2019 Kawasaki Versys 1000 LT SEKawasaki St-Hippolyte, Quebec —  For those motorcycle engineers looking to test suspension systems, let me offer you a bit of time- and cost-saving advice. There’s no need to create complicated chassis dynos to replicate all the cracks, crevices and undulations the world’s roads will throw at your new products. Nor do you need to construct, as so many of you have done, multi-faceted test tracks around the world, their roadways emulating the most troubled tarmacs — the most nefarious reputed to be Belgian cobblestone — on the planet. And there’s absolutely no need to trek all the way to the far-flung steppes of Siberia to find pavement perdition. Nope, all you gotta do is plunk your bike in Quebec’s Laurentians and you’re good to go torture testing.Don’t bother asking specifically where because pretty much anywhere will do. St-Jerome is all huge frost heaves and giant craters. Estoril specializes in longitudinal cracks that will swallow a chopper front tire. And Lord, by the time you hit Saint Alphonse Rodriguez — you know the locals take their religion seriously when they name their town after a medieval Spanish Jesuit priest — it feels like Quebec’s highway department is deliberately trying to bend rims. If it’s north of Montreal and west of Trois Rivieres, you’re pretty much guaranteed it’s the worst road in the world. This, of course, makes La Belle Province the perfect place to test a motorcycle whose major year-over-year revision is enhanced suspension, which, if you have not yet guessed what I have been leading up to, perfectly describes Kawasaki’s Versys 1000 LT SE.Now, the Versys 1000 has always had a lot going for it — a smooth, silky 1,043-cc four-cylinder engine, excellent fairing protection and lithe handling. And, truth be told, there is a little more to 2019’s updates than just suspension improvement, an entire raft of new electronic goodies added this year, stretching from cruise control system and automatic cornering lights (that shine brighter the more you lean over) to upgraded traction control, “intelligent” anti-lock brakes and something called Kawasaki Corner Management Function. The big news, however the only thing anyone is talking about is Kawasakis Electronic Controlled Suspension. The same kind of adjustable suspension seen on higher-end BMWs, Kawasakis version is particularly sophisticated, but, after you set those basic settings, the LT continues to monitor the suspensions every movement and makes minute adjustments every millisecond. In other words, even after you set your desired ride quality, KECS continues to alter the suspension parameters according to speed and bump size to optimize ride and/or handling. Too trick!So, how effective is it?Very, in fact, the KECS upgrade completely worthy of the many accolades its garnering. Sport mode, for instance, is perfect for smooth, twisty roads, but thanks to KECSs ability to constantly alter resistance does make it somewhat passable even in La Belle Province. Road proved much more sympathetic, still firm enough that one could play silly buggers but without the forearm jarring compression damping. Rain, meanwhile dialled the suspension all the way back, providing the softest ride, though the lack of rebound damping did have it occasionally flouncing about like an overstuffed 1969 Ford F-150 riding on original shocks.All that said, knowledgeable bikers will probably be ready to put pen to paper or, more accurately, fingertips to keyboard telling me that switching to Road and Rain mode also decreases the engines power output/throttle response; not so much in former, but dramatically so (about 25 per cent) in the latter.So, what do you do if you want the super squishy Rain mode suspension married to Sport modes maximum power? Well, you simply toggle to Kawasakis custom Rider setting that lets you meld superbike throttle response with Gold Wing suppleness. OK, that may be doable, but better perhaps is to, as I did, marry Sports engine and traction control calibrations with softish compression damping, but firmer rebound damping. Then I just left KECS alone.And therein lies the sole caveat about Kawasakis indeed, everyones electronic suspension system. Once youve gotten over the novelty of flipping between modes or constantly customizing your suspension, one tends to find one baseline adjustment and just leave it there. Oh, maybe a few inveterate button pushers continue to juggle their ride quality, but most people just find their favourite compromise and then be done with it.What they will use, however, on a much more frequent basis indeed, what makes all this electronic control truly worthwhile is the electronic spring preload adjustment. Indeed, it is so frequently fiddled with that it has its own button on the left handlebar, the spring preload adjuster allows the rider to compensate for different loads a passenger, luggage, etc. at the flip of a switch. Considering how
Origin: Motorcycle Review: 2019 Kawasaki Versys 1000 LT SE