Hee Hee--Bought a Versys!
Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2009 10:39 am
Well, after leaping onto Brackstone's thread (Rider Education) and off again, I went to go test ride a 2008 Kawi Versys. Found out about this bike at the Cleveland MC show last weekend. Sitting on the stock bike, I couldn't even tippy-toe it--it was more like ballet-toeing it. One of the Kawi guys came up to me, and both I and my husband were expressing our disappointment that it had such a high seat. The guy told us he had this bike, had bought the custom gel seat for it, which lowered it more than an inch, and that the suspension could be lowered still, said it was in his shop at the moment. He wasn't any taller than me. I took his card and wandered off, only later reading it and seeing that it was a Columbus dealership, not Cleveland! Yay! I could go sit on his bike and see how it felt. Turns out that it is not just spending the winter at the store--it is for sale!!
It has 1100 miles on it, comes with the Versys hard saddlebags, the lower gel seat, and the windshield extender/adapter. Because of all these extras, they wouldn't list it less than the original MSRP of $6,900. Since it was ridden by one of the owners, it is still a demo bike and never been titled, hence the full warranty applies. And they would let me test ride it!!
They lowered the rear suspension a bit, and while I still toe the bike, I can shift one foot flat pretty easily. There is a potential to get a shorter spring/coil for it, or to lower the forks in front. But anyway, I signed for full, unmitigated responsibility for myself and said bike, and rode away . . .
It was wonderful. It was light, responsive, braked readily, accelerated happily. Took me a few minutes to settle into it, but then I realized that I didn't want to return it.
My husband has real concerns about the height, so if thicker-soled boots don't do the trick, I may look into the other options. But once I got the hang of it, it didn't seem like a big deal to me. I can even back it up while straddling it. In fact, I can imagine putting the suspension up a notch or two, eventually. Especially if there is a full load on the back.
They asked if I wanted to ride it home. But with 2 inches of ice on our street:shock:, we told them we'd wait. So they can do their final check stuff, and we can go clean out the garage.
Woo Hoo!
It has 1100 miles on it, comes with the Versys hard saddlebags, the lower gel seat, and the windshield extender/adapter. Because of all these extras, they wouldn't list it less than the original MSRP of $6,900. Since it was ridden by one of the owners, it is still a demo bike and never been titled, hence the full warranty applies. And they would let me test ride it!!
They lowered the rear suspension a bit, and while I still toe the bike, I can shift one foot flat pretty easily. There is a potential to get a shorter spring/coil for it, or to lower the forks in front. But anyway, I signed for full, unmitigated responsibility for myself and said bike, and rode away . . .
It was wonderful. It was light, responsive, braked readily, accelerated happily. Took me a few minutes to settle into it, but then I realized that I didn't want to return it.
My husband has real concerns about the height, so if thicker-soled boots don't do the trick, I may look into the other options. But once I got the hang of it, it didn't seem like a big deal to me. I can even back it up while straddling it. In fact, I can imagine putting the suspension up a notch or two, eventually. Especially if there is a full load on the back.
They asked if I wanted to ride it home. But with 2 inches of ice on our street:shock:, we told them we'd wait. So they can do their final check stuff, and we can go clean out the garage.
Woo Hoo!
