Cold, snow, rain ... nothing much to do but think about motorcycles. The ol Virago sits patiently in the garage for me to give her some attention.

It is kind of a pain thinking about a new motorcycle. The drive belt on the BMWF800 is like a $300 item and replace schedule is something like 24,000km. What? Also little bits of gravel can punch through the thing. The MFG recomendation? Replace the $300 belt. Geez.

There a lot of improvements in the 08 Kaw KLR. One is a better piston and rings to improve oil consumption, especially at higher speeds. But a high proportion, IMO, of 08s are using a lot of oil. Could be contamination, could be bad parts. And of course, a 35" perch and tube type tires and a stinking chain. Geez.

The Kaw Versys looks to be a nice bike, almost dual purpose. About the same amount of suspension I'd end up with lowering a KLR to suit me. Also cast 17" wheels . Also uses a mildly detuned (for more torque) Ninja 650 vertical twin which doesn't have the oil burning history of the KLR. This bike would probably do fine on gravel and dirt...only fair on sand. Not a bike to do real trail riding on.

Similar to the Versys is the Suzuki V Strom 650. Well though of bike...might find a pretty good one used. Costs almost another $1000 over the Versys new.

Kinda makes my head hurt. The weather needs to warm up a bit so I can take a ride and clear my head.