[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Riding Gear updates

As mentioned in a previous post, riding gear needed a refresh. After receiving the Rynox Storm Evo Noctex pants - I was impressed by the improved quality on offer from Rynox and went ahead and ordered the jacket too. Noctex works as advertised and lights up like a Christmas tree when direct light falls on it! Might be a bit more attention-grabbing than I had bargained for - but can't deny the safety aspect of it at night. And during the day - it certainly suits the Versys colour scheme!

The horrible condition of the old Dainese gear! Picking white fabric was one of the worst decisions! Will use this for rough use inside the city, going forward -





Package from Rynox -



Noctex in action! Looks dark grey in the morning with not much hint that it is a reflective material.




And lights up like a Christmas tree when direct light falls on it, like from a camera flash -



Also finally got Pinlock 70 for the helmet. (MT Revenge with MT-V12 visor). Pretty straightforward installation, but will need to test it out during the monsoons. Has proven to be effective at traffic signals though - where I couldn't see a thing due to fog on the lens, especially in the recent past with the masks on!







The wife, however, was using her HJC CS14 as a daily and need a complete replacement. After checking a couple of shops for the options available, she finally settled for the MT Thunder 3 SV in size S (HJC was M).





Good quality fabric as compared to my old Revenge. Nice!



Temporarily concludes the riding gear revamp for now. Sum total of expenses on riding gear so far, with the items in red being taken out of service -



Tyre Change -

Took the bike for a city commutes in mid-Jan and realised one fine day that the rear tyres were shot! Strangely - I had not been careless or tried to extract the maximum mileage from the tyre. We (BHPians neil.jericho, ebmrajesh and KarthikK) had checked the tyre condition during the previous ride in Coonoor and concluded that the tyres were good for at least another 5k kms! Looks to have deteriorated and squared off very soon afterwards.

15k kms of life from the Metzeler Roadtec01s! Was 19.4k when I bought them in 2018, and the same has been selling at prices close to 35k recently!




Front tyre condition, with almost 50% life left and have been giving excellent grip, so I decided to go ahead with a replacement of the rear tyres alone. The only reasonable choice available currently in the stock size is from Vredestein, but I'm convinced these shouldn't be much of a mismatch! Yep.

Got a second opinion from the expert guys at Motonerdz too. The front will run easily, at least till the next service. Just asked me to watch out for any signs of aggravated wear towards the right side as that will wear out faster due to road banking. Either way - will take it a notch safer on this set just to be sure - till both get replaced as a pair during the next change.



With the Vredestein Centauro ST 160/60-17 installed -





Rain channels seem deeper than I remember of the stock Dunlops and later Metzeler Roadtec01s.



The compound seems to be softer towards the sides, going by fingernail test.



Brake pad change -

Got the front brake pads changed with EBC FA142HH Double H Sintered pads -



The rear has a good amount of life left, at least enough to make it for the next service.



Mini Service -

The below tasks were performed at MotoNerdz, Trivandrum -

• Engine Oil had run only 3k kms. Was checked and found to be quite good. Postponed till the next service.
• Clutch cable was thoroughly lubed.
• Air Filter was found to be in decent condition, so just cleaned for now. To be replaced during the next service -

[Rocketscience]

₹750 for air filter cleaning seems to be on really higher side for what I'am assuming is a 3rd party garage, rest nice to know Vredestein is providing good quality and value for money tyres, looking forward to your feedback on them.

[krishnaprasadgg]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Riding Gear updates

Noctex in action! Looks dark grey in the morning with not much hint that it is a reflective material.

And lights up like a Christmas tree when direct light falls on it, like from a camera flash -

That is quite something! It is certainly peace of mind knowing that the rider will be very visible to other motorists. But like you said, I'm a bit curious as to why so much space is used up with the material. How about the rear area of the jacket? Can you post a pic of that too?

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Front tyre condition, with almost 50% life left and have been giving excellent grip, so I decided to go ahead with a replacement of the rear tyres alone. The only reasonable choice available currently in the stock size is from Vredestein, but I'm convinced these shouldn't be much of a mismatch! Yep.

Got a second opinion from the expert guys at Motonerdz too. The front will run easily, at least till the next service. Just asked me to watch out for any signs of aggravated wear towards the right side as that will wear out faster due to road banking. Either way - will take it a notch safer on this set just to be sure - till both get replaced as a pair during the next change.

Again just curious, I am someone who never feels comfortable changing only one tyre especially when it comes to bikes, I mean monsoons are still a few months away but wouldn't it mess with your head that the fronts are almost 50% into their life and optimum grip might have already been finished? Did you feel any changes or funny feelings wrt overall grip post the change?

