In the last decade or so I've slowed down as a rider and a person and ditched the one-piece leathers and knee-sliders for textiles and the odd bit of two-up riding and touring as well as commuting.
Now, with a nagging better-half who always wants to get on the back of whatever I've got in the garage, a bike needs to cut the mustard two-up. So, let's see how the Versys copes.
First, an easy test: meet Genevieve Brooking. This is my god-daughter. Off-spring of my friends Dave Brooking and Jayne Cunningham, she's been brought up in a biking household and often goes out on the back of her dad's machines - including a Kawasaki ZX-10 from the late 1980s, a Honda VFR750 from the 1990s, and even a 2008 Suzuki GSX-R1000 with go-faster Yoshimura bits...
She's now eight and gave her feelings on the Versys when I took her for a ride - how did it compare to daddy's bikes? She said: "This is my favourite bike to ride ever! I like how I can sit comfortably on the seat and I can wave at my friends when I go past them." Genevieve fitted snugly around both panniers with her legs and with feet firmly on the pillion pegs there's also not a massive noticeable difference with her on board, but then she's small...time to go from aged eight to aged 45 and go from around 26 kilos to around 62 kilos with Rebeca Romero Cavero on the back, who loves riding on the back of my 2002 BMW R1150 RT.
Tale of the tape...
Denne historien er fra August 2023-utgaven av Motorcycle Sport & Leisure.
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Denne historien er fra August 2023-utgaven av Motorcycle Sport & Leisure.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Honda CRF1100L ES Africa Twin
Without panniers he was adventuring nowhere - so at least Bertie's got something sorted now
BMW R 12 nineT
Chad gets a track day surprise when BMW's R 12 nineT turns out to be surprisingly fun on track
Test fleet: VOGE 525 DSX
After testing the Voge's abilities on a long ride, it was time to take it to the Cotswolds and see how it would manage on the rougher stuff
Portuguese Perambulations
Nearly over before it had begun, a brief workshop stint allows Spain and Portugal to be explored
Highway to Heaven
Three friends take on the challenge of riding the length of Canada, from Vancouver in the southwest to Inuvik in the north. The road is long, the conditions merciless, and wildfires are tearing through the country. To top it all off, the final leg of the journey is the ultimate test of gravel riding skills, nerves, and courage - it's the legendary Dempster Highway...
Battlaxes at the ready!
We tend to take tyres for granted, never really looking at them in any detail, or at how they work, just hoping that they keep us shiny side up at all times. Even in the wet
Ducati Riding Experience
When I rode the Ducati DesertX to France last year, I did have a bit of an explore on some easy fire roads and gentle green lanes in the wilds of the Médoc area, but was left with the feeling that, had I the experience, the DesertX would have been capable of taking me along some more extreme trails to some even more exciting places. If only there was a way of finding out just how well the Italian adventure bike could cope with some more extreme terrain...
Four pot flyer
Many said that sports bikes, and particularly bikes in the traditional Supersports class that was populated by 600cc inline fours, were dead. Maybe they spoke too soon?...
Eastern adventurer
With an increasing interest in smaller capacity adventure bikes, the market expands with a new entry
First Time Lucky?
It's ironic that the first all-new MV Agusta model to hit the marketplace right after Italy's No.1 trophy brand was acquired by Austrian giant Pierer Mobility, owner of off-road titans KTM, should be the company's first dual-purpose model of the modern era, powered by MV's all-new 931cc three-cylinder engine that's destined to form the basis of a whole series of new models in coming months and years.
