SUSPENSION AND RIDE

The Ducati is fitted with Sachs semi-active suspension, and the truth of the matter is that for most of the time it provides a sublime riding experience. Over the years the phrase ‘magic-carpet’ has been overused to death, but only in recent times have we realised the bikes it was attributed to don’t even come close to deserving it. This is the genuine article, a ride that adjusts itself constantly to preset, adjustable riding conditions, reacting to road-surfaces and situations. You can have solo, solo with luggage, or pillion and pillion with luggage presets, among others. It’s pretty cool to feel it adjust underneath you – that’s some Streethawk shit right there! It’s not quite as good as the Aprilia Caponord’s fully-active kit, but still the stuff dreams are made of. There’s a ‘but’ of course, and that’s during hard riding. It’s not quite as accomplished in this area. There are moments where you’re concentrating on being an arse and you can feel it changing its mind beneath you, and that can be a tad disconcerting now and then. However, as most won’t be ridden in this fashion, perhaps it’s a moot point at the same time. The Versys has a traditional set-up that has its own benefits, one of which is familiarity. The chassis as a whole helps by feeling very care free, and the suspension has a set of defined parameters that you get to learn and understand as you spend more time on it. There are no surprises, it reacts as you’d expect on the gas, on the brakes, in a turn and Kawasaki has graced the bike with a superb base-setting that deals with almost anything – bar the worst surfaces. The big difference between the pair is that with the Versys you learn how the suspension works, whereas with the Ducati you have to learn to trust it to do its job. High-tech kit or not, it’s a close call in this department.

Kawasaki 8/10

Ducati 9/10