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-   -   Kawasaki Versys 650: The good times with my 'Dark Knight' begin. EDIT: SOLD! (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/superbikes-imports/174151-kawasaki-versys-650-good-times-my-dark-knight-begin-edit-sold-6.html)

Hello Avi,

Aliexpress is a very good website for lot of bike accessories. But be careful - most of the stuff available there are replica or counterfeit ones. As long as you are not ordering any electrical or mechanical parts for your Versys it should be good. When I was checking for accessories for my Z - I found exhausts available for as low as 8000 bucks. But they had some good stuff as well - windshields, indicators, tail tidy etc. They have free shipping options on most of the products but their delivery period is usually 3 months (smalled items get delivered within 20 days sometimes).

I have seen the Kawasaki jacket (the green one). Priced very well - but wasn't sure on the quality so did not order for it.

Kawasaki genuine accessories jackets starts from around 12.5k up to 19k in the showroom itself. There are around 4 types. And all come in 4 different sizes.

Thanks Allen. I don't plan to order anything electrical or mechanical (slightly tempted with the integrated turn signal RVM's----Please see linky below--Do you recommend I order?)

I want to test "Ali Express" out since I never used them before by ordering some small ticket items like below :

Front Brake Fluid Reservoir cover

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/CNC-M...5-7272b4b945c8

Turn Indicators RVM

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Carbo...d-ccf999263c13

Fuel cap (Didn't like any of the colors)

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/new-t...a-212feb41e693

Jackets look nice and they are priced similar to ones that we get in India from the regular brands here 6K-7K range

P.S: Ali Express has an "App only " sale on March 29th. Be ready to blow some serious dough on accessories:D

Rear Shocks Feedback :

Yesterday went for a city ride of about 50+ kms with sole intention of riding it through the city and suburbs that has mostly good roads and a few bad patches and speed bumps to check on what differences "Rear Pre-Load" makes on the bike

As you can see from the picture below, the rear shock adjustment is a simple turn of the knob either towards "H" or "S" which I'm assuming is Hard & Soft respectively

Until yesterday, I didn't tamper with any settings and was using the one set by dealership. And, as I shared the feedback, ride felt cushiony and extremely comfortable and felt like gliding over the roads

So decided to play around a bit with the rear shock pre-load and idea was to turn it towards the hardest setting (H) and then ride for 10-15 kms to get a feedback and then click it towards softer side

Honestly speaking, there isn't 6 turns as I thought before. It keeps clicking more than 6 times

Yesterday, I could try only 2 settings

1. Hardest setting

Dark Knight felt like it has just stepped out of a gymnasium :D....Super tight and taut. I was bit taken aback with the dramatic change to way the bike rode. Suspension became very hard (almost Harley hard :eek:) and it felt really uncomfortable when going over even the slightest undulated road. Somehow road for 15kms and then stopped and

2. Clicked exactly 2 settings back (towards S)

Even then the suspension felt on harder side. I mean that gliding on road feeling was not there at all.

I have forgotten which setting was set up by dealership so I will continue to click back 2 "clicks" till I find that original setting which felt like heaven

I think hardest would be useful only when bike is fully loaded with panniers and passenger

Summary : This is a beautiful feature and very happy with how the bike changes its characteristics with a few simple twist of a knob. Surreal !!!

Avi..Hearty Congratulations on acquiring Kawasaki Versys.It suits you very well.
Ordering on Aliexpress is easy but delivery time is really long.I have ordered a Givi Flyscreen for my Hyosung Comet 250, which came after nearly 45 times, after constant follow up. But the quality was very good for a faux screen ($12) as opposed to original Givi costing $150, which fitted like a glove.
My Hyosung Comet with a Givi Flyscreen from Aliexpress.


Since I have a Kawasaki Eliminator, I tried ordering a riding Jacket from Aliexpress. Their sizes did not correspond at all to our sizes and after chatting to Aliexpress Customer support extensively, they sent me their size chart,which was very confusing and I gave up and got a custom leather jacket done locally.
My Green Goblin


Customized Kawasaki Leather Jacket

I created a whole range of accessories of Kawasaki for myself and my son (Vijay).

