Moto Morini X-Cape 649 Final Ride vlog

[@ashermil]

I share your feelings on the 650 engine and its 180* crank: it’s docile around town (assuming good fueling), but fun to wind the snot out of! I like its revvy midrange punch and intake snort, and it’s nice to have an alternative to the pile of 270* cranks sprouting everywhere. I’m a Versys owner looking seriously at this bike. I love the Versys 650 platform; I just wish it was better suited to gravel roads and looked less like an alien space bug. I guess it’s a conventional WRX vs a Saaburu.

[@OnThrottle]

It still blows my mind that Kawasaki has made no attempt to fill that gap in their lineup at all. Yes, they’ve got the KLR, but it is a big dirt bike and lacks the on road manners of bikes like this and the Versys. The Versys-X 300 does do a similar job but how is it still rocking the 300cc engine when the Ninja is now a 500?? Multiple missed opportunities to cash in on the ADV craze IMO.

[@ashermil]

It is a big miss from Kawasaki. I’d love to see a back-to-back comparison of these two bikes (Versys and X-Cape), especially of their road manners. Did you find that the engine smoothed out or opened up after the break-in period? I test rode a Morini 650 SCR and the engine felt a little tight and jittery.

[@OnThrottle]

@@ashermil yeah it noticeably got better over time.