I've been getting a fairing buzz on the left side of my bike. I went through and put foam insulation tape in all contact points. For example between the fairing and the black plastic dash pieces.

After doing this - I stated noticing that the fairing tips at the top of the head lights were sticking up about an 1/8" inch or more. I didn't think what I did caused this problem. The screws at the top of the fairing should have brought the tips back down. I removed the screws and carefully inspected the screw holes. The fairing was definitely seated and the foam tape was not the problem.

Here's a photo of the bike when I first bought it - you can see a shadow forms under the fairing tips.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3029/2564309589_7c422a6ac7_o.jpg

The problem I believe is that the mounting posts don't go through the fairing as they do on the top two screw posts. The posts actually protrude through and the screws push the fairing down. This is not the case on the front screws near the headlight. The fairing in that section is sandwiched between the screw and the post. Thus the fairing can't seat properly.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3035/2565117798_8084624b44_m.jpg

I think the fairing should seat all the way down. Kawasaki has installed large foam pads underneath each fairing tip which should help to reduce fairing buzz. Which makes me think - this should have been seated. I used a 1/2" spade bit and a scrap of wood to center the bit and bore out the screw holes so the mounting post would protrude through and push the fairing tips down.

I think it looks much better than having the tips hanging out there.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3159/2564290283_762d45cc21_m.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3191/2564294589_94edb63cd9_m.jpg

Great find! I did the same to mine when I flipped the windscreen. I didn't think much about at the time...

I just got back from a ride and can confirm it causes no problems whatsoever and it actually has improved the fairing structure - meaning less noise and buzz and even eliminated in many parts of the RPM range.

Now if I could learn to spell before hitting the 'submit' button.

Bear on a Bicycle - I'll give you the credit for the find, if I can take one for the documentation. :D

I just got back from a ride and can confirm it causes no problems whatsoever and it actually has improved the fairing structure - meaning less noise and buzz and even eliminated in many parts of the RPM range.

Now if I could learn to spell before hitting the 'submit' button.

Bear on a Bicycle - I'll give you the credit for the find, if I can take one for the documentation. :D



No credit for me necessary! :thumb::thumb:

As far as the spelling goes, firefox has a neat spell checker feature & flags things as I type. Ha! it flagged 'firefox'... :D

I get a slight "buzz" at low RPMs occasionally. This was super true early on as I found the bike would vibrate way too much. Not only was the fairing up front "buzzing" but my ass and feet were feeling the itch. :)

The 200+kms in the vibration is more of a rumble now, though I do hear the fairing "buzz" occasionally. (not today for example but I did yesterday)

I'll have to take a close look at the nose area and see if I missed any mis-alignment.

I'll have to take a close look at the nose area and see if I missed any mis-alignment.


That is what I thought - that I misaligned the holes. Because when I took the fairings off to add the foam tape - I notice the top screw holes near the guages needed to fit over the mounting posting. It seemed to snap in once I moved the fairing enough for the post to fit through. I thought the gap was caused by not getting the fairing over the post.

If you look at the bottom screw holes near the headlight - you'll see that the post don't go through the holes and this is the issue. If you don't mind the tips of the fairings up in there air, then it's fine. If you want a nice smooth look to the front of your Versys, then drilling out the screw holes so the post go through like the top screws - this is the way to go.

I find the fairing is now much quieter now - I think the tips were pressed closer to the black plastic cockpit cover by the wind while in motion and may have caused some of that buzz. I can't scientifically prove this - just a hunch. YMMV

OK guys... I'm confused :confused: Sorry :(
I think I need a little clarification on this...
or, better yet, pics of where you used the spade bit and how/ where you bored out the screw hole.

I just looked into doing this, and I'm not sure what I should be doing to get the fairing tips down like you mention. I know I'm an idiot... no need to tell me. I just don't want to start drilling and screw things up on my brand new ride.

If you could give me more info it would be greatly appreciated :cheers:

**EDIT** Nevermind... I figured it out. BTW, did I mention I'm an idiot? :D

Aren't we all? :D

Glad to read you have this figured out - looks much better this way.

The bee buzzing is a standard non-option extra on Versyses / Versiii. It is because they only spend 0.00000000000039cents on stupid plastic fasteners instead of the horrendously un-affordable 0.0000000004 cents on a proper nut and bolt. All you do is remove the plasitc bits, sling the stupid plastic fasteners in the bin where they belong, and replace them with some nice stainless steel dome-headed bolts and nuts. Result: quiet, smooth running and good looks. Sorry I can't add photos of mine, I haven't worked out how to add photos to posts yet.

