My first Shake Down on my Versys 650 LT

gmast1100

Gettin old sux
Joined
Dec 26, 2008
Messages
1,554
Age
76
Location
Blairsville, GA
Bike
2016 Kawasaki Versys
STOC #
297
And so the Gold Wing and the Lees-ure Lite camping trailer has found a new home and I immediately called Bug Dr about his Versys 650LT. He said it was still available, come on up. I said I'd be there on Sunday. He texted me back and said it's been cleaned and chain oiled, it's ready

So Carole and I headed up to Russellville, AR to Mike's place. After a very short ride Mike asked if I wanted to go any farther. Nope. I'm ready to head home with it. Gathered all the goodies that came with it and off we went. Spend the night in Ft Smith, AR, as that is a far as I wanted to ride before it got dark.

Once home, I mounted the new PR4's that came with it and while I had the tires off, put the fender extender on. Then it was out to scrub those new PR4's in. WOW. Boy does this thing handle nicely.

I'm thinking about how to get used to the New to Me Versys? About the same time my riding buddy from over in Tolar said that he and a friend of his was going to ride up to Durango, CO and camp out in the mountains. Do you want to go along?? DUH! What an opportune time to test out just how great this little Versys is.

Well now, I remember that I no longer have a camping trailer. Do I really want to go back to a tent? Well, if I want to go along, a tent should be on order. It is. Alps Mountaineering Aires 3 with a Klymit sleeping pad and pillow and a Trekology chair. Orders come in, set up tent to check it out. It's a keeper. I'm ready to go.

July 5th So we are to meet out north of town. Just as I was coming up to the light, the two of them were coming up too. A quick stop to meet Marvie's friend, Roger on a Harley, and we are off. As none of us like freeways, it was decided that we would take Hwy 4 up to I-20 and then just a short ways west to Hwy 193 thru Gordon onto 108 in Mingus and on to Strawn. A right turn on Hwy 16 up to US 180. After a stop for gas, the Harley is doing quite well as is Marvie's Nomad. At Snyder we head north on US 84 and stay on that til we get to our days destination, Las Vegas, NM. Marvie had stayed at this Mom and Pop motel many times and it was a good one.

July 6th Of in search of COFFEE. Mickie D's it is. Out of Las Vegas we went north on Hwy 518. What a beautiful ride up thru there it was. There was lots of TREES. We had a short detour as something was going on south of Taos. But we did find our way onto US 64 north thru Chama and onto US 84 into Pagosa Springs. Marvie had lived there at one time and had a good friend we stopped to see. I knew him as we have met him in Big Bend many times. He was coming to camp with us tomorrow. Lunch over and it's on to Durango. We stopped at Marvie's daughter's place, as she and a friend of hers was going to camp with us, or we were going to camp with them?? We headed out north of Durango to our campsite. YIKES!! Off of US 550 on a dirt road, that's ok, but it was a 180-degree turn down a very steep gravel, big rocks ride. Grit my teeth and made it down. Set up camp and settled in for the night.

July 7th Our plan for today was to do the loop as soon as Doug made it over from Pagosa Springs. Can you believe that he made it down that nasty trail with his Gold Wing, trailer, and fiancé on the back?? He's a great rider. So it was off on US 550 thru the construction just b/4 Silverton. Not sure when they'll get it done as the outside lane has to be rebuilt. We stopped for a break in Ridgeway b/4 heading west on Hwy 62. A left turn on Hwy 145 took us south towards Telluride, but we didn't go in. Too much traffic. Rode to Doroles where we turned on Hwy 184 to cut over to US 160. We stopped for gas/eats in Mancos, waited for the rain to let up, and back to Durango and up to our campsite. The girls had prepared a nice evening meal. Time to sack out. The Versys knew it's way around this loop as I think Bug Dr did it at RockSTOC II. That's when the Versys got 66 MPG.

July 8th Two nights of camping was enough for this trip so we decided to head back towards Granbury. As we didn't want to camp tonite, I looked on Bookings.com and there was a Super 8 in Fort Sumner that had 3 beds. It's booked. So off we went. US 160 over to Pagosa Springs and then US 84 down to Santa Fe. Something about that town that I don't like-TRAFFIC!! Out on I-25 north for a short distance and then south on US 285 to I-40, east to Santa Rosa and south on US 84 we went. The Super 8 was just what we were looking for as it was getting quit HOT!! Found the only place in town to eat and of course it started to pour. We waited til it subsided some and headed back to the motel.

July 9th As we all agreed that we were half way home and wanted to get there the fastest way, Yup, expressway. Down US 84 to I-20 and east. We ran into 2 major storms. But with the heat, we decided not to don any raingear and it felt good. Our exit was Hwy 4, which took us back towards home. Marvie stopped in Lipan and he lives a short ways from there. Our good-byes with him, and Roger and I headed towards Granbury. At the light that we first met at, Roger went straight and I turned on the by-pass to home.

When I rode the Versys into my M/C shed, I looked at the speedo and I had gone exactly 2000.1 miles. What a coincident. The bike was dirty but I was tired and tomorrow is another day.

So what are my impressions of the Versys 650LT? I like it a lot. It's very light and nimble and can be handled quite easily. I did get a little uncomfortable on the seat, which is a Sargents, but then it was hot most of the time. I had no problems keeping up with the Nomad and Harley. For the whole trip I averaged 54.3 MPG. Boy that's a whole lot more than the Wing pulling that trailer. So it's a KEEPER!! I did have a problem with the Klymit sleeping pad. It leaked air twice during the nights. For what I paid for it, that's BAD. Called and CS said I could repair it. I told CS for what I paid for it you will send me a new one. I sent it back and am waiting for new one to come. As for tenting again, I think I can handle it??

So now I'm waiting for some cooler weather to get out again on a good distance ride with all my camping gear attached to the Versys 650 LT!!
 

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Terry Melton
Joined
Mar 1, 2007
Messages
227
Age
77
Location
Fayetteville, GA USA
Bike
2004 ST1300A
STOC #
6774
Nice ride report & glad the 650LT hit all the right buttons. It seems to be a quite capable touring motorcycle. My wife & I just got back from a 7000 mile automobile trip to San Francisco, up the Pacific Coast Highway to Oregon and back to Georgia. On US Highway 50 in the small town of Delta, Utah, we stopped for lunch and I noticed a white 650LT parked out front. Inside I got into a conversation with the owner. He had ridden from Culpepper, VA, to Los Angeles & San Diego to visit his 2 daughters. He was headed back to Virginia and said he had no problem doing 500 mile days -- said he could probably do more, but he kept stopping for photos. He did mention that the seat was not the best, but wasn't causing him any pain.
Thanks for your input on the Versys.
Regards,
Terry
 

Bug Dr.

Extroverted Loner
Joined
Jun 12, 2008
Messages
2,182
Location
Arkansas
Gary, glad you had a good trip. That bike will do whatever you ask of it. It is so easy to tour on due to it's nimbleness and light weight. It spoiled me to lighter bikes and don't think I could go back to a heavy ride again. I've ridden with too many people that can't handle their heavy bikes and it isn't fun to be included in their group. Actually, it's quite scary and spoils the trip.

Hope you get many more miles of smiles from the Versys. There are days that I miss tossing it around on these Ozark roads......effortless.
Mike
 

okckeith

Site Supporter
Joined
Apr 24, 2007
Messages
3,389
Age
60
Location
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Bike
2017 Triumph Trophy
Glad you enjoyed the bike Gary. I know how much Bug liked it. Sounds like a nice trip to try out the bike and camping. I look forward to seeing you down the road.
 
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