Just added a 2008 Kawasaki Versys to the stable. Had been looking around for a nice street bike and found a used one not too far away with about 1800 miles on it. It's not lime green but it's still a "Kaw". Unfortunately I have only added about 100 local miles to the odometer so I can't give any glowing reports yet other than it seems to be a great mid-size adventure/touring bike (650 cc). Kawasaki's claim that the bike is a dual sport is a bit over rated. I have a hard time seeing this bike off the pavement.

Anyway I thought I'd throw up some pics and see if anybody else has a Versys....
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Also got a Joe Rocket jacket, Scorpion helmet, tank bag, tail bag, bike cover, gloves and a whole bunch of smiles per mile
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....and a few months further back I had another lapse of judgement and added to my collection of projects....bought another one and a half 1979 Yamaha RD400F Daytona Specials. When it appeared that I would not have one of the 2.5 Daytonas running anytime soon I decided it was time to get a running street bike, hence the Versys.
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The Versys and Ninja 650R are both great bikes...based on the same engine and frame. I would love to have either. I think that is one of the most fun motors around. I have ridden both and have seriously considered either one. Yeah, it's a little stretch classifying the Versys as a true dual sport, but it will handle fireroads, dirt roads, and such with ease.

 

I always thought the Versys was a nice looking bike, nice acquisition. I like the old Yamahas, too. Do they count as "vintage" if they don't have drum brakes?

 

I debated between the Versys and the KLR650 but since where I live there are not a lot of nice dirt or fire roads and since I have the KLX the Versys won out. It's been 30+ years since I've had a serious street bike so I'm currently in a re-learning mode. The 650 engine has some serious mid range torque which suits my riding style great. I'm looking forward to getting it on some twistys this fall.

As for vintage vs not for the Daytonas.....I would have to say they are vintage classics (my call.... not the judges). The Daytona was the last 2-stroke air cooled twin cylinder street bike Yamaha sold in the US. It was produced for a single year (9179) in a relatively small volume of around 5000 bikes which adds considerably to its rareness.

 

Versys is nice but is that an old Fiat, dark red with the twin headlights, in the background of one picture?

 

Good eye axel.....
it's a 1978 Fiat 131 Station Wagon...slowly turning to rust.
If you scroll back to the 2nd picture in my post on the left hand side you will see the right tail light of a 1978 Fiat X1/9. I have a soft spot in my heart for cheap Italian sports cars and cheap Japanese 2-smoke bikes and not enough room to properly house all of them!

 

dont know about the tires for dirt and i probs would only do dirt road as fear of scratching it.

nice bike

 

I must say that I am jealous. Eventually my KLX will go away, and I plan on the Versys replacing it. I came very close to buying the V when I got my KLX, but since it was my first bike I decided to go with the smaller engine to keep myself out of trouble. I hope you have a blast with that thing and I look forward to some ride reports.

 

I like the old Daytona specials. I have a 1975 RD-350 I'm planning on restoring sitting in my garage. Back in the day those were the s#!%.

 

And those little pocket rockets are absolute screamers. A little off topic, but I have a funny RD story. One day at the motorcycle shop I worked part time at, we had a used RD400. A guy from the local air force base came in and wanted to test ride the bike. The shop owner asked him if he had ridden before, and the guy claimed to have plenty of bike riding experience.

The guy drove out of the parking lot which is located at a fairly busy major intersection. All of sudden he wheelied across one main street, put the front end down in a Dairy Queen parking lot, then wheelied across the other main street, and finally set the front end down and stopped at the gas pumps of a convenience store...all within sight of us. Wow!...that dude can ride, we all exclaimed. After a minute or so, we noticed the guy was still sitting on the bike at the gas pumps and hadn't moved. He was leaning on the handlebar, totally still. The owner got concerned and hopped on a bike and went to check on the guy.

The guy was shaking so badly, and was so scared, he couldn't do anything. The owner waved across the street for one of us to come get the RD. Come to find out, the guy had very little riding experience and had no intention of doing all the wheelies that he performed in that episode. It was a total miracle that he didn't fall down or get hit by traffic. Being that he wasn't hurt, it was freakin' hilarious.

Did I mention that these RD400's will wheelie like crazy?