Bought a track toy please advise.

Hello good people, joe has bought a 2008 Kawasaki Versys, it is a 650cc weird little motard looking thingy, I read that Europe has had it for a couple of years. 1st year here.

so I was looking for insight as to the nature of the beast, mine is damaged from a deer impact and it is all cosmetic, I have it ready for the track day

right now, I was able to ride it before I bought it, I enjoyed the hell out if it, the bike reminded me of my 06 SM 950, it is fugly I will be the first to say.

here is a link with a cheezy vid and some review of it, thanks for the opinions and all criticisms are welcome. dig in and please make it bleed.

http://www.motorcycle.com/manufacturer/ ... 71476.html

hell ya its fugly ,kinda looks like a wanna be chopper made from on old cb750 1973 vintage ,the one in the video looks like it has big training wheels on it as well ,get out the grinder and buzz the long neck giraff face off it and paint it flat black and park it in the shade man ........(but if it handles as you say ...Id ride the sht out of it ..)

Ahh yes joe the poor mans multistrada. You will need to pull that goofy looking fairing off....add an exhaust..there are NO compression dampening settings for either the fork or the shock. Get some steel braided brake lines, the front brakes are only 2 piston calipers, and I bet the lines are softer than sponge bob. There is a 160 on the back so get some sticky motard rubber and start laying it sideways brother Oh and I bet it shares most of its parts with the ninja 650 that came out last year.

Heres the Leo:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/New-Ninj ... enameZWDVW

Heres the lines:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/KAW-NINJ ... dZViewItem

And last but not least the full review from motorcycledaily:
http://www.motorcycledaily.com/11octobe ... versys.htm

Damn I'm Good

Martin Thank You so much, I have the lines ordered and coming, and placed a bid on the pipe, the bike is really tits, very cheaply built but quality none the less.

yes, my main motive to do this thing is to preserve the pumpkin, I only paid $1650 for the bike and after the straightening of the rear wheel

and the repair of the radiator neck we are ready for the track, no racing just track day, the fairing is toast, and I had to order a new instrument cluster.

I am realistic in the fact that I am entirely too old to race. I was going to run the stock dunlops the first or even second time I ride it, I will be going slow.

Isn't it based on an ER-6?

They race ER-6's in Formula 3 here and they do well...

I think the french have a single race series for the ER-6 so there might be a few go fast bit s around...

here it is again, the 2008 Kawasaki versys, $1650 usd and $200 to fix it for track day.

the tail is perfect, just front fairing is toast. only 500 mi. on the clock.

I could throw it around like a toy,,,, thus the name, track toy.

i'd throw it if i were you too Joe

Into a large skip with a very high crane

Dr F - you act as though you are having to pay to host Joe's 59,232 posts.

If Joe left, where else would I learn about the astral plane, read so much poetry, discover the word of the day, get confused about what topic a thread is supposed to be on, be reminded about the Dragon, or see all the font colors the forum will produce? What a dull world that would be?

coming from such a smart dude, joe does see what you mean Martin, you know me well enough to say I overthink everything, getting MUCH too honest.

I read that with tom hanks rendition of the person forest, forest gump, sitting on the bench w/the black lady. I tell you this..... F, knows how to use the sharp

steeleY object that he possesses, he used it in this thread, still can not see for the tears, they roll and keep rolling. worse than a feckin funeral!!

there is always a moral to the story, who knows where this is going? I LOVE the SD ! hands down,, the best bike joe has ever thrown a leg over !

joe needs this love that is present here at this forum, it is good. I would like to get acceptance wherever I go,

especially at the track, I do cos of my friends thare. Chris S, you may be correct on the SV thing but the EXPLOSIVE PUNCH

at the end of the straight is only achieved by the inline 4's (most common overtaking procedure).

the Kaw is 5-6 seconds slower. than the SD 1st time out. Even on the chopper popper no one does me in the tights,

most normally I do overtake them, bike runs and handles well for what its intended purpose is. just like the SD,

its intended purpose is for under 100mph, and all day comfortable riding, and it is. cjc, this is whare you come in....THANK YOU !!

joe disagrees with freestyler on the sugar, you have to come down and a sugar crash is nearly as bad as a sharp rise, "refined" sugar is poison.

