The weirdest thing happened today. I belong to another forum chicagolandsportbikes and this one member who for lack of a better word is a collector of bikes recently said he got a Versys. So I contact him and ask if I could just come out and take a look at it just so I do not have to go through a hard sell at a dealer so he says he is free Saturday afternoon come that afternoon. So I call him and he actually said he had a little organized ride and that I was welcome to take the Versys on the ride. Huh? His brand new bike on a ride, did I hear right? I never even spoke to him in person till that day. He tells me he wants some miles put on the bike and I was more than welcome to do it.

My impressions: It had enough power to ride with the group mostly inline 600's and enough torque to get out of trouble in traffic. Riding position very good. The bike was nimble and true in the corners. It has a buzz not a vibration a Buell vibrates this buzzes. The gears are short this surprised me how quick it revved up and needed to be shifted.

The negatives: The mirrors suck and bar ends will not work. The seat was awful after about 50 miles

Overall I will definitely get one this fall when I have funds in order. It is a bike that did everything I want a bike to do with no overkill.

He should be joining this site and is a world of info in all things two wheeled.

Glad you got to put some miles on one Paladin. You have drank from the cup now there is no turning back.

A couple of other thoughts. I am a rather large gentleman 6'1 230-240 and the fit was fine. The Wind screen was not set for me and that was a bit of a fight at times. I would go with a Givi if you were going to run highway miles a lot.