[Red Liner]

Tesseract: In geometry, the tesseract is the four-dimensional analog of the cube; the tesseract is to the cube as the cube is to the square. Just as the surface of the cube consists of six square faces, the hypersurface of the tesseract consists of eight cubical cells. The tesseract is one of the six convex regular 4-polytopes.

The Kawasaki Versys 650 reminds me of a Tesseract. A multi dimensional bike that can do so many things so beautifully, so efficiently, that sometimes you wonder - if you need another one at all?

Time is the fourth dimension, and the fifth dimension is a tesseract, which they travel through by tessering. The characters fold space and time to travel through it—the titular “wrinkle in time,” conceptually similar (though not identical) to wormholes or warp travel

And just like you can "theoretically" time travel using the principles of a tesseract, the Versys 650 does allow you to time travel. From ancient monuments built from eras unknown, way off the beaten path - to modern superstructures we call offices.

We've now completed a good 27,000 kms in the little more than a year we've been together.

This thread will be constructed as my go-to ref check on how I got the bike, the miles we've done, the tantrums we've faced off on, some of my DIY work as we amble along, and ofcourse the most important "maintenance costs". I will also list out key upgrades I've made on the bike post by post so as to have a clear link back to possible discussions. Riding gear that I've purchased will be itemized and reviewed individually - since almost all of them have been used over a 20,000+ km period.



Little wonder then that the global monicker for this bike >>> "All Roads, One Bike" is perfect.

[Red Liner]

Everything began with the Powerdrift review of the Kawasaki Versys 650. And like everyone else, I too watched it a million times. And where I didn't have internet access, I downloaded the video onto my phone and watched it yet again.

It was an obsession, a marked psychosis that had gripped me. I could think of nothing else, could hardly do anything else. Excitement and adrenalin that I had thought were lost in the nether veins of my body resurrected almost magically. Morning's were spent waking up from deep dreams of exploring the jungles of South India and the vast lofty snow peaks of the Himalayas with just two wheels for company.

In order to ensure that this obsession did not turn into some deplorable psychotic mass murder on the street, I put a few calls to all the then Kawasaki dealerships in Bangalore - namely the KTM's today. And only one responded with alarming efficiency. KTM BANASHANKARI. Prakash is a fantastic man to deal with. Paid a 20k booking amount which I think was made specially out for me since I was traveling. Requested fire delivery only when I was back in town 20 days later. Was told the bikes are still in transit and I will get a made to order piece.

With that out of the way, it was down to the nitty gritties of how I was going to manage the saddle height of this behemoth. You see, the bike is about 840 mm tall. So being apprehensive about ride height was not uncalled for.

I needed to measure my inseam. I didn't have a tape with me and heading to the Tailor for this might have raised eye brows amongst other things. So I whipped out my phone, all of 5 inches (the phone), heaved my boys out of the way and proceeded to run it down from my crotch to my feet. I measured about 32 inches. That's 815 mm. Not good. However, I will come back to things I did to solve this ride height issue for me, and I hope that will be useful for others.

Key Specs. Credit for the infographic



Let's take a break from my ramble, and get an idea of what these specs meant for me.

- 170 MM of Ground Clearance makes this like the SUV of the then current crop of ADV tourers available on the market. Even with a compressed weight because of a pillion and bags, this bike should be able to tackle anything thrown at it if in the hands of the right guy.

- 216 kg of wet weight. Well less said the better. I weigh about 70 kgs. A more detailed exposition awaits below.

- 21 litre fuel tank. Ah, so that's where most of the weight is hiding. That's a humongous tourer style fuel tank. Couple that with an average of say 25 kmpl at a lazy 130 kmph, we're talking upwards of a 400 km tank range. Sweet.

- Torque of 64 nm @ 7000 rpm. Well, it is quite a free revving motor, taken from the ninja 650 sibling but tuned for a little more lower end torque. So it's not exactly Royal Enfield torque, you've got to keep the engine boiling on hairpins, or switch a gear down.

