Frame Protection

One of the best features of the KLE650’s engine, besides low maintenance, is its ease of maintenance. The easy-to-access oil filter and drain bolt are great on pavement where road spray is your only real concern but, on dirt, these features become dangling dangers. We needed something to keep mud and rocks from getting to these delicate parts of the engine.

The SW-Motech Skid Plate does this job better than any other option available on the market. Although installation requires a measuring caliper to be sure you’re getting one of the many different sizes of spacers and bolts in the correct position, once done you’ve got the best-looking and most effective protection for the underside around. As with many SW-Motech pieces, the aesthetic design and construction are top-notch but we would have appreciated a small cutout  to give us access to the drain bolt and more easily allow oil changes (sans filter) without removing the guard.

If you’re going the extra step to protect the frame, motor and plastics, the skid plate integrates into the SW-Motech Versys Engine Guards which serve as stout protection for both side engine cases as well as the bottom portion of the radiator shroud. Hepco Becker makes the only other commonly available option, but it only covers the radiator and makes the bike slightly wider. We looked at both but decided to go with the SW-Motech, not only for its integration with the skid plate, but because it looked to have a stronger mounting system and should keep a lower center of gravity.

Lighting

It’s nice to have protection if you go down but we’d all like to avoid that in the first place. Adding auxiliary lighting is one of the best ways to go about enhancing your visibility of the road, and your presence to others on the road at the same time. For a small, light, bright and compact lamp we ended up with the Denali D2 LED lamps and hooked them to a new Shorai LFX lithium-iron (LiFe) battery which is 6.5 pounds lighter than stock and acid free to boot (no tipping worries or removal for shipping).

The D2 lamps are amazingly well built, submersible up to 3 meters and only draw 10 watts per unit! Lamp install was super simple since the controller box has a built in relay so all you have to do is vampire tap any switched positive line, connect the harnesses and find space for the perhaps over generous wiring. Each unit comes with narrow or wide focus lenses to choose your beam patterns.

No matter what lamp you choose, you’d be well served to get the SW-Motech Auxiliary Light mounts, available for both the 2007–2009 and 2010–2011 models. You can certainly try to fabricate a bracket yourself but this may be the best forty bucks you can spend on adding safety and visibility to your Versys. MSRP: Denali D2 LED Lamps $279.99; SW-Motech Auxiliary Light Mount) $39.99.

Saddle

Unless you’re lucky enough to live within a few hours from adventure roads, many of us will have to spend a couple days in the saddle getting to the good stuff. One of the first, and most important pieces to upgrade is the Versys’ stock saddle which is notorious for having an aggressively crotch-crushing forward slope. Who better to address this problem than Corbin Saddles whose custom seat pan not only opens up the riding position by making the front seating section longer, but also dishes out nicely towards the back to offer more butt and thigh support. While the Corbin does add weight and sacrifices a bit of rear seat space to make this happen, the Versys isn’t particularly suited for long, two-up dirt rides, so the back seat is better suited for luggage in any case.