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-   -   Kawasaki Versys 650 launched at Rs. 6.6 lakh (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/superbikes-imports/171682-kawasaki-versys-650-launched-rs-6-6-lakh-42.html)

What is the fuel efficiency report by Versys 650 owners?

What does your display show and what you actual experience when you top up the tank? Is the display accurate?

Also, what is the maximum fuel ( in liters) you filled into the tank?

I have this habit. I wear my gears including jacket and helmet and gloves only after starting the bike. Gives exactly enough time for the engine to Idle.

On days with no gears I usually start the bike and then start cleaning the bike one round. :) Either ways it has become a habit to do this and this usually helps getting any bikes to idle temp and RPM.

I ride the N650, same engines and gearing. When cruising at 110 kmph I get around 27 to 28 kmpl. Cruising at 130 [6k rpm in 6th gear] gets me around 25 kmpl. This includes occassional speed burst north of 150.

It's almost 3 years I am out of small bikes and hunting for adventure bike, it started with costly BMW GS650 and they never came down below 14 L figure, searched for used option as well but the issue with these adventure and dirt bikes that they hardly depreciate their value and commands high resale value, never seen any Tiger going below 10L figure.
Let me know how you go with your plan, I am picking new Tiger XCA this July, hope some competition in that segment might bring down the prices or something better comes by that time else Tiger would be the final choice. I am keen on BMW F800GS adventure model, even at 19.xx Ducati Multistrada is very good option, fingers crossed.

As you must be knowing, the meter has two setting for showing fuel consumption. One is almost real time, refreshing every 4 seconds. Other one shows average fuel consumption. When on the real-time setting, the numbers fluctuates from anything as low as 5-6 to 40 kmpl. The average fuel consumption setting is what gives a clearer picture. In my case, initially it was hovering between 16-17 kmpl. Now its between 17-18kmpl. this is mix of traffic and open stretches riding condition.
I feel the versys should be able to return good efficiency (22-25, maybe even more as rbp mentions) if ridden sanely on the highway and may comedown to 15-16 if ridden in contested traffic. The low fuel warning starts showing when there is USABLE 5.6L of fuel remaining in the tank. Which gives an approximate range of 80-90 kms. At that point, i was able to fill about 14L.
Was curious to know what all points made you take a decision in favour of tiger over lets say, versys.

Fantastic inputs. Thank you guys

So basically I think Versys 650 would be little better at FE figures than the Bonnie (which If I recall correctly never crossed 22kmpl). But, I know for sure that Tiger 800 used to consistently deliver > 25kmpl during highway ride conditions

Not that I'm particular about the FE numbers. But, it's good to know

No. I wasn't aware about these 2 separate features to track FE figures. Thanks for this inputs

I'm yet to replenish my first "free" tankful :D.....Let's see how much it takes in the first time I fill her up

Perfect. Great input. With this as a baseline it would be nice to compare to see what V650 delivers since the engine is same but, the tune is different

How much is your tiger xca working out to?

I wonder when triumph will begin assembling the tiger in India. If they already are, please correct me. With zuki setting the cat amongst the birds, it will be interestibg to see how the others react.

I plan to begin the search for a used adv same time next year... I also intend to quickly scan the market in may this year before I get the Duke. If I do see something worthwhile, I might just make a go at it.

I would also like to know why the tiger scores over the versys for you.

Versys 650 vs. Tiger 800 (:D)

Now this is not a comparison but, a fun morning that both these bikes had in a friends farm this morning

Let me tell you a bit about the farm. It's a very big property ( in a few acres) and has lot of trees, rough roads and some part of the property has man-made trenches which are so deep it will scare the heck out of most people.

It is used mostly for off-roading fun and most of my friends are into Jeeping and they meet every other weekend in this farm for some serious off-roading (lot of boulders, deep trenches and mountainous circuit is there inside the farm----everything an off-roader would want except for a water body

We met up at 6:00am and rode to the farm which is about 30kms outskirts of city.

We tried our hand at a few of them rough trails and I even tried going into a slightly not-so deep trench. It was an absolutely scary experience for me as bike was fish-tailing (road tyres) and I almost fell twice ( once when the bike slide under me when going fast in soft mud/sand) and next time when I nose-dived into the trench at almost standstill speed and couldn't control the weight but, somehow didn't fall...

A few take-ways from this short outing :

1. Versys 650 is very good for dusty/bad trails but, is NOT an off-road bike. There is absolutely no issue with its ground clearance (170mm) but, if you want to take it inside trenches or make it climb on boulders, I think you need to change the tyres first as these road tyres have very less traction on soft sand, slush etc...