- Beautiful 300mm twin petal discs upfront, and a single disc set up in the rear. Just basic twin channel ABS part of the package (which at the time of launch was a pretty big deal, because as we all know the Ninja 650 came with none.). Great feedback from the front, the rear is quite archaically wooden, best used for trail braking when climbing down the mountains.

- Beautiful telescopic fully adjustable separate function forks up front that actually work. And a fantastic rear suspension adjustable for preload that just makes the ride so sublime! I have set the rear up to almost the softest level, because of my weight (or the non existence of it), thereby enjoying a carpet ride wherever I go. A bit of luggage, and I usually tighten up the rear, ensuring the chain also loosens up accordingly to make way for the increased weight the bike has to haul.

The bike was delivered to me with a one day delay. Prakash picked every one of my calls and replied to every message of mine. I had briefly considered going to another dealership and just buying existing stock but I liked this dealer and decided to wait. Prakash mentioned something about the bike having headed to Chennai in the trailer box, and was coming to Bangalore the next day. Or some cock and bull of similar sorts. The next day was a good day by the Indian almanac anyway, so I waited the extra day for delivery.

Headed to the dealership on the 4th of may, and put a leg across the bike, and yes I could kind of flat foot it. Success with the Nike Barefoots. Should do well with riding boots.

As I got on the bike at the parking lot of the dealership, I almost fell. The initial weight (216 kgs wet) knocked me off quite literally. This thing is heavy. I couldn't move it. Things are far better now. Learnt to leverage the bike and I must say I have gotten used to the weight even at stand still. But you've got to prepare yourself before the ole heave ho!

A friend accompanied me for the delivery and it was the two of us back home in prime time traffic. In all the excitement, I neither clicked any pictures nor did I remember to check and remember the number of kms on the ODO. I don't think it was over 5 anyway.

First ride was from the dealership in Banashankari to Indiranagar. With a pillion. In the afternoon. Hadn't had lunch and haven't ridden a motorcycle day in and day out for about 4 years or so.



Pretty and tall in high heels don't you think. Reminds me of the poster from Pretty Woman. Graaarrrr. Sassy!

Needless to say I slept a full 24 hours after parking the bike at home. It was mayhem on the streets of Bangalore that day. I could swear everyone was out to get me. Mostly the gravel.

[Red Liner]

Ofcourse I didn't sleep 24 hours, I had to get some motorcycling gear organized.

First was my Helmet. I decided to go with the tried and tested HJC CL 17, and wonder of wonders it was available in a color I liked. Unfortunately, it was a size too big for my head, but in light of the fact that I just couldn't wait any more to shop for lids, I decided to just get it and stuff my head around a balaclava to get the extra flab to fit my noggin. Was not the best idea, and probably will not attempt this again.

The HJC Cl 17 cost me INR 9,000. Without Pin lock.



Advanced air channeling and all that crap. Since I didn't stick to my size (which is an XS so I traded up two sizes larger!), there was a LOT of air channeled in alright.



Nice sober matte colors all around. I liked the black/olive green as well as the HJC insignia. Oh well.



The second thing I needed were a pair of gloves. These had to be cheap, comfortable, but safe - more international cred, the better. Urban Nomad, my mate around here on the forum alerted us to the fact that Royal Enfield had infact commissioned Revit to make a bunch of their gloves for the Indian market for the Himalayan Launch. It was a dead on copy of the Revit Sand Pro gloves. And wonder of wonders, RE was retailing them for INR 4,500 whilst the same thing was retailing for close to INR 6,000 on Revzilla. Jackpot.

The RE sales guy tried to get me to buy a Large, but I knew that gloves expand as you wear them, and its best to go for an initially tighter size much like helmets. So medium it was.



The Rev'it stamp.



These gloves were designed primarily for offroading, and hence being light, easy to wear, and flexibility were given top priorities. Certainly did not fail in any of these respects.



From Rev'it

The REVIT Sand Pro Gloves are the perfect mix of dirtbike breathability and on-road protection. Engineered to provide maximum dexterity, airflow and protection, the Sand Pro Gloves have a goatskin and Pittards WR100X Hairsheep Diamond palm for durability and grip, Air stretch mesh for hot weather comfort and a ventilated 3D injected flex knuckle and palm slider for impact protection. Providing excellent breathability, ergonomics and impact protection, the Sand Pro gloves are ideal for dual-sport adventures.

