Kawasaki Versys is here

[TonyBKK]

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BT023 which will replace the BT021 I now have and love. Sounds great, wants!

Hi @nikster, yes, the BT023 really does sound good. I asked about them when I was picking my bike up and Kawa Surratthani looked a bit clueless. So, I hope you get a better response when you go looking for them.

There were big smiles all round when I asked about Pirelli MT60's though. So, that's where my money's going next.

Cheers

P

"bakelite"
Yeah! The Pirelli MT60RS's are flippin awesome tires! (Though to be honest, if most of your riding is on pavement they will not last very long...)

I've got one more track day left in my Diablo Supercorsas then I'll be throwing some MT60's on these wheels.

Hoping to make it to Laos next month where these tires should be just the thing!
Ride On!
Tony

[ThePedroDB]

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Pedro! You da MAN!

Thanks so much for sharing the article with us- great read!

Tony,
you are most welcome! Glad you enjoyed it.


My copy of the mag is getting a bit dog-eared after 6 months of (almost) daily reading - so it's probably a good thing to have an eCopy backup. I also had a bit of fun with the associated web page too. Bonus!!

Yeah! The Pirelli MT60RS's are flippin awesome tires! (Though to be honest, if most of your riding is on pavement they will not last very long...)

I expect the majority of my miles will be pavement - if you can consider sand ridden Samui roads as 'pavement' (LOL!). What sort of miles were you getting from a rear tyre? I'm pretty sure I ran a set of these (or very similar Pirellis..) on my KTM 640 SM in London for 4K miles and they still looked pretty fresh at the end of that time.

Cheers

P

[Jurgen]

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All this talk of customisation and KTMs got me to thinking. How would a V look in KTM SMR livery? Well a bit of 'Photoshopping' later and here we have one possible outcome. It's a bit rough & ready but I think you get the idea.



..and then I thought KTM would definitely have more Orange esp. the frame. So, here's version two. Decide for yourself..



They'd probably have big "KAWA" decals somewhere too but I think I'll stop there.

Enjoy!

P

Got my bike delivered, ten days ago and well in time, by Kawa CNX, but could not photoshop it. It's now out for a white wash. Thank you for giving me an idea of how it will look like. I did not want to change too much from my bellowed ER6

I also ordered scorpions which should be better on roads under demolition ... but I am just back from Laos with Diablo Rosso on the ER6, and did not suffer too much!

[ThePedroDB]

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@jurgen, many congrats on your recent delivery! Absolutely delighted for you!!

Glad my Photoshop efforts were of use to you. I know I promised that I wouldn't mess about with the decals etc. but I couldn't resist. Here's it is - full KTM SMR style with the big lettering decals included;


Please post some pics of your baby when she's had her new paint job. I look forward to seeing them.

Regards

P

[Jurgen]

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@jurgen, many congrats on your recent delivery! Absolutely delighted for you!!

Glad my Photoshop efforts were of use to you. I know I promised that I wouldn't mess about with the decals etc. but I couldn't resist. Here's it is - full KTM SMR style with the big lettering decals included;


Please post some pics of your baby when she's had her new paint job. I look forward to seeing them.

Regards

P

funny look! I did not go so far, should be the original script ... airbrushed. Will post a picture but it takes at least two weeks for the work to be done.

[Jurgen]

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I also talked Nop about the possibility of spraying the bike another color, like yellow. He said many people had asked about green or yellow, and in his opinion a custom after market paint job isn't going to be nearly as good as the factory one. Speaking from experience there as they'd done custom paint jobs for some customers.

Tony

You are certainly right for the colour Tony. I was not afraid to white wash it, just 5 small plastic pieces (probably worth about 5000 THB in case of a failure). I ordered the "Kawa" and "Versys" names to be airbrushed (no black "Versys" name sticker yet) and bought 2 small black "ABS" stickers for 100 THB. I have seen Harley paintings done buy that "artist" and it should be OK.

Delivery for painting is two weeks right now.

[nikster]

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Jürgen please post pictures when you get the white panels!! Thinking about white myself as I really like it on the Ninja and ER6n.

[KZ]

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I'm not a big fan of white for a MC but in this case it works. It also makes the silver radiator shroud blend in. That thing is kind of an eyesore, I wonder how the bike would look without it. Black is supposed to make things smaller and makes it blend in with the engine and mudgard.

I prefer the second look with the big KAWA on the fairing - how about a Paris-Dakar look? An adventure look wouldn't hurt on this bike!

