perfect for when we need to locate him when he falls miles back behind us for not not being able to keep up. Seems we all have our own different needs for comfort on road trips, me--well Im going the opposite direction and considering the new Honda F6B deluxe. Ever since they added electronic cruise control, heated grips and a few other luxuries---- the lure of fine "Tour Sporting" is getting futile to resist.

Looking forward to sharing good times with you gents in the distant future.

It's "Umber", not orange!

Nice ride. I love the smaller one for around-town riding, but ended up with a DR650 which I 'tarded.

John - good to hear from ya!! When you coming home?

I'd call the chain drive a negative too. But having coming from chain driven street bikes, I can say that it's not what it used to be. You can get 30,000 miles out of a chain and set of sprockets, if you know what you are doing.

The "umber" orange is a unique color - very nice IMO. The engine cases have a "bronze" tint to them, and with the flat black/gloss black chassis and plastic components, I think the combination is pretty cool.

The seat height is 33 inches - it feels much taller than the "high" setting on the FJR. The footpegs and handlebars are much more neutral than the FJR. I think the wider bars, coupled with the lighter weight and more neutral rake/trail specs appeal to what Mike was fighting with the FJR. Having said that, its only 90 pounds lighter than the FJR, but feels a lot lighter than that.

It has ABS, traction control, 3-motor modes, and a manual adjustment for the windscreen. The rear rack seems very stout, even though they only recommend 6kg of load on it. The rear suspension has a full 1" more travel, front a 1/2" or so more.

It's really apples and oranges. I won't be making any similar changes any time soon, but like a wise man once said... "That's why they make all kinds."

Hi Pants-----I should be home next year sometime, exactly when is to be determined

I'm digging Mike's new bike, and the color too, it's similar as my '09 Wee Strom. Referred to by Suzuki as Candy MAX Orange, note, that's not Candy ASS Orange , Kawasaki calls it Candy BURNT Orange. Haven't ridden the Versys liter, but loved my '09 Vee liter. Had to part with the Vee, just didn't make sense (cents) to have both in the stable, opted to keep the 650. IMHO it's the perfect stablemate to the Feej, without having to tie up a bunch of money in a second bike!

And btw, as for the chain, I get 25K out of my chain and sprokets easy with MINIMAL maint. On trips I just take a can of chain lube, throw her on the center stand every 500 miles or so (tilted more to the so) spray down the chain and roll on. No biggie at all. About half way through the life of the chain I have to adjust it a bit. So what, gives me a chance to show some love to that sweet little machine and rub my hands all over her! uhhh.. time to head to a different forum maybe...

My buddy just bought that same bike last week. He likes it a lot. I bought a Tenere' for my stiff Assed old knees! The Ten has more power than I thought and very comfortable for me. I think the Kawi will be a great performer and the old Ninja engine is a timepiece.

We have been hearing some heat stories from that bike. I guess if they are true, Mike will let us know.

My friend, Tom, has one and he is the king of farkles but he really has not done much to the bike. He like the fact that it has center stand but says the motor throws off way to much heat. And he's pretty quick on that bike; it seems to fit him much better.

Howdy ya'll! Nice bike Mike!

Nice bike, looked seriously at one last year, exceptional value. Chose the big V-strom, liked the V-twin power characteristics and 50lbs less weight. It is a bit taller for me, went out and got a centerstand right away (eh G.). Chains are much improved from my 750 K5 days, 991 mile round trip up north (Nakusp) and the chain adjustment had not changed a bit. 20,000 mile chain life expectancy seems to be the norm on this bike. The quacker was a beautiful bike, much better attention to detail than my Connies.

Hey everybody. I'm still around, busy making that new Versys mine.

John, you'd better start answering my emails. Being half way around the world is no excuse anymore.

As some folks know, I was not one with the fjr. The Versys talked to me from the pages and delivered on the test ride. The tiny windshield actually works well in the hot, a larger one in the works for touring after some research. Sufficient faring for blasting down the slab when necessary. I actually get less buffeting with it than I did on the fjr with the Cee Bailey. And I thought the CB was good. Go figure.

Seat is tallish, but my 32 inch inseam if fine with it. Seat sucks in about an hour, RDL to the rescue.

Otherwise, I'm just doing the routine farkling for some long rides. I just got a few boxes of toys to keep me busy for a few weeks while the seat is being built.

See y'all in the mountains somewhere soon.

Luvtoride, I likey. I hopefully will be able to keep up with you on those W VA roads next time.

I'll post up something in the appropriate area soon.

^^^ Like ^^^

Hi Mike, sorry about the email situation but that gmail account was lost in the shuffle please use other email : [email protected]

glad you have found a bike that fits your needs. As you can imagine I am dreaming of cool mountain air, laughter by a crackling campfire with good riding buddies in the right frame of mind