In hindsight, I should have gotten the full black, because the gloves are now...well...anything but white.

I also needed a pair of Boots. I decided I wanted motorcross/adv style boots but with a bit more flexibility to walk around in. I wanted all the protection right from the shin down to the toes, as well as water proofing. Thick soles would help me flatfoot the bike in uneven terrain.

I decided on the TCX Track Evo WP boots, which I picked up from High Note Performance Delhi for a princely sum of INR 18,000

The Boots


Next to a coca cola bottle for sizing


On my feet


The boots took about 2 weeks to break in completely. I had to spend a week walking around with them at home and doing different kinds of exercises in them just to break them in and get them flexible enough so I could at least use the shift lever on the bike.

Now they're as comfy as my nike barefoots.

From TCX:

The TCX Track EVO WP is a lightweight and flexible all-around adventure touring boot. The redesigned sole with aggressive tread pattern offers superior grip on any terrain.

Features:

Suede leather and microfiber upper construction
Waterproof lining
Polyurethane shin plate, shift pad and ankle inserts
3 adjustable polyurethane buckles
CE certified

[Red Liner]

My first ride was slated for the 3rd day of having brought Tesseract home. I planned a short ride down the beautiful highway to Mulbagal, to visit the ancient Kurudumale Ganesha Temple, as well as the adjoining Someshwara Temple down the road.

I love historic old temples and roads to both these temples were just fantastic in the early morning. This trip was about 200 kms up and down, and got me adjusted to my new helmet, gloves, as well as the bike.

From Wiki:

Kurudumale, a place in the Mulbagal taluk, Kolar district of Karnataka state, India. It is located about 10 km from the mulubagal town, northerly. The giant, thirteen and a half foot sculpture of kurudumale Ganesha and the Someshwara temple of lord Shiva attract thousands of visitors from the surrounding states. This place was believed to be the place where Devas would descend from the heavens for recreation on earth.

It is said that the Ganesha statue was being worshipped in an open field, until Krishnadevaraya built a temple around it. It's too huge to imagine (14 ft in all), bigger than the Dodda Ganesha of Basavanagudi.

The Kurudumale temple has a beautiful stone sculpture of Mahaganapathy standing over 12 foot tall, glaring down at you in mock love I suppose. The someshwara temple has beautiful intricate carvings of Lord Shiva and his consort all along the inner temple walls.

The Ganesha temple is considered to be very powerful. Many believers start new jobs or new work only after taking the blessing of Lord Ganesha.

As expected, its the Ganesha temple which gets maximum footfalls, so the priest at the Shiva temple was pleasantly surprised to see me make the trip inside the temple to spend some quality time.

The next day, I had a ride planned with a few folks from the Versys Bangalore Riders group, who were riding to Channpatna for breakfast, which was about 200 kms down. Was a joint ride with a few harleys.

Sumptuous morning breakfast


Some of the guys


Our gear had its own table.


Can you find which one Tesseract is? Neither can I.



We wrapped at about 8 and I was thinking of heading to ooty, but a fellow biker asked me if I would rather join a follow on ride at 11 am the same day to pennakonda. That was another 250km.

Enroute to meeting them, the bike sputtered and stalled and I quickly clutched and got off the highway. Luckily happened just after a speed bump, so traffic had slowed on the irrefutable my'sore (pun intended!) highway. Checked battery terminals and found the negative loose. Tightened and we get going. Of course i panicked first.

This was a more hooligan gang of a bonnie, a speed triple, two versys 650's, a zx10R, and a Triumph Rocket. Hell I was trying to get through my running in, and it was terrifying to try and keep up with these hellcats.



It was also extremely hot that day. Remember we're in Early May of 2016, and the heat was beginning to make its mark on all of us. Marginally eased the throttle to 5 and 6k rpm to settle the engine in on the way back. Had close to 800k on the odo now. Time for the First Service.

