Given how touring is the national pastime of riders in India and how some might find a litre-class tourer a bit too much to handle, Kawasaki’s Versys 650 might just be what they’ve been looking for all this while
Story: Aninda Sardar
Photography: Sanjay Raikar
Of the 3.3 million kilometres of total roads, only about 6,50,000 km are actually fit for the country’s fast growing leisure motorcycling space. Now, this may sound small to you but when you consider that the total road network of a developed country like the UK is less than 5,00,00 km, things are put into perspective. Of course, the geographical size of our country has a lot to do with the number of kilometres but clearly there is no dearth of roads for motorcycle touring. And, indeed, two-wheeled touring is the national pastime of riders nationwide. For a long time there was nothing but the Enfield Bullet that served as the touring workhorse of such enthusiastic riders. Then came a sporadic spattering of machines that could venture beyond commuting or sporty riding and manage touring duties. Of late, however, the Indian leisure motorcycling market has seen the influx of purpose-built touring (adventure touring and cruising) motorbikes and the latest entrant into this growing touring range is Kawasaki’s Versys 650.
