Killer_kaw

Welcome to the forum 

Thanks for the input fellas. I'm just gonna have to get out and test ride one. Seems there's only a handful of dealers that let you do that. Sure would be nice if Kawasaki did demo days. 

Most bar end mirrors do fold in. I like em and have tried quite a few. Best style I've used look like this 

Welcome to the forum. Looks like you'll have some great weather tomorrow 

Welcome to the forum. I'm pretty new here as well. That's a beautiful machine you got there

I've had my sights set on a ninja 1000 for spring time. Always been a Kawasaki fan and love how simple the factory hard bags are. While I was out getting new rubber over the weekend I threw my leg over the Versys 650 and liked it immediately. I have no experience with this bike nor do I know anyone who owns one. What's the good bad and ugly? Honestly I've never owned a street bike less than 750cc. Don't figure that's an issue for a commuter but ?? On paper it puts out about half the power of my warmed over zrx but it's got way more power than I typically use. Surely someone here has been on one. 

21 minutes ago, EOdesmo said:

It was indeed a great day to be on 2 wheels.  Only had 3 hrs so I jumped on 9>145>556>7>148>9>147> home.  They're finishing up details on 556 but paving is completed. So nice!

Gary, nice meeting you last weekend at the BP in Clarington.  Your Kaw looks great in the pics and even better in person. nice build.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good meeting you as well. Definitely had a nice couple weekends to ride. Couldn't believe you recognized the bike from pics here. Your compliments are much appreciated. Nice Ktm by the way. Love the sound of that thing. We passed your buddy on 536 as we headed home and that little thing rips. 

30 minutes ago, motocat12 said:

@Killer_kaw I've been planning on those. What tire did you come from? comparison?

Seem stable at speed,turn is about the same and pretty good grip but jury is still out. Only put about 150 miles on them today. Coming from Pirelli Angel GT. Avons seem to ride a little softer but still feel connected to the road and have more grip. Biggest difference I noticed was breaking traction. Avons will give you a good pucker when they break loose and the angels give a little warning. I think I'm gonna like them and the price was great. $170 set at IP

Mounted up a set of Avon 3D Ultra sport tires and put on a set of Oxford premium heated grips. Then broke in those new tires on 555. 

Would've been a great route. Wish I would've made the whole thing but I had to cut it short. Roads were in great shape and weather was fantastic. Got a pretty late start after fetching some new rubber getting home and mounting them up. 

Change of plans. Checking tire pressure this morning I'm below wear bars. Guess my trip to Hannibal 536 claimed what was left of it. Off to IP I go. Hope to get the ride in this afternoon. 

Heading south out of new concord in the morning. Rix Mills rd south out of town-313-146-salt creek dr to Duncan falls-60-old river rd in blue rock-669-555-78 into Nelsonville-278-56-374 past old mans cave-664 thru Logan and most likely 22/40 back. Any known issues with road conditions are appreciated and riders welcome. 

Cleaned the bike up a bit this morning,checked fluids and pressure. After just shy of 300miles of twisty asphalt today to be sure the tire pressure was to my liking I then needed to cinch up my chain. Running hard and especially engine brake really seem to stretch that joker. 

Valve adjustment 

also scored a new to me set of rims for the zrx. Will allow me to run a 180 rear tire. 170 series getting harder to find in a sport tire

I guess maybe I shouldn't of posted that one up. It's one of my ways home from work when I ride in. Figure when you travel a road all the time you don't think of that right away. I remember when I was a kid we use to ride our ten speeds along 658 and thought it was awesome. If I caught my kids out riding some of these state routs on a bicycle now I'd choke em. 

Thanks to all for the info. Gonna stick with the good stuff. I took a ride up to mid-Ohio Tuesday and after drooling all over a couple of spring prospects the zrx still had me giggling like a school kid on the way home. I think it deserves some quality rubber. 

The weight,suspension and frame geometry is pretty close to my zrx on paper and stock it handled pretty darn good. I'm sure there will be forums out there dedicated to these bikes and there will be plenty of ideas to improve handling if needed. Little things on the Rex like flipping the eccentrics to raise the tail and shorten wheelbase as well as lower bars to weight the forks a bit make huge differences. Did have to raise my pegs a bit after feeling my boots touch down a bit. those old school double cradle frames can be a bit wide and cause a little clearance issues. That sure is a good looking bike. 

I like that a lot. I'd have to slap on some bar end mirrors and tidy that tail up a bit though. The best part of this style of bike is you can really make it your own with a few mods. 

Scorpion ninja 

Good to hear you found a way home. If you can charge that battery when you get home do that and meter voltage. After that fire up the bike and check voltage. If voltage drops while running it's not the battery. From there you can meter the voltage at the stator pigtail it should be 40-70 ish no mater which of the three wires you check. If all checks out its pointing to the rec/reg You may already know that stuff but if not I hope it helps. Those 650's are pretty solid and don't usually let you down. Have a safe trip home. 

Weekday construction only on 83 (8am to 3pm) so weekends it's open. It's south of otseego so you can also pick up 93 south there it's a fun road freshly paved. From there route 40 east will bring you back to 83. Also new hope rd connects 93 to 83 it's a great little road but not marked well and has some very tight turns. 

Well that all sounds pretty negative. Not concerned with tread life but the poor wet and cold performance and qc issues scare me a bit. Maybe I'll just stick with what I know works. No need to impress a spring buyer I'm not ready to let go of this one yet. But I'm sure it'll spend a lot more time parked next year. 

Thanks for the info I think I'm gonna give them a shot. Just wondered if anyone has had any crazy handling issues with them. About $160 shipped I figure why not. 

18 minutes ago, TimTheAzn said:

My bike had a conti attack (i think thats what it was called) on the rear and it was the biggest bitch to de-bead off the wheel.

Unfortunately I'm used to that. The only down fall for me with the Angel gt is I mount my own tires an they bead very tight. By far the hardest tire I've had to Bead up. 

Sadly I may have to put fresh rubber on my zrx before this season ends. Plan on a new bike in the spring so not sure how much action it will see next year. Been running Pirelli angel gt's and there excellent but don't figure I'll ever get the use out of another set so I was looking at a cheaper alternative.  Any experience with the continentals?

No problem. I was headed out solo close to the direction you were and figured why not. Was a great day for it aside from the crosswinds across the ridges. Maybe we meet up another day. 

If your up for riding with a stranger I can meet up at the gas station in new concord. Intersection of 83/40.