[Red Liner]

First service was scheduled, and it was pretty routine. Change of engine oil, oil filter, chain adjustment, lubing etc. I went back to KTM Banashankari to get my first service done, even though it was the other end of town for me from Indiranagar. I would soon switch allegiance to the Indiranagar KTM service center.







And before anyone screams "Wolf!", this bill is from May 2016, well during the days Bajaj was handling Kawasaki's service. And what's interesting is this amount is very similar to what Audioholic got his Ninja 300 serviced recently for at the Kawasaki ASC just a week back. So are we back to the good times yet? Sure hope so.

[Red Liner]

After the 1st service, I decided to put in a few more quick rides to get to the bike a little more.

Ride 1 was to Salem to check on some ancestral property our family owns there.

At Saravana Bhavan near Krishnagiri


Morning Cuppa!


Somewhere along the highway. Was raining a fair bit.




With most of my gear on. I think the boot's hadn't arrived yet, or I was having trouble breaking them in at the point.


Ride 2 was on the Hassan Highway - I just did a random circuit and came back.



The boots were a bit of torture still, so I had to find a place to get them off my aching feet.










Ride 3 was towards Nandi Hills, where I also tried my first hand at dual sporting on this bike. Good, but not funny. The weight with those road slicks were not meant for dual sporting at all.

[Red Liner]

The Good

+ Fantastic Ergos
The ergonomics are absolutely spot on. I eventually installed an SW Motech offroad peg kit which included the ability to lower the footpegs by 15mm. I also installed 2 inch bar risers. Feels like I'm sitting on an easy chair on the roads now. The views from the bike are very confidence inspiring in traffic, you're eye to eye with most SUV's, allowing you to get a birds eye view of the road ahead. Standing up like a cow boy in the Wild West - that's a reality now.

+Great protection from the elements
The windshield is manually adjustable, and for a person of my height at 5.9 feet offers fantastic protection from the Rain as well as the Wind. I have further adjusted the stock windshield and raised it further up beyond the stock notch to give me zero buffetting, to the point that I have to ride with the visor open to get some ventilation through. The fairing, although quite large, also offers fabulous protection from the wind blast at speeds over 120 KMPH.

+ Tractable engine
Reasonably tractable engine. Torque is not out of the world Bonneville, but is there when you need it, provided you know how the gearing is set up, and if you can play the clutch a little.

+ Power on tap
The 650 CC parallel twin has great power deep down the rev range, twist the throttle a bit and off you go into the horizon. There have been plenty of times I didnt really need to go down a gear, just twisting the throttle allowed me to overtake a bunch of vehicles ahead of me.

+ 21 litre tank to disappear
Massive fuel tank, and with a throttle input of 130 KPH @ about 6,000 RPM, the bike is just cruising very lazily and the throttle isnt even 1/4th open. I have seen mileage figures of 27-28 KMPL on such rides giving me a fantabulous tank range of 450+ kms.

+ Oodles of Suspension
Won't complain about Indian roads any more. The suspension is that good.
The suspension set up on soft is beautiful. Stand up, and everything just disappears under your feet. I love standing up on this bike on bad terrain, the ergo's have been set up specifically for that (refer above). On mildly bad highways, sitting and riding is not an issue at all.

The Bad

- Dunlop tyres
I would have preferred the metz to corner something this tall or smart dual purpose tyres for trail riding right from the factory.

- 17 Inch Wheels
A 17 inch front wheel is not fun riding over stones and fire trails standing on the bike. A 19 inch front with a 17 inch rear would have made for a much better set up. What's even worse is finding a 110 or 120 17 inch dual purpose tyre. Just not available anywhere. What's available induces an instant nose bleed.

- Weight
I wish this was about 170 kgs max. At 200+ kilos, the bike is fairly heavy. A tip over and there is absolutely no chance for you to keep the bike up. Let go and hit the evacuate button!

- Bad stock lighting
Bad is an understatement. Its pathetic. Aux lights are absolutely mandatory to even ride around your parking lot with the stock lighting. My trickdates are coming up.

- No slipper clutch/clutch assist
A sporty tourer like this absolutely needs a slip assist clutch to bang down the gear box when you're raiding the canyons. Its just one other thing to not worry about (locking the rear) when you're aggressively enjoying yourself.

