Get Ready For A Kawasaki Versys 1100!

Kawasaki appears to be ready to revitalize its four-cylinder crossover bike, with news of a new Versys 1100 apparently hitting the market soon.

This tidbit comes from the guys at Motorcycle.com, where Dennis Chung has reportedly found paperwork filed in Australia that tips the new model—specifically, a new Versys 1100 S.

Although Canada only gets the variant of the big-bore Versys with the LT SE package, other markets get a stripped-down, plain-Jane Versys 1000 model and a mid-tier S model., with some of the bling that the LT SE gets, but not the whole lux package. It looks like that’s what the Aussies are getting here.

Expect a slight bump in power from the inline four-cylinder engine, perhaps, but don’t expect much. While we see ever-growing engines in the showrooms these days, the reason isn’t because the OEMs want to give us more muscle. It’s because they must needs compensate for the neutering brought on by new emissions laws, which are constantly being updated in most major markets, not just Europe.

However, a bump in horsepower would be a very smart thing for Kawi indeed, as the Versys 1000 lags behind the latest crossovers from the Euro manufacturers.

What else can we expect? Almost certainly, we’ll see Kawasaki add an option for radar-powered cruise control and blind spot detection, as this has become increasingly the standard for flagship touring bikes. There will almost certainly be another model equivalent to the current LT SE, with fancy-pants electro-suspension and luggage included as standard.

There will probably also be some new styling, although Kawasaki hasn’t exactly given us much to look forward to in the past few years in this department. The insectoid look appears to be here to stay, alas!

With show season right around the corner, you can probably expect more leaked information pretty soon. They’ll have to push this bike through emissions testing, so a CARB leak (paperwork from the California Air Resource Board, not gasoline dripping from Keihins) is probably only weeks away.