The new Kawasaki 650

[boristhebold]

and its the same with cars, they all seem to look alike these days

its hard to tell one make of car from another, they all seem to look the same both on the outside and inside,

I'd rather have a bland car that did everything I need in a reliable manner than something different that broke down all the time or failed miserably at all I need...it would be nice to have something a bit different that did it all tho... (thumbs)

[yamahafjr1300!]

I think it looks to much like a multi-strada. BUT looks brilliant in Green with panniers on..
has anybody got one on their santa list?
Alan..

[boatman]

Stick set of decent top loading ally boxes and a set of good running lights, some armour bars around it ,n it dosn,t guzzle fuel like a Saturn 5 rocket. Yer off
Looks ok to me. Very key thing WILL it

image_2014-12-20.jpg (41.65 KiB) Viewed 1747 times

be reliable!!!!!!!!!! Like one,s auld Transalp 650 (thumbs)

[chico]

Stick set of decent top loading ally boxes and a set of good running lights, some armour bars around it ,n it dosn,t guzzle fuel like a Saturn 5 rocket. Yer off
Looks ok to me. Very key thing WILL it

image_2014-12-20.jpg

be reliable!!!!!!!!!! Like one,s auld Transalp 650 (thumbs)

theres a few on the Versys forum with over 100,000 miles, and many more with high miles....fairly bulletproof.....MK1 only came out on 57 plate

[boatman]

In that case it would have the makings of a right decent middleweight bike 650 is enough for most things !
I have also a 1200 ADV BMW but if I only rode solo I doubt if I would have ought bigger than a 650 , nice compromise bike

[Ken Shabby]

In that case it would have the makings of a right decent middleweight bike 650 is enough for most things !
I have also a 1200 ADV BMW but if I only rode solo I doubt if I would have ought bigger than a 650 , nice compromise bike

A 65bhp motorbike has ample power/torque to carry a pillion and luggage at very illegal speeds up and down any hill - and it'll still do 0-60mph quicker than just about any car on the road even if loaded to the gunnels.

It's only the power-obsessed motorcycling press that seems to have convinced people that any motorbike with less than 100bhp won't move with a pillion on it.

The Kawsaki 650 twin powerplant is very reliable - they get raped around the IoM every June in the lightweight TT, proving the engine's durability.

[chico]

In that case it would have the makings of a right decent middleweight bike 650 is enough for most things !
I have also a 1200 ADV BMW but if I only rode solo I doubt if I would have ought bigger than a 650 , nice compromise bike

it is, its got decent performance, not too heavy, cheap 2nd hand, cheap to run, hardly ever breaks, no complex electronics, its maybe a tad crude by some sophisticated standards...but you can't have it both ways, upside is, its unfussy, simple, and eager...I paid £2500 for mine (57) and put 36k mls on it with no major issue's, 25k of those miles in Europe....still fresh....and i'm off to Switzerland on it tomorrow.... (thumbs)

[sprintster]

In that case it would have the makings of a right decent middleweight bike 650 is enough for most things !
I have also a 1200 ADV BMW but if I only rode solo I doubt if I would have ought bigger than a 650 , nice compromise bike

A 65bhp motorbike has ample power/torque to carry a pillion and luggage at very illegal speeds up and down any hill - and it'll still do 0-60mph quicker than just about any car on the road even if loaded to the gunnels.

It's only the power-obsessed motorcycling press that seems to have convinced people that any motorbike with less than 100bhp won't move with a pillion on it.

No problems going up or down any hill with pillion and luggage but having to drop two or even three gears to do a rapid overtake gets to be a bit tiresome after a while! That's why I sold my GSXF600 for a Sprint ST955.For riding solo I would be happy enough with a 650 but I would never go back to one for two up.And I'm not power-obsessed....I think 100bhp is all you need on the road,but you do want it for two-up!

[Benhur]

Hija there...

I own both a transalp 650 and a bigger tourer (FJR1300)...I agree with the two up overtaking comments....but purely on technical grounds, surely its torque which is needed rather than BHP. I always thought it was the torque in an engine which allowed you to pullout and overtake smoothly in 5th/6th without changing down? isint BHP only developed at high revs...

not trying to be funny here - just trying to make sure I got things properly

[chico]

depends on engine design and cylinder configuration....a v twin generally will be more torquey than an inline 4 (other things being equal) but a 650 can only develop so much torque....its limited by cc's at the end of the day......so in general, more cc's will = more torque

designers these days can engineer the torque/bhp roughly where they want it really, within certain restraints