The Good, Bad and Ugly

ER-6n: The Bad-ass commuter bike

When I first saw the ER-6, I was pretty impressed with the Manga-styled design theme. This is one bad-ass looking bike.
It reminded me a bit of the Z1000, but was even more radical than it's big brother.
But riding it, I soon realised the two had very little in common.
For a 650, the ER-6 is pretty good. With 70hp on tap - the bike will exceed 200kmh if urged.
However, speeds above 150km/h are best left to those with very strong forearms.

The lack of wind protection means the bike is pretty hard to ride at high speeds.
Although the bike will cruise happily all day at 140-150km/h, the toll on the rider is more severe.
Be prepared for stiff neck muscles and make sure you wear your full fetish leathers and an airtight helmet on long journeys.
Otherwise - the constant blasting and negligible wind protection will have you stopping more often than your buddies are willing to tolerate.

This bike is actually meant as a budget machine - hence it doesn't have any upside down forks - so don't expect ZX-6 like handling.

The Tokico brakes are also not on par with the Nissins on some of the bigger Kwaks.
Some of my buddies who rode even complained that the brakes were 'scary' for the amount of power the machine produces.
At nearly RM50,000 it doesnt make much sense to buy the ER-6 here. While it was meant as a cheap commuter in most countries, the motorcycle tax structure here does it no favours.
Although it's simplicity would make it a good bike for beginners and the ladies, if you add in a couple of grands more you'll already be in 600 4-inline territory - which is much more 'interesting'.

ER-6f: The ugly beginner's superbike

This bike is similar to the ER-6n but has a cheap plastic fairing bolted on to it's frame.
The bike I tested was just a few months old but already - the horrible plasticky thing resonated at certain engine speeds.
Both bikes are virtually identical except for minor differences in geometry and weight.
The fairing makes the ER-6f much more practical than it's naked sibling of course. On a back to back ride - I was astonished by the difference in speed between the bikes.

The ER-6f feels like it can notch up speed much faster than the naked version. This bike is also much more relaxed at higher cruising speeds, and is pretty comfortable for travelling long distance. However, the drawback is that the fairing makes the bike much uglier than it's naked sibling. It's a case of less is best. And the fairing took away some of the ER-6ns nice detailing. In the United States - the ER-6f is known as the Ninja 650r and is considered by many to be the beginner's superbike. However, with it's nearly RM50,000 price tag here - it doesnt make much sense. It's just too plain for that price tag.
And the only reason why you would want to buy the ER-6f is if you're too short to ride the Versys anyways.

Versys: The do goody all-rounder

You would think that a tall bike with long forks would be a little ungainly in terms of handling.
Well, think again. This bike defies the laws of physics. It corners well, can go quite fast and at the same time has incredible ground clearance.
It shares the same engine as the ER-6 pair, but not many of their other characteristics.
For starters, it's dual purpose nature means you can ride the Versys crouched like a superbike, or upright like a supermotard.

It handles really well in both positions. In fact, I liked it much better than it's 'sportier' siblings, because of the tremendous versatility in riding style.
On a weekend run to Genting, I rode it supermotard all the way up, sitting upright and putting my foot down at the corners. The next weekend, I was riding it tucked down like a GP rider on the PLUS highway. The 70hp engine produces enough grunt to keep the bigger superbikes in sight, if not enough to overtake them.
In town, the bike also shines.

The high ground clearance puts the mirrors above car-mirror level, so you can cruise through traffic even faster than the 'kapcai' mob.
In really heavy traffic jams, the long suspension travel means you can climb tall kerbs (even with a passenger) to make your way through the urban jungle.
You can also ride through potholes without slowing down - which is a plus with KLs moon-like road surfaces.
It would be really hard to find a single bike that could do so many things for the RM47,000 price tag.

In the Malaysian biking landscape - where good bikes cost an entire fortune to own because of ridiculous taxes- this would be the bike to have.
In fact, we liked it so much that it was rarely left in the parking lot. Even the smallest errand became an excuse to take the bike for a spin.
If we were to be nitpicky - we would say the headlamp is a bit ugly and the brakes need a bit more stopping power.
But other than that - this bike is as good as it gets in the middleweight segment. Highly recommended.

 SPECIFICATIONS
  Kawasaki Versys 650
  Engine: Liquid-cooled, 4-stroke Parallel Twin, 649cc, DOHC 8 Valves
  Max power: 64PS @ 8,000rpm
  Max torque: 61Nm @ 6,800rpm
  Transmission: 6-speed, return
  Brakes: Dual semi-floating 300mm petal discs (F); single 220mm petal disc
  Dry weight: 181kg
  Price: RM46,900 retail