Yip - that seems to be part of the answer. I've replaced several of those horrible plastic fasteners with proper nuts and bolts. Another way to save a buck - between the snap fastener and the labor that it takes to install them.

Hey gasgas,

Do you know the size of the nuts and bolts? I could take mine out and match them, just wondering if you (or anyone really) know\remember. Thanks.

They are M6 x 12. Here's what I did.

http://gallery.kawasakiversys.com/data/500/thumbs/100_0093.jpg
http://gallery.kawasakiversys.com/data/500/thumbs/100_0092.jpg
http://gallery.kawasakiversys.com/data/500/thumbs/100_0091.jpg

The photos are in the member gallery and are much larger there.

Thanks dude, I appreciate it.:thumb:

I'm about to do this fix because it sounds like Ocean has went to the root of the problem:clap:. I've foamed and refitted like everybody else and fooled myself that this is it. Well it was not. I will post results later today. Kawasaki should pay some of you guys for their design short comings. Although they did create an awesome bike! Later V-Nation

I think it's a great bike but coming from a BMW where everything is battened down, wiring harnesses are pefectly covered with cloth tape and the welds are hidden and beyond exemplary - it's hard for me to not make comparisons. But, I only paid about $7k for this bike compared to a BMW F800S (the closest replacement to my F650Cs) that goes for around $12k here in Canada. I'll save the 5000 dollars and farkle the crap out of my bike and improve the fairings myself.

In addition to drilling out the post for the fairing tips, I replaced the plastic pop pins that hold the black finish piece around the gauge cluster with some S.S. 6/32 machine screws and aircraft nuts. I also replaced the same on the body trim pieces just below the seat. After riding all weekend the only thing I notice now is a slight buzz at 4K RPM..I mean slight, not anything like before. It seems to be coming from underneath the gauge cluster. All in all 100% better, and the feeling from the handlebars is very smooth. See the pics below of the attachment points.
http://http://forums.kawasakiversys.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=673&stc=1&d=1218409425

http://forums.kawasakiversys.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=674&stc=1&d=1218409426

http://http://forums.kawasakiversys.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=675&stc=1&d=1218409426

http://forums.kawasakiversys.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=676&stc=1&d=1218409426

VERY ODD...I removed both body panels to install KLR turn sugnals and SW-Motech crash bars and buzzing has stopped. Go figure. I will say the factory really torqued those screws very tight .

Made the fairing mod last night and it worked great. I gauged the standoff, the screw flange and was a bit concerned about using a 1/2" spade bit because the screw flange is right at 1/2" also. I was afraid it might pull thru. I used a 15/32" twist bit on my drill press after I centered the hole with a bit that fit the hole exactly (I don't remember what size it was). Anyway, I got the same result that the others got with the fairing now seated on the headlight properly and the buzz is gone.

Dear Guys. i'm a new member, just registered. I'm a biker from italy and since june i've a new kawasaki verys. reading all your post i've understood that i've same problems of you: noise due to vibrations in front between 2.000 and 4.000 rpm. i've immediatly found the reason of this noise and it's a little steel ball into the instrumentation. Kawasaki customercare knows that (since at least 2006) but up to know they didn't do anything to solve this problem. This is the problem also of many italian biker and now i'm fighting with kawasaki customercare to try to get a solution: a complete digital instrumentation would be a great solution...

All these proposals to get Kawasaki to do anything are nothing more than us showing our frustrations that the manufacturer can make a bike that runs so well but could be so much better if they just spent a few pennies / cents doing the job properly. So long as forums such as this exist, the manufacturers will be reading them and observing that owners can fix faults themselves. So why should they bother to change their manufacturing, when owners will do their job for them? You will not get anything out of Kawasaki. I was charged a ridiculous amount of money by a Kawasaki dealer for the first service. I wrote to Kawasaki to complain and all I got was a letter stating in very plain English that the first service is free. The dealer would not let me have the bike back until I paid them: I think it was about £135. That is for changing the oil and filter. Of course I will never go anywhere near a Kawasaki dealer again. So anyone who thinks they are going to get any sort of compensation out of Kawasaki had better think again.

