Documents Reveal New Versys 1100 For 2025
Australian type approval documents have revealed that the Kawasaki Versys is getting a capacity boost for the next generation
As the push for cleaner emissions drives forward, motorcycle manufacturers have a couple of ways to clean up their tailpipes. Spend millions on designing a totally new engine, or, make the current one bigger but cleaner.
Kawasaki is thought to be going down the latter route, as type approval documents from Australia have revealed a larger capacity version of the Versys 1000 adventure touring machine, possibly going to land in 2025.
You may also like to read our Kawasaki Versys 1000 long-term review here.
Specifically, and reported by Motorrad, the document shows the existence of a model named the KLZ1100B, while the current Versys 1000 is known as the KLZ1000B. While the documents do little aside from providing a model name, it is thought the bike is an update to the existing Versys 1000, not an all-new model and more than likely using the current 1,000cc engine just with a larger capacity.
How Kawasaki has gone about stretching the 118bhp inline four-cylinder remains to be seen, although it’s likely that any performance increase over the existing version will be moderate. The act of making an engine larger to gain better emissions seems counter-intuitive, but for the manufacturers, it means running the engine in a softer state of tune while still receiving a similar amount of power and torque.
We don’t yet know when the new model will be getting launched, although the timing of these documents being uncovered points to a potential 2025 release, with the first details possibly being made available at the EICMA show in Milan this November.
Simon (AKA Toad) has been working within the motorcycle industry for more than twelve years, and a member of the motorcyclist family since birth. Growing up around British-built single and twins, it was inevitable that a life on two wheels was on the cards, from a very early age!