Cheers
Krishna

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by Rocketscience

₹750 for air filter cleaning seems to be on really higher side for what I'am assuming is a 3rd party garage, rest nice to know Vredestein is providing good quality and value for money tyres, looking forward to your feedback on them.

The problem with air filter cleaning was that the panels and tank need to be removed to access it. And since no other tasks required this, they billed the labour for just the cleaning task. May be on the higher side, but I don't have complaints on that.

Vredestein sure is value compared to the current import prices, but I have a feeling they could have priced it much cheaper if not for the artificial demand due to the import restrictions. My previous Metzeler, for example, was cheaper than the new Vredestein.

Originally Posted by krishnaprasadgg

How about the rear area of the jacket? Can you post a pic of that too?

Here you go -

Originally Posted by krishnaprasadgg

Again just curious, I am someone who never feels comfortable changing only one tyre especially when it comes to bikes, I mean monsoons are still a few months away but wouldn't it mess with your head that the fronts are almost 50% into their life and optimum grip might have already been finished? Did you feel any changes or funny feelings wrt overall grip post the change?

No funny feelings at all till now - though I have only done a couple of short city commutes afterwards. I'm not expecting any trouble - looks like pretty similar rubber. But will keep an eye on it.

That said, its also good to change as a pair depending on how hard the bike is pushed.

[CrossLife]

Hello CrazyDriver,

My brother is planning to buy Kawasaki Versys. He owns a Gixxer 150 currently and this is his first big bike. Could you please let me know the things to look out for while buying a big bike. I'm familiar with things related to buying a car, but this time need inputs from people like you who are very familiar in riding these bikes. He has already gone through this thread and any pointers would immensely help him. TIA .

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by CrossLife

Hello CrazyDriver,

My brother is planning to buy Kawasaki Versys. He owns a Gixxer 150 currently and this is his first big bike. Could you please let me know the things to look out for while buying a big bike. I'm familiar with things related to buying a car, but this time need inputs from people like you who are very familiar in riding these bikes. He has already gone through this thread and any pointers would immensely help him. TIA .

Congratulations to your brother in advance!

New or used? If new, there is nothing to watch out regarding a Versys 650 purchase - it is a tried and tested (and on a related note - somewhat outdated) product now and you just can't go wrong with! However, please ask him to take multiple test rides of all the options available in his budget before finalising on the choice! Also there is a facelift due to be launched later this year, hope he is aware of that as well.

If used - do keep an eye out for upcoming major expenses - tyres, chain and sprocket condition, battery, brake pads, etc and factor those into the price negotiations as well.

[Eddy]

Originally Posted by CrossLife

Hello CrazyDriver,

My brother is planning to buy Kawasaki Versys. He owns a Gixxer 150 currently and this is his first big bike. Could you please let me know the things to look out for while buying a big bike. I'm familiar with things related to buying a car, but this time need inputs from people like you who are very familiar in riding these bikes. He has already gone through this thread and any pointers would immensely help him. TIA .

Hope you've seen this

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/super...otorcycle.html (15 things to consider before buying a big motorcycle)

[SnS_12]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Vredestein sure is value compared to the current import prices, but I have a feeling they could have priced it much cheaper if not for the artificial demand due to the import restrictions.

Do you feel these tyres are noisier? I felt so when compared to the OEM Bridgestone that I had before these. So wanted to know if this is just me or its the general feedback.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by SnS_12

Do you feel these tyres are noisier? I felt so when compared to the OEM Bridgestone that I had before these. So wanted to know if this is just me or its the general feedback.

Haven't noticed any such issues - but then again, I am a good 4-5 hours away from 4-lane highways and so the tyre has only seen speeds of up to 60-70km/h till now.

Up until those speeds - I am not able to detect any major issues with the Vredestein.

[CrossLife]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Congratulations to your brother in advance!
New or used?

Thank you! He is buying it new. And although the bike is little outdated, meets his requirements well. He is aware about the facelift, but he has already stretched his budget and he is getting some good discounts on the current model.

[neil.jericho]

Originally Posted by SnS_12

Do you feel these tyres are noisier? I felt so when compared to the OEM Bridgestone that I had before these. So wanted to know if this is just me or its the general feedback.

SnS_12, I have seen feedback on the tires from at least half a dozen enthusiasts in different groups but I dont recall anyone mentioning tire noise to be an issue. By and large, everyone is happy with the tires. Considering the prices and suitability for all round weekend Indian superbike usage, the Vredestein tires are being recommended left, right and center.

[SnS_12]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

SnS_12, I have seen feedback on the tires from at least half a dozen enthusiasts in different groups but I dont recall anyone mentioning tire noise to be an issue.