[Hoghead]

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Mine is the red colour and I just painted all the silver plastic bits flat black.
Looks a lot better and not so cheesy.

If there was an easier way to post a pic I would do so, but could not be bothered with Photobucket - GT-Rider needs a better way

[Ian Bungy]

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Hi KZ, Hog Head has Painted His Radiator Shroud, Head Light Surround & the Side Frame Covers Matt Black and What a Difference! Makes the Bike look a lot less Cheap and Blends in Perfect! The Standard Silver paint made it look very Cheap & Nasty

[nikster]

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David maybe time to get some off the shelf forum software? There's lots of free stuff out there... EDIT: Ok looks more like the wild west out there.. maybe not soooo easy

Here's are Hogheads pix - lookin' good!






Now trying ImageShack, Photobucket is too big of a pain.

[KZ]

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Definitely an improvement!

Now the wine red has to go!

[ThePedroDB]

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@Hoghead,
love what you've done to your V! It looks 'the business'. I was thinking similar but was going to try gunmetal grey metallic rather than black - might have to rethink now.

Is your rim tape (I'm assuming it's tape, I guess you could've had it airbrushed...) Kawasaki fitted or did you get it elsewhere? Really suits it. Want!!!

Regards

P

[Hoghead]

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rim tape and I had it done in CM for 200 B per wheel. it is reflective as well

What is so special about slip on mufflers anyway?
From what I have seen of the various offerings there is little science involved and I wonder why they are so expensive. I can see the price if there are significant development costs, however they look like a simple core type muffler, and I do not see how this justifies 20,000 B. Complete with a tuned head pipe, yes but 18 - 20K for a packed can is taking the piss.

[Jurgen]

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Hello Hoghead, wich shop did the work in Chiangmai?

Jurgen

[Hoghead]

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San Kampang, just off the ring road.
Bungy took me there, and I would have to lead you as I do not know the name of the road - perhaps Ian will chime in.

[Jurgen]

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Thank you, once I have my beast, I can ask Ian to show me on a map. For the time being I am waiting for the white parts and the tires.

Cheers

Jurgen

[whitehead]

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The headlight trim works really well, so well I am going to copy!

[KZ]

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My personal favorite would be bright shocking lemon yellow instead of the wine red, that should clash nicely with the black and give it an aggressive, poisonous look.

Next step would be to paint the rear swing arm and foot brackets the same color as the frame - why they're light silver in the first place I don't know.

And then a decent sounding muffler.

[TonyBKK]

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What is so special about slip on mufflers anyway?
From what I have seen of the various offerings there is little science involved and I wonder why they are so expensive. I can see the price if there are significant development costs, however they look like a simple core type muffler, and I do not see how this justifies 20,000 B. Complete with a tuned head pipe, yes but 18 - 20K for a packed can is taking the piss.

The primary purpose of modern motorcycle exhausts is to cut emissions and noise as required by law. More stringent regulations are the reason why bikes are getting HEAVIER year after year.

The Versys is built to pass Thailand's extremely strict emissions requirements. The Thai emissions standards for motorcycles are extremely strict and are in some ways MORE strict than EURO III emission regulations. It's also the reason why Yamaha only sells California CARB spec bikes in Thailand.

The stock exhaust on your Versys weighs about 20 pounds. Not only is it very HEAVY, it also restricts the power of your bike. Most aftermarket manufacturers publish dyno charts showing the increase in power and torque that you can achieve by using their product. Most aftermarket exhausts have been shown to give the EX650 a modest 2-3 Hp gain. Opening up the airbox, adding a fuel injection module and ignition booster are all effective ways of gaining more power as well.

In addition to an increase in power and torque, aftermarket cans cut SIGNIFICANT weight.

Cutting weight improves performance. Most aftermarket cans weigh about 3-5 pounds.


Sure, imported exhausts often do retail for as much as 18-20k Baht here in Thailand thanks to the hefty import duties, but you can buy a decent aftermarket can from abroad for a whole lot less and carry it over in your suitcase. Or if you have it shipped even with the cost of shipping and duty you'll likely still come out well below Thai retail.

There are some Thai brands now available for the EX650 as well that are a lot cheaper than import brands. DBS, Tyga and Tsukigi are a few of the cheap locally manufactured brands I can think of. I also know some shops in Bangkok that are selling knock-off Leo Vince's and Yoshimura pipes but no idea about what kind of quality you might expect from the knock-offs...

Ride On!

Tony