High Road or Low Road?

The choice is charging towards me like a mad bull and I have to choose whether to dodge to the left or dodge to the right. If I dodge one way I choose the Kawasaki Versys as my big bike, if I dodge the other I choose the new Honda Transalp. If I don't make up my mind then I get crushed by the bull of indecision.

The Transalp would certainly be my motorcycle of choice if I had to choose a Honda brand bike. That was the one I was aiming for before I even took my CBT. I prefer the idea of an upright, comfy riding position and a bike that can take you anywhere, any time, for as long as you like. But on the day of completing my CBT, there was Trevor Gedge gunning the engine of a brand-spanking new burnt-candy orange Versys. I didn't know the make or model of the bike but I instantly thought holy crap that's a friggen awesome bike.

So with my inheritance finally getting cleared I am presented with the opportunity to buy my big bike outright. The guys at the local Gedge centre also promised me a deal on getting direct access training (by Trevor himself no less), a theory test, and a practical test for the low, low price of £400 alongside my new bike, whichever one I choose.

Now, by local Gedge dealership I mean the Honda garage in Ore which is literally a two minute walk from where I live. The two sales representatives there are both proficient in Jedi mind tricks and could sell a second-hand, beaten up Goldwing (practically a car with the roof and two wheels missing) to a conservative, blind, wheelchair-bound grandmother whose only experience with locomotion was pushing her toy lawnmower around as a kid. Not that they would. But they could. Both sales reps, while admitting that any other big-brand bike will perform just as well, have advised I get the Transalp on the grounds that being a Honda machine it will have a better resale value. They also spoke about the engine which is bigger and possibly has more torque.

However. I don't really intend on selling whichever one of these bikes that I get. So that's a moot point. Sure I might change my mind in years to come (when I first hopped onto my CG125 I thought to myself why would you ever want to go faster than this?) but for now, resale value doesn't enter into the equation.

I'm no expert on motorcycles, engines, mechanics, or... well, not much really. But at a glance here are the comparisons. The size difference between engines is only about 30cm³ so I'm not convinced that one has an advantage over the other. As for torque, the Versys has 1 Nm more than the Transalp, but at higher revs. Like I said, I'm no expert, but to me that says that while the Versys is capable of better acceleration, the Transalp can accelerate faster at lower revs. But not by much. The Versys holds more fuel, is lighter, has wider tyres both front and back, and is slightly more compact (but also, barely noticeably, taller). This makes me think that it will probably handle better, for longer.

So, I can trust that Andy and Phil know what they are talking about, but the Versys is the bike that I really want. In the original burnt orange, not the horrible Ninja lime-green that Kawasaki are showing on their website at the moment. The Versys is also marginally cheaper. When I do order it, I'm going for a higher windscreen and might start thinking about getting panniers for it at some point too.

As for the old CG125... well I'll find it a good home, hopefully.