2. Versys 650 has a taller seating position than Tiger 800

3. Tiger 800 has a longer wheelbase and is a much bigger bike overall

4. Beautiful hum of Arrow clad triple is to die for compared to the muted note of Versys 650

5. My pal who owns the Tiger didn't ride my bike but, I felt during our ride the V650 is more flickable than Tiger in city traffic conditions. But, I will let my pal ride and give a honest feedback on + and - compared to the V650

Whew!! It was an exciting & adrenalin filled morning trying to ape CS Santosh :uncontrol

Superb! The start of what we are looking for! Did u get to take the tiger off-road? Would like to know your views there via a vis the versys. Already have read your views on the road manners of the tiger.

The ADV Tourer category is often misconstrued in my opinion.

These are supposed to be comfortable, reliable, planted, powerful and strong. Not something that one should use in actual 'off road' situations where light weight is the king.

It will allow one to tour from one end of the planet to another in great comfort and, in the process, will be more than willing to take on all kinds of roads- highways, ghats, pothole ridden stretches, trails, rocky roads- but climbing rocks like a mountain goat is not its forte. A moto-cross machine is suitable for that kind of use.

The versys, I think, needs better suited tyres and spoked wheel for it to take on a variety of topography as well as a Tiger can. But, I feel the weigh advantage will allow the versys to be a more 'fun' machines than the tigers, except the music, overall.

Dude! yes tyres are a big issue, road tyres on jeeps also struggle, but the tyres that these bikes have are far worse in comparison for any offroad situation. Broken / Katcha road is the best they can, and there too with limitation. If you want to take it offroad, invest on knobby thread patterns.

What was the seat position on Tiger XC? Low or High setting? And can it be adjusted in Versys? On my IBW ride i was using XC and failed to realize i was riding on high settings till i reached Goa lol. Yes it felt way different at crawling speeds in traffic and parking but was ok at high speeds.

Ofcourse you pay almost double for it! It is brilliant for long rides and broken tarmac. My rider partner is very good and he always leads ahead of me especially on broken stretch where the stripple is quite iffy. Until this IBW ride where i was on XC and he on an XR. That spoke wheels and better suspension made a HUGE difference in our riding styles. I was ripping over the broken patch inside the jungle section of highway, moment i see a bad patch i was downshifting and on flying mode. All i needed was a little weight transfer to legs, to ease the weight of my bum and good concentration of the surface undulation ahead.

Whereas with alloys on my ride partners bike (who is much better rider than me) was battering on the shoulder and hands, and he just was not able to keep up the pace. Even the ride position difference between XC and XR makes difference according to others. So Sojohator has a very valid point, there are lot many finer details that goes into each of these bikes, and the way they eventually handle road conditions.

Wait till you go for a 500 plus km ride, those noisy things really add to the tiredness on long ride. I always prefer silent exhaust for touring, be it cars or bikes.

Control it for now lol, last thing you want is down time waiting for those stupid plastic parts.

You have nailed it!

Hey, I don't hate myself that much lol:



Absolutely agree on the noise part. But, the Arrows are very different in a stockish way. When one is riding sedately, it does not try to rip the ear drum but whenever you feel like it, it is ready to please those senses ! Very nice in another word !

Very Precise! I have witnessed a few rides along with a BMW GS1200, Which is built like a tank and is capable of taking almost any kind of terrain.
The QUESTION is, at around 250kgs can it really be taken OFFROAD? I mean serious off road and by enthusiastic riders and not professionals. The weight would be very very difficult to manage. Cross country or continent, yes, not many would come close to it.
In that respect, versys 650 is a good and comfortable middleweight proposition for touring in our indian conditions. Bikes like these are more likely to fall, (lets say compared to a bonnie), as the 'adventure' tag will urge riders to try a few trail rides so invest in some good protection for self and bike and start exploring. A dual purpose tyre would come very handy as well.

But there are hardly any dual purpose (Considering it will remain majorly on road n just say about 10 to 15 % off road) tyre available in Versys' spec with sensible price. Has anyone got anything? Even am interested to swap to dual purpose tyres as soon as possible.

Could 17" size be a restriction? As most of the serious off-roading bikes have 19" or 21" front. But again there are many with 17" F and 17"R tyke the multistrada, V650, etc, and we are looking at lets say 70-30 favoring road. will have to be seen.