- you can buy any color as long as it's black
I love the Versys in White and would have been fabulous to ride around in. The black is all stealth and everything, but the White remains an eternal favorite. No, I'm not into stickering or wrapping, will stick to the stock stealth set up.

More tour updates coming up.

[Red Liner]

A mate (Nasir Kaka) and I, we both got our Versys 650's and we decided, lets try and explore Thally and the adjoining areas this week-end.

We weren't allowed entry through the forest checkpost that leads down towards Thally or Denkanikottai. Can't remember now, considering this ride was a year or more ago. It was just last week, that I did the whole Thally-Denkanikottai-Panchpalli Dam - Bettamugilalam-Bangalore, that I managed to exit out via this checkpost. And that trip absolutely deserves its own post.

So we decided to ride around near Anchetty and did some photo ops with the bike.





















The Devil and His Details.

[mobike008]

Note from Mod : Thread moved from Assembly Line to Superbike & Import Section. Thanks for sharing!!!

[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Note from Mod : Thread moved from Assembly Line to Superbike & Import Section. Thanks for sharing!!!

Thanks Avi. Please change thread title to

Tesseract: Going further with the Kawasaki Versys 650

Many thanks ahead

[nasirkaka]

Wow!! Very well and passionately written experience with Versys 650 with each and every detail minutely captured. Perfectly describes the nature and capabilities of the mighty Versys 650. I am sure this review is going increase the versys sale by at-least a few numbers.

[Red Liner]

When your motorcycle takes you to places like this...its all good.

[Red Liner]

My first over 1000 km ride was coming up, and it was to Courtallam deep at the borders of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.



About 1,180 Kms just to & fro, but I had lots to explore in the vicinity of the Courtallam - Kerala border area as well.

Somewhere after I had turned off from Madurai towards Rajapalayam-Courtallam. Lovely 2 lane road, but terrible bus traffic.







I had picked up the SW Motech Waterproof 350 Drybag (35 litre). Packed in what I needed, and it came with adjustable straps that could be mounted at different tie down points around the motorcycle.

I was spending a week-end and more there. I decided to explore the surroundings. The following snaps were from a ride up towards Achankovil.







The temple was awe inspiringly old and beautiful. And the roads leading up there were fantastic. Verdant jungles, crisp cool morning air, and plenty of water all around. Was instructed by the forest guards NOT to halt in the jungle and to keep moving on.

Also visited this pristine dam.


The ride back was uneventful, save for the fact that I was very tired and needed a quick nap along the highway.



The bike was fantastic all along this trip. 500 kms one way was effortlessly munched up and I wasn't tired at all, save for the stress of negotiating town traffic in interior TN. Good times...

[Red Liner]

Hand Guards

I wanted hand guards to complete the big adv bike look, as well as protect the levers for tip overs. Also additionally will protect my fingers from brushing other vehicles along the road, as well as from full frontal collision (heard of a mate's friend who had his fingers crushed from a full frontal impact sans hand guards).

So I picked up these chinese replica's of Acerbis - and they're mighty fine.





Pictures after having installed them. I was on a ride to Madanapalle, a town on the border of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.









SW Motech Offroad Footpegs

I got these because I was unable to fit my TCX boots on the OEM footpegs, which was small and spindly. I wanted pegs which were wider, offered more support to stand on, and also had the option of removing the rubber cap to expose serration during offroad times.



These pegs also allow for a drop in the actual peg location itself by 15mm from stock. Well worth the effort.

Fantastic reviews from Webbikeworld.com, my go to resource for many such things.

Lastly, had ordered a side stand enlarger from Aliexpress. The existing side stand foot was terribly small in terms of floor area and the bike would just sink into the sand at most places.



Had to use a bit of loctite on the nuts holding it together, or else the whole thing just comes off. I keep checking on it now and then, the loctite does wear off. A mate's extender just flew off his bike ahead of me on a ride, was funny coz I thought it was a rat or something that was running from under his bike whilst on the move.

[VW2010]

Nice Thread Redliner. Great detail and lots of images. I am sure you are having fun with the 650.