This tank monogram is a classic Kawasaki emblem which i got from Aliexress for $5 a pair !!!


Aliexpress sells only replicas and rather cheap stuff. Sometimes you get original stuff by sheer luck, at a throw away price,like I got for my Mercedes Benz E 220 (W124)
I make sure that each order does not exceed $50 so that customs is not attracted at all.Till date i have never faced any probelm with customs or paid any duty for Aliexpress orders.
Try also Ebay.com and ebay.in for some good and genuine accessories for Kawasaki.
I have some Kawasaki Accessories, let me know, if you want any. I got hold of lot of geunine CNC parts for my KTM Duke like Brake Fluid Covers, Oil Filter cap, Stand Shoe etc on ebay. kawasaki green ones will look nice on your Versys, as nice offset of colors against whole black, like the shock absorber.
Happy and safe Riding with your Dark Knight !!!

Have you tried softest setting? any idea how many click were left to the softest side after adjustment to your requirement ? I hope rear shock will glide over potholes with my 58 KG weight.

Hey Ram! Good to see you here and thanks for your wishes. Let's hook up in person one of the weekends. This weekend or next weekend works fine. Maybe over a lunch with the old S gang :D....I'm available on my old India number

Let's talk in detail when we meet. Cheers !!!

As mentioned in my previous post. I started with the hardest setting and turned the knob 2 times ( each time is when you hear a distant click sound) towards the S setting but, the bike still rides on harder side

Will be turning the knob gradually towards the S and see which setting works for me best. This time around will make a note of the number of times I hear the click sound when turned completely towards both H or S side and report back soon

I'm a slightly aggressive rider and if you also ride similarly, Trust me, you will love the Versys 650, it is simply beautiful with regards to how you can throw this bike into gaps in city traffic and dart in and out between gaps etc. Sometimes I get a feeling it can play this flickability game belter than the Bonnie and most certainly feels lighter than Bonnie.

Since you ride the Bonnie, try it and let me know if you feel the same:)

With regards to ride, it's simply awesome with softer setting, it feels like your gliding. But, I need to find that original setting back ASAP

Also, I didn't notice a lot of change to how the bike handles with rear suspension tampering. It handles really well be it on softer setting or harder one. Will pay more attention to any changes that I feel to handling and will share in future if I note any major differences

Dark Knight's 1st Service (900kms) Update :

Have a couple of busy work weeks ahead with some possible travel throw-in. My long weekend travel plan got cancelled due to some other work that cropped up so fortunately got some time and immediately decided to use this time to get the 1st service of Dark Knight. Called up Ramesh an evening before and fixed up an appointment with his lead mechanic (Mohammad Arif) at 10:30am yesterday. Reached there on time and he was delayed by 30 mins.

I asked him how much time it will take to service the bike as I wanted to get it done personally ( this is something I have never done in past). He said it will be completed in 2 hours tops.

He assigned the bike to be washed while he went to showroom (situated 0.5km away) to get the consumables as they don't keep it at service center as it's predominantly for KTM and Bajaj bikes (big volumes)

He returned promptly and we started the work on bike at 11:30am and he first checked all basics like battery ( sprayed some liquid on it), brakes adjustment, checked the bolts of whole bike etc.

Then the bike was emptied of factory provided oil

Trivia : Versys 650 comes with Mineral oil from the factory. We emptied that oil which as you can see from the pictures below turned jet-black and replenished it with Motul's fully synthetic oil. V650 consumes 1.9 liters of oil

Oil filter was removed and replaced with a new one

He then proceeded to clean the chain and then lubed it as well. Wurth was the product used for this activity. He mentioned if you don't ride in dusty conditions, clean and lube once every 1000kms. Otherwise, around 750kms is must. Arif offered to get this job done (free of cost) and asked me to just drop in and they can do it whenever I need it cleaned and lubed. Super awesome offer !!!