Word of the Day for Sunday, March 23, 2008

anathema \uh-NATH-uh-muh\, noun:

1. A ban or curse pronounced with religious solemnity by ecclesiastical authority, and accompanied by excommunication. Hence: Denunciation of anything as accursed.
2. An imprecation; a curse; a malediction.
3. Any person or thing anathematized, or cursed by ecclesiastical authority.
4. Any person or thing that is intensely disliked.

The Communists were not prepared to accept any compromises; it was anathema to them that Tibet should have an international personality beyond being a region of China.
-- Tsering Shakya, The Dragon in the Land of Snows:A History of Modern Tibet Since 1947

Academies, the argument went, were anathema to creativity.
-- Deborah Solomon, "How to Succeed In Art", New York Times, June 27, 1999

Advertising was anathema to the Internet ethos, theysaid, and people would never pay for on-line material.
-- Steve Lohr, "The Freewheeling Net Meets the Free Market", New York Times, June 9, 1996

Anathema comes from the Greek word meaning "a thing devoted," especially a thing devoted to evil, hence "a curse," from anatithenai, "to dedicate, to set up," from ana, "up" + tithenai, "to place or put."

Well Good People, here it is, the big picture was the talk of the town, who is this idiot on this chopper popper?.... around the outside....hehe

we have to meet him to scorn him on the racer mentality, don't come to the party with a knife when you need a bazooka.....

It was a cold and windy day, started out at around 40 degrees F, and ended up at 65 F, but in the morning I was doin good, by afternoon, not so.

the dude with the white helmet on the 1 Ltr GXSR is thinking..... you dare not smoke around me here on that fugly thing! arse holeo !!!!

would like to remind you all that you can not pass on the inside, this is why you see me looking up the outside,

the officials will pull you off of the track if you sneak up the inside during a corner entrance or apex,

but the newest rule will allow us to pass on the inside of the corner exits, that is all pretty weird to one small.....

if they would let me pass on the inside anywhare, I would be in much better shape to get around cos of the momentum to do it, not much punch.

the competition would eat me in the straights, my top speed was 110 mph on the little 650cc Kaw, but the SD was 120-125mph,

cos of the faster corners and exits were somewhat better on the Kaw, more mass= less momentum coming out of the corners.

the motards actually fly through the corners, this bike is good but it will take more time to gain confidence to go through there with the heavier SD.

(and much more expensive to crash, mind you) the big inlines and even the 600cc in lines can muster over 130 mph, so in the straights I got killed.

the reason I put up 2 pics just alike at the bottom is,,, he was on a 1 ltr, with slicks, very fast and talented, a very nice guy.

obviously had a hard time to catch me cos that is 2 different laps, if you look closely at my elbow pointed at the daytime moon.....

Ok,, I am ready for the critics and the elbow thing is a motard deal, we will punch each other in the eye with our elbows cos we be scrappy in the infield!

EVERYONE HAS TO DO THIS !!! you have no idea how much fun it is, if the RC 8 is as good as some say, joe may be competing before it is over !!!

That orange number plate on the front must be worth a a couple of seconds off your lap times Joe..

Why Hell Yeah, im talkin to you and every other swingin ???? out thare ! I am not pointing it AT you but the response is much appreciated.

joe has a real problem with this activity goin on down thare NOT a funny thing it is.

looks like people would infiltrate and investigate prior to allegations being made, that may have been monies well spent.

haste makes waste and all the money it will take the state to fight this is a hot button issue, a very important one, I believe in "each thare own" but my god whaZZup with this action?

It is a very freaky subject. what ever happened to spy's and hidden, implanted secret espionage tactics....

(joe has never heard people talk like this) Like freakin aliens on morphine wats goin on here?

I may know what you think,,,, joe! why do you even care?.... you are in oklahoma, where toothless ramblers gnaw on squirrel bones and such.

Thanks Jim, It does look much better without the red color to take away from the innocent character of the bike, No..... no exhaust deflectors on her yet.

those subframe trellises are bolted to the foot peg mounts, so I can not remove them, put some metzler Sportec M-3's on her and all is sticky.

today I am taking the muffler off and gutting it, talked to a dude at the race track that had a 650 R ninja, (same bike different suspension).

he had added a jardeen muffler and had no fueling issues so here I go into the wild blue yonder. So far it makes a great little track bike. low on power.

Nice job Joe!!! That thing is sick! How was it out there?

Looks a propper track tool to me good luck and happy hunting on your next track day, watch that stomp grip i found it was wearing through my leathers, as for what you ride i always thought you had to have a sportsbike but track days opened my eyes esp when i get overtaken buy a 1200 bandit.