Its not an issue for me either but I just noticed that the front tyre generates quite a bit of road noise on the same tarmac of road I was used to riding on the previous Bridgestone.

Hence, mentioned it here to check if its only me or maybe my pipes are not loud enough

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Usage

Versys was used only for weekend rides, with only city commutes for service, etc. Things were going really smooth with around 8k -9k kms of usage per year till Covid struck, and the bike has not been used much afterwards, but that situation should change for the better in 2022. Two reasons why I'm expecting it to -

Boy, was I wrong!

May be the writing was on the wall since long, but I was just not acknowledging it. But after 6 more months of denial - I have finally decided to take a temporary break from biking.

Rode the Versys down from Trivandrum to Bangalore one last time, to hand over the bike to a friend, who upgraded from his Interceptor 650.

Quite a fitting last ride - Covered 586kms in 6 hours and 12 minutes to catch up with KarthikK, ebmrajesh and two friends who were on a breakfast ride to Yercaud from Bangalore. And then joined them on their return leg to Bangalore.

Finally crossing the 30k kms milestone near Karur, TN -



With the group at Dharmapuri -



Got the bike washed and prepped after reaching Bangalore -

Final odo reading at hand over -

Closing stats -

Reposting some top memories from the earlier page to sign off from this thread.

The bike will be in our friend circle and hopefully will be seen in KarthikK's Ninja1000 ownership updates thread.

[KarthikK]

Congratulations and all the very best on the career front CrAzY_dRiVeR! Parting with the bike was a good decision considering your ambiguity with regard to usage pattern and even staying pattern between KL / KA and work related travel plans which were affecting the bike all these months.

The Versys is definitely a memorable bike for me too, having been part of its journey right from Day 1 (when I was there during your bike delivery at the then Khivraj showroom in Indiranagar), to being a caretaker for it during the lockdowns of 2020 Covid Wave 1, to the day it finally exchanged hands with the next owner. Fortunately the owner is a common friend of ours who isn't yet a Team-BHPian, but will be part of many of our weekend rides. Hopefully he will be joining us for most of our weekend rides and trips so the bike will still be around in known circles for the foreseeable future .

This thread has been one of the finest efforts on Team-bhp, at detailing ownership records accurately over such a long time, and it is so well composed all the way till the end. Thanks for sharing this benchmark ownership thread with the community, inspiring and helping so many prospects with useful information all along. End of an era, and a befitting farewell to the Black Panther.

Since you and this bike have been a part of so many of our trips together, I'll post a few pictures from memorable rides and drives to say a goodbye from my end too. Hope to see you back on another bike's saddle very soon, to continue doing what you loved!

When I got my Ninja 1000 in 2018, the Versys was there to welcome us into the world of big bikes



And yesterday, the Ninja was witness to the Versys's 'goodbye ride'



Random snaps from our weekend rides over the years











During the running in period for the Ninja



Sampaje ghat in search of monsoon rains



Atop Yercaud





One of the best things about us was we never got our Car v/s bike preference orientation philosophy get in the way of enjoyable rides / drives together. I being mostly a car person have joined CrAzY_dRiVeR in my erstwhile E90 320d or even Thar while he used to join on the Versys and we would still explore lovely routes in the monsoons or otherwise, despite mismatched average pace both sides, lol! He would never complain about any inconvenience.







Similar yet different touring partners, they even shared garage space for 8 months



Sharing garage space with my then bike garage occupants



Memorable group trips between covid waves



A picture of me during my lockdown V650 caretaker days that C_D used to troll me with, teasing that I would eventually trade in the Ninja 1000 and get a bigger adventure bike. Sorry buddy, that ain't happening ever, lol!



Farewell expression - trying hard to muster a smile but failing to. He might kill me for this picture but I'll risk it.



As is the case with us both (we do keep pulling each other's legs a lot), I will end this iconic thread with this troll meme for him - hoping it comes true in the next few months

[neil.jericho]

The bad news is that the Black Panther has been sold. That brings to an end one of the best review threads on this forum. Period! The good news is that it has gone into the hands of another friend, so there will be regular sightings of the motorcycle on the forum. So goodbye Versys 650 ... and hello Versys 650?

I agree with KarthikK wholeheartedly. Dr Crazy_Driver without a motorcycle just isnt right. However, KarthikK is completely off base with his BMW prediction. I say that a Versys 1000 will make its way into Dr Crazy_Driver's garage in the next 6 months. Remember that I was the one who correctly predicted it, folks!

Here is a parting shot of both our motorcycles after an entertaining rain filled ride in the mountains.