Dave
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SuzukiSavage.com Rocks!
Posts: 18314
Camp Springs, Kentucky
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Tired of your Savage already?
The Versys-X is not really a "Touring" bike in my view - it is an "Adventure Touring" bike. Here is my view of the bike World:
Touring Bike - Designed for traveling long distances on the highway with lots of bodywork for weather protection, plenty of luggage and big comfy seats.
Sport Touring Bike - Designed for traveling on paved roads in comfort with weather protection and luggage....but with a size and shape that allows it to be more maneuverable than a pure touring bike. The design allows for spirited riding that approaches the performance of a Sport Bike.
Sport Bike - Designed lean and fast for performance riding. The bodywork is sleek, the seating position is aggressive, and the design is intended to provide for fast speeds. These resemble road racing motorcycles with the addition of lights/turns signals to make them street legal.
Dual Sport - These are designed to be dirt bikes that are road legal. The design favors off road riding more than the street performance, and most often they are single cylinder engines that provide lighter weight and more torque than a multi cylinder engine. These bikes are not ideal for traveling long distances on the highway, as they don't offer any weather protection and the engine is not very smooth.
Cruiser - The cruiser most often has a low seat, forward pegs, and handlebars up around chest/shoulder level. Most offer no weather protection...however there are some models with fairings and windshields. The Harley Sportster, Indian Scout and even the Suzuki Savage fit into this style.
Standard: This motorcycle is a design that most often resembles the basic motorcycle.......the classic motorcycle from 50 years ago. Retro bikes like the Kawasaki W800, Yamaha SR400, Royal Enfield Continental GT and Meteor, etc.
Naked Bike: These motorcycles are a modern version of the Standard motorcycle. The design is more modern and styling is very industrial looking.....they are not sleek looking.
Motard/Super Moto: These bikes are basically dirt bikes with street wheels/tires and lights/turn signals to make them street legal. Their purpose is aggressive riding on pavement - in a style that is like dirt tracking pavement . They offer no weather protection, the riders sits very upright, the engine focus is on performance - not good mpg or smooth cruising.
Versys 300-X: I had a little Kawasaki 250 Ninja a few years ago, and it was a wonderfully fun bike. The seating position was very comfortable for me, the weather protection was pretty good from the chest down, the little engine could cruise around the country roads calmly or blast down the interstate at 80mph all day long. The Verys 300 uses and updated engine of the 250 engine that I had, and it is a great little engine that is fully capable of getting you anywhere. A review that I read of the 300-X states that they are using the 300 Ninja engine - but they didn't change the transmission ratios between gears but added 3 teeth to the rear sprocket in an effort to provide lower speeds for dirt riding. The result is that when on the road the engine is spinning considerably faster.....they suggested if your use is mostly highway you should install a smaller rear sprocket to lower the engine rpm on the highway. The upright seating position appears to be comfortable. If you need luggage you can buy the factory bags - doing this greatly simplifies the installation and most often provides the ability to remove or attach the luggage with a key.
The Honda CB500X is a model similar to the Versys 300 and would provide more power and likely be more capable at highway speeds, The Suzuki SV650 has been a popular motorcycle for many years, Moto Guzzi has some nice bikes with shaft drive, .....there are a lot of potential motorcycles to buy and they are all fun! It has taken me many years of bike buying/selling to get what I currently own - but a new rider likely shouldn't be buying/riding the bikes I have......your riding needs are likely far different than mine.
What is your use of a motorcycle? Do you use it to commute in the city? Do you ride for travel or just for an afternoon of fun?
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