Kawasaki Versys 650

The Kawasaki Versys 650 has got the traditional upright and tall stance of a typical adventure tourer motorcycle. However, in its own style, the Versys 650 adds in a dash of modernity, which makes it look very appealing and modern, and much sportier than other middleweight adventure tourers with its sleek design to credit for.

The front profile of the Kawasaki Versys 650 gets a dual headlamp treatment, which look angular and are housed in rakish front semi-fairing that gets a lot cuts and creases as well as split and sporty looking chin at its bottom. To aid in a fair share of aerodynamics, this rakish front semi-fairing of the Kawasaki Versys 650 is assisted by a tall and transparent windscreen at the top, which is fully adjustable.

On moving sideways, the Kawasaki Versys 650 looks beefier yet sleek, thanks to the large fuel tank, which flows and combines well with the semi-fairing at the front, allowing smooth and well contoured knee recesses that ends up with broad tank extensions. The engine, which here is finished in an all-black theme, is stacked up well between the fuel tank as well as the large engine cowl at the bottom. Like in other 650cc Kawasaki motorcycles, the Versys 650 too gets an underbelly exhaust pipe.

The tail piece of the Kawasaki Versys 650 looks functional, thanks to the long pillion grab rails placed over the rear side body panels, which also double up as luggage mounts. The motorcycle gets split seats and a petite LED tail lamp at the back, and the rear bottom of the tail piece gets a long rear fender mounted on it.

While other 650cc Kawasakis do now come with the same funky looking TFT instrument console, the Kawasaki Versys 650 continues to stick with a dated part-digital instrument console from the previous generation Ninja 650. This unit is a combination of an analog tachometer and a split-themed LCD panel, which shows data of speedometer, odometer, trip meters, fuel gauge and clock. The tall and wide handlebar of the Kawasaki Versys 650, with bar end weights and aluminium levers, translates into a very comfortable riding posture for all kinds of riders.

Keeping in mind the touring image of the motorcycle, the overall suspension of the Kawasaki Versys 650 – upside down hydraulic telescopic forks at the front and monoshock at the back – have been tuned on a softer side. The comfortable ergonomics of the motorcycle only further assist the motorcycle and make it less intimidating to ride. The Kawasaki Versys 650 has been equipped with the same set of dual petal disc brakes at the front and a single petal disc brake at the rear as the other two 650cc Kawasakis.

The Kawasaki Versys 650 gets a detuned version of the four-stroke, inline twin, liquid-cooled, fuel-injected, 649cc engine of the Z650 and Ninja 650. While it is paired to the same 6-speed gearbox as the other two, here in the Versys 650, this engine makes 69.8 PS of maximum power and 64 Nm of maximum torque. 

This is one aspect where the Kawasaki Versys 650 misses out on a sort of golden opportunity to edge ahead of its rivals. Apart from a proper dual-functional ABS, the Kawasaki Versys 650 feels quite basic as it does not get any other modern-day electronic riding aid.

With its subtle personality, the Kawasaki Versys 650 appeals as a very affordable middleweight adventure tourer. While the motorcycle misses out on a lot of modern-day features crucial for a premium motorcycle of this sort, it still has a lot of character lying in its mechanical aspects, including its smooth and refined engine as well as finely balanced ride and handling characteristics.