The Blackbird#
The stablemate of my trusty old 4Runner, the Relic, is a 2018 Kawasaki Versys 650 LT -- the Blackbird. The Versys 650 (the name is a mashup of "versitile system") is Kawasaki's entry in the adventure-touring crossover space, and it does not disappoint. The Blackbird has 2 main jobs for me: occasional across-the-nation touring, and transporting me to hiking trailheads of the Rocky Mountain states (making the transport as excellent as the hike in many cases).
Add-ons for functionality, touring optimization, and safety:
- engine guard crash cage
- T-Rex-Racing center stand
- alloy rear/top luggage rack
- ST2 Systems smart modules
- brake light strober module
- self-cancelling turn signal module
- engine-braking & down-shifing sensing brake light module
- 48 LED brake, tail, and turn-signal rear light bar
- 28 liter hard saddlebag set
- hand guards
Winston Churchill said of horse riding: "no hour of life is lost that is spent in the saddle" -- precisely how I feel about time in the saddle of a motorcycle. To ride is to create a union of driver and raw, beautiful machine that demands being fully in the moment.
--The Blackbird at NCAR in the foothills over Boulder. I usually have the hard saddlebags off for "around the neighborhood" joy rides like this.--