2025-on Kawasaki Versys 1100 SE | A bigger engine with more power, torque, and a new lease of life

Kawasaki have updated their popular Versys 1000 for 2025. Now called the Versys 1100, it gets a capacity hike to unleash more power and torque. Rivals like the Suzuki GSX-S1000GX, Yamaha Tracer 9 and BMW S1000XR may grab all the tall-rounder headlines, but the humble Kawasaki has always been an unsung hero and dependable touring partner for rider and pillion, especially this SE model with all the toys, including electronic suspension.

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Without being able to compare the new Versys against the old, it’s tricky to say just how much performance has improved with its bigger engine. But what we can say, after a meaty day in the saddle at its world launch in northern Spain, is it never leaves you wanting more.

The motor is smooth, there’s grunt aplenty and it delivers strong acceleration out of slow corners with a hard-edged, growling soundtrack to match. It’s at the tourer end of the sports touring genre, but it’s hard to fault its handling in tight corners or fast sweepers.

The electronic suspension’s ride and composure are spot-on and the braking power is all you’ll ever need on tour. It’s roomy, well-built, has a huge pillion perch, is quiet in the wind and full of useful toys. Go for the base model and it’s cracking value for money, too. Saddle-soreness creeps in after a few hours and it lacks playfulness, but as a tool for trouble-free touring, it’s a class act.

Twin Kawasaki-branded Tokico four radial calipers are still in attendance up front and they bite 310mm discs. It still has a single-piston caliper at the rear, but now the disc is 10mm bigger (up to 260mm). All discs are all now perfectly round and not petal-shaped, as before. ABS is still lean-sensitive, along with its traction control and cornering lights.

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For a 259kg machine in SE trim (up 2kg from last year), brakes are well up to scratch with lots of power, feel and zero fade. The bigger rear disc is a useful upgrade on a heavy machine designed to haul a pillion and lots of luggage. Dragging the rear not only shortens stopping distances but keeps the bike level and more stable.

Not everything is new, though. Aside from the new ‘1100’ badge the new Versys looks identical to the old one and has the same bodywork, LED lights, cast aluminium chassis, wheels, Bridgestone T31 sports touring tyres, manually adjustable screen… the list goes on. But that’s no bad thing. Keeping things largely as they were means no massive price hike and there wasn’t a lot wrong with the Versys 1000 in the first place.

The 1100 is still roomy, suffers minimal windblast on motorways, has a pillion seat the size of Wales and is easy to ride. It’s hard to fault, although after a day’s riding we suffered a sore derriere, which is a criticism also levelled at the 1000 in MCN’s online owners’ reviews.

With an increase in capacity from 1043cc to 1099cc, thanks to a 3mm longer stroke, power goes from 119bhp to 133bhp and torque boosted from 75.3lb-ft to 82.7ft-lb. The inline four also gets milder cams, new pistons, intake ports and ECU settings and its centre two inlet trumpets are 45mm longer.

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Kawasaki claims the revitalised Euro 5+ engine is more urgent and although we couldn’t test old and new back-to-back to see for ourselves, there’s no doubt it’s smooth, never lacks grunt and pulls hard from low revs even in the taller gears. It doesn’t hang around when you up the ante, either. Acceleration is superbike-strong in the lower gears and it bellows angrily through its airbox with the throttle against the stop.

Kawasaki have tweaked the Versys 1100’s quickshifter settings. As before, it’s smooth and slick, but now works from just 1500rpm, instead of 2500rpm, making it easier to ‘short-shift’ out of slower corners and around town. Fifth and sixth gears have also been lengthened and there’s a one-tooth-smaller rear sprocket (42T) for more relaxed motorway cruising.

No longer are you reaching for that elusive seventh gear to calm the engine down. Add in the motor’s new heavier flywheel and its delivery is altogether calmer and more flexible than before. The inline four is still a workhorse of a power unit and lacks the pizazz of a triple, or the big bhp figures of its rivals, but it’s more exciting than before.

This iteration of big Versys has been around since 2015, bar detail changes along the way. Build quality is superb, like most Kawasakis and MCN’s online owners’ reviews are glowing.

The Kawasaki’s main 17in-front-wheel-tall-rounder rivals are the BMW S1000XR, Suzuki GSX-S1000GX and Yamaha Tracer 9. It also used to be the Ducati Multistrada, too, until it grew a 19in front wheel with the arrival of the current V4 model. With its rivals all available in different trim and spec levels it’s hard to compare like-for-like, but generally the Suzuki and Yamaha are slightly cheaper and the BMW that bit saltier.

This SE version comes with cornering traction control, ABS and lights, rider modes, Bluetooth connectivity, as well as semi-active suspension, up/down quickshifter, manually adjustable screen, TFT display, cruise control, heated grips and hand guards.

All Versys 1100 models are now fitted with a USB-C charging port on the left handlebar, although it isn’t the neatest thing in the world. The Rideology app that links to the S and SE model’s TFT dash is now voice activated, although it wasn’t available to try during our test.

As before each Versys 1100 model can be ordered with ‘Tourer’ or ‘Grand Tourer’ packs. Prices haven’t yet been set but based on the current machine, expect to pay an extra £750 for the ‘Tourer’, which includes twin 28-litre panniers and inner bags and tank pad. The ‘Grand Tourer’ should be an extra £1700 and adds a 47-litre top box with back rest pad, frame sliders, fog lamps and sat nav bracket.