Davy F
Registered user
It was an 05:35 start on Wednesday the 20th of April for me so that I could catch my 07:10 flight from Belfast to Manchester, England. On arrival there, I got a taxi to take me the 25 miles to a town called Rochdale where sitting outside the dealers (Robinsons) was my brand spanking new Kawasaki Versys.
I met Kris (that's him in the first pic) who I had been dealing with over the phone for the past number of days and we got down to business sorting out the monies/registration/insurance etc. By 11:30, the deal was done, adjustments carried out, Zumo 660 fitted and I was off on the road.
The weather was fantastic for mid April and I kept off the motorway network as much as possible, stopping for lunch at a lovely country pub. Fed and watered, back on the road and made my way to the Lake District in Cumbria which is a really beautiful part of England. I stopped in a town called Keswick where there is a cracking sweetshop as I knew my lovely wife would like a block of hand made fudge (I get a new bike, she gets a bit of fudge
). An ice cream for myself to help cool me down was needed, then back on the bike for the final leg of the journey towards Stranrear in Scotland where I would get the ferry home to Northern Ireland.
I did stop again to relieve my butt and I can see why many complain about the seat of the Versys. However, my BMW R1200GS that I had a few years ago was no better and buying a Sargent saddle was the best modification I did on that machine. Hopefully, Sargent are considering bringing one out for the Versys. However, I digress.
I reached Stranrear at 19:15 and filled the tank after covering 239 miles from Rochdale (58mpg). The ferry sailed on time and two hours after that I was back on home soil. Another 12 miles later and I pulled up at my house at 22:35.
A rather full day and I could have had the bike shipped over for about the same amount of money that it cost me to go get it. But this way, I had fun and I guess a bit of a bonding session with the new bike.
Am I happy ?
Ohhhhh yes !!
I met Kris (that's him in the first pic) who I had been dealing with over the phone for the past number of days and we got down to business sorting out the monies/registration/insurance etc. By 11:30, the deal was done, adjustments carried out, Zumo 660 fitted and I was off on the road.
The weather was fantastic for mid April and I kept off the motorway network as much as possible, stopping for lunch at a lovely country pub. Fed and watered, back on the road and made my way to the Lake District in Cumbria which is a really beautiful part of England. I stopped in a town called Keswick where there is a cracking sweetshop as I knew my lovely wife would like a block of hand made fudge (I get a new bike, she gets a bit of fudge
). An ice cream for myself to help cool me down was needed, then back on the bike for the final leg of the journey towards Stranrear in Scotland where I would get the ferry home to Northern Ireland.
I did stop again to relieve my butt and I can see why many complain about the seat of the Versys. However, my BMW R1200GS that I had a few years ago was no better and buying a Sargent saddle was the best modification I did on that machine. Hopefully, Sargent are considering bringing one out for the Versys. However, I digress.
I reached Stranrear at 19:15 and filled the tank after covering 239 miles from Rochdale (58mpg). The ferry sailed on time and two hours after that I was back on home soil. Another 12 miles later and I pulled up at my house at 22:35.
A rather full day and I could have had the bike shipped over for about the same amount of money that it cost me to go get it. But this way, I had fun and I guess a bit of a bonding session with the new bike.
Am I happy ?
Ohhhhh yes !!