There was a slightly squeaky sound coming from rear when rear brake was applied hard. He did a test ride after the service and confirmed it's the hiss sound from rear brake caliper which is normal

Total job completed in < 2 Hours

I was shared a bill of INR 4,400 for whole job which included INR 3,000 worth of consumables alone (as you can see from pictures). However, one phone call to Ramesh helped me get some discount and I parted with INR 3,900 for 1st service. clap:

Next service due is at 6,000kms. Overall, a fantastic experience and happy with attention and service done, Not to mention the attention from other KTM and Bajaj owners it got. Everyone seemed to be in awe with it's size and overall fit and finish

P.S: Do you see any change to the bike in the pictures?:D

Hey. Congrats on getting past the service. Now you can let her breathe more.

The 300v is the race spec oil and not meant for road use.
If you wish to use the same, make sure to replace the oil around every 5000kms.
If you want an oil that is made for touring/road-use, fill her up with the Motul 7100. It lasts longer, around 10K kms.

Congratulations on the Dark Knight Mobike008!

Very detailed ownership experience like last time with your Bonnie.

Real great offer/excellent customer service on the free chain lubing. I hope if/when I do buy a motorcycle again I get such an offer as I really don't like to get my hands dirty :)

You managed to get a discount even on your service bill, that's really cool :thumbs up

Glad to see, you have removed that ugly - real ugly so called saree guard.

All the best and do keep updating your thread with everything!

Cheers

Thanks for this input. What you say is right that 300v is race spec oil but, it is commonly used on most road using superbikes too

Came across several reviews that say 300V is better than 7100 which is no less in terms of rave reviews that it gets too.

Any idea what exactly is the difference in both these oils (apart from what you already listed?)

From what I know or recall, 300V is designed for engines which operate near red-line whereas 7100 is for your day usage. I had put 300V in my R15 and wasn't very happy with the way it evaporated and my engine was coarse.

Hmm...Thanks for this feedback. I reckon will just have to experience it till 5000kms and see how the bike performs and decide course of action on which oil to use for 2nd service

Typically what are the tangible effects of engine oil? Can it be seen for below and is there anything else apart from this list? :

1. Clutch Operation
2. Gear Shift Operation
3. Engine Note/Feel
4. Acceleration???

Btw, during the service, Arif had reduced the throttle play. Now I don't have to wring the throttle much. It's a gentle twist and that's enough to plaster a smile on the face:D

Hi there.

It's normal, but not incurable.

Dunno if it was done on your service, but regardless, get a can of Brake cleaner spray (wurth is good).

Get in the habit of putting a few blasts on the calipers to remove dust BEFORE washing the bike.

It will get rid of the hissing noise, give you better bite, longer pad wear, etc., etc., general all-round motorcycle goodness.

Cheers

Ride Safe.

Yeah, people do use 300v a lot. But, I did not and would not budge from what is suggested by the book.

AFAIK, the components that make up these oils are different. The XXMAA and similarly named ones. The ones in the 7100 are standard ones, as mentioned by the manufactures whereas the ones in the 300v are specially designed and not generic ones. That is all that I understand as a layman.

I was in a similar dilemma so I emailed their motosport coordinator about the conditions we ride in and the specs to ask him what what would suit me more and he suggested the 7100 for road usage.

PFB the email communication:
==============================================
Hi Jon,

I have been using Motul 7100 on my Kawasaki Z800 2015.

Could you let me know what is the approximate drain interval for the Motul 7100 ?
The manual tells once in 12000 kms. Is this fine ? Or should I look at 300V for longer drain intervals ?

I ride through slow moving traffic in temperatures between 60 and 100 F, mostly between 80 and 90F. Temperature gauge is around the 210 deg F(100 deg C) mark most of the time.
==============================================

Hi XXXXXXX,

The 7100 was designed as a long drain interval to meet the specs found in your manual. This is the optimal oil to use in the type of riding you have described.

The 300V oil was designed for racing and when used in an everyday use application we recommend drain intervals to be around 5000-7000kms.

Best Regards

Jon MUTO
Motorsports Coordinator