BMW F650s are in my opinion and experience a lot worse build quality than the Versys. I used to have a F650 and went on the owners forum. The F650 build quality was a joke, a lot worse than Kawasaki. Most owners would have to change the steering head bearings every 12,000 miles, and the wheel bearings every 18,000 miles. I had to replace the rear wheel at 19,000 miles because it had corroded away to a dangerous state. Rear brake master cylinders weren't made properly: the rear brake would stick on, wearing out the pads and warping the disc. The fault was that the master cylinder wasn't made properly and needed replacing or if you knew what you were doing you could drill a hole as it should have been drilled by the factory. The spark plug leads had metal covers that shorted the spark out to earth and the engine stopped. These are all common faults, and some of them are very expensive to fix. Go and look at the owners forum and you will see what I mean- http://www.f650.co.uk/ Do that and you will be glad that all you have to do on your Versys is throw away stupid plastic fasteners and replace them with nuts and bolts, get a proper wind shield, and front and rear mudguards. Buy a F650 and you will be spending £1000 every year just getting it to the standard that it should have been built in the first place.
I don't know. What are we supposed to do? Get a Royal Enfield and you will be fixing it every other weekend that you are not riding it, get a Harley and you will be polishing it a lot - (every night) in order to take it out on the occasional sunny day.
Perhaps we should just get a Versys, do the fastener fix, go out and ride it. Talking of which, why am I sitting here writing this when I have a Versys in the garage?????
Cheerio, I'm off :D

I own a Royal Enfield and a Harley, believe me gasgas knows of what he speaks! Dom

Oh. Now we have a genuine real 'I'm going to get rid of my Versys' problem. I set off down the motorway and the engine slowly died. First it reduced its power. Then it coughed and spluttered and I thought it would recover but it didn't. It ground to a halt. I diagnosed a flat battery and called soninlaw with a car and jump leads. We got it going and I hobbled home, stopping every 2 miles to recharge the battery. Then I took it to the Kawasaki dealer who diagnosed that the regulator had burned out. Of course it took the wiring harness with it. Luckily it was still in warranty. It has done 4000 miles, and so far as I am concerned it is lifed. Thats the end of it. They showed me the burnt out regulator. It was manufactured with steel electrical wiring connectors and was placed just in front of the rear wheel, where all the water spray from the road will get to the electric connectors. The connectors had corroded, gone rusty, producing a high electrical resistance and melted the regulator body and burnt the wiring harness. If they think I am going to pay out £780 every 4000 miles just because they can't be bothered to make a waterproof connector using copper, just in front of the rear wheel, they have got another think coming.
So the Versys is out of my garage and out of my life just as soon as the first sunny day comes along. No more Kawasakis for me.
What on earth bike am I supposed to get?

If you had to take your bike to the shop for that, don't buy a Enfield!!! You would be at the dealer everyday! Good luck on your next bike. Dom

The point is that you don't expect a Japanese machine to burn out, 4000 miles from new. The bike costs proper money. I believe that you can accept that a Royal Enfield, new or old, will pack up now and again - they are cheap and pseudo-British. I wouldn't have taken the Versys to the shop if it was out of warranty, I can 'easily' do that work, but why should I have to work on their crap workmanship? After that episode, I went to the Triumph shop and asked the workshop staff about the wiring. All the plugs and sockets are encased in double silicone waterproof connectors. The regulator has a cast-in cable which has one of these connectors about 10cm away from the main box, and this plugs into the rest of the wiring loom. That was on a Tiger 1050 which I rode and fell in lust with. I won't buy one because it is one of the many '140mph is not enough' bikes. I will wait for a 3 cylinder 675 Tiger. Just as I am waiting for a KTM that you can get on without using a step ladder. I think that 100mph is fast enough thank you and I don't want to be paying for tax, insurance, tyres and so on on a bike that is too fast and I will hopefully never use to its full extent. There just doesn't seem any point. I had a Honda VFR 800 for 2 years, and only used full throttle twice. Lovely bike, but pointless expense. On the Isle of Man we see the results of crashing at high speed, and I don't want to contribute. One guy hit a wall, bounced off it across the road and snapped a telegraph pole in half. If I am going to crash I would like a sort of 50/50 chance of survival. Which means a top speed of a bit over 100, which the Versys is, exactly. When it is running.

My reply wasn't meant as derogatory. I was sincerely wishing you luck on your next bike. Dom

Thanks Dom, No offence taken. The reality is probably that I will keep the Versys, 'cos 'er indoors is quite happy that we have loads of thousands for a new kitchen (which I will fit, preventing me from riding for 2 months), but of course no money for a motorbike..
I know that I will enjoy riding it, but there will always be that nagging feeling of excitement, not knowing where I am going to sleep that night. I'll have to take my toothbrush, pyjamas and a healthy credit card with me every time I go out on it.
Interestingly there is a motorbike ( a Sunbeam) on ebay that was first registered the day after I was born. Now that is tempting. But, as She Who Must Be Obeyed says, we can't afford it. Strange that, since I have the money in the bank, and I earned it. Thing with a vintage bike is that you know it intimately, and you can set the points by eye, cos you know what 15 thou looks like, and you don't need special tools.

sounds like the Sunbeam is the bike for you!