A lot of us have this idea in our heads that motorcycles are, above all else, supposed to be cool, and touring bikes tend to go against that, being all lame and mature, arguing that looking cool isn’t worth a sore back. Touring bikes like this all tend to be tall, dorky bikes for Dads. This 2026 Kawasaki Versys 1100 LT SE is an upright, comfortable, nerdy bike, but it’s set apart by its hooligan heart: a high-revving inline four lifted straight out of the much more conventionally cool new naked Z1100. You don’t have to be a Dad to like this.

What’s new

The Versys 1000 became the Versys 1100 last year, with a heavily updated engine that excels in this application. It also receives slightly larger brakes, and this LT SE (the only trim sold in Canada) comes standard with niceties like the hard luggage cases, a six-axis IMU, and electronically adjustable suspension, among other things. The only change for ‘26 is this spicy Emerald Blazed Green paint, which I like, because I’m a simpleton and I think Kawasakis should be green.

Engine

This engine is a gem that is beautifully suited to the Versys. It's based off the former 1,043cc engine, and the tweaks to it all take a smidge of edge off to make it a much more effective long haul motor: longer stroke (3mm, up to 1,099cc displacement) for more bottom end, revised cam profiles to emphasize mid-range, longer intake tubes to facilitate this lower-mid-range shove and make for a smoother roll-on, and a marginally (3%) heavier flywheel for a little more forgivability at low speeds.

Peak power comes in at 133 horsepower, and 83 foot-pounds of torque, over a broad spread that builds very smoothly up to a 10,500 rpm redline. Thanks to a new balance shaft in the engine, it is very, very slick around town, and even pretty smooth in the higher reaches of its rev range, with just a hair of resonance to feel awake

Fifth and sixth gear are longer too, and it’ll quietly settle down to about four and a half grand at a 120 km/h cruise. It also comes standard with a 2-way quickshifter: it's unreal how good it is, up and down, low and slow, hauling ass, and everything in between. If you’re rolling, you don’t need to touch the clutch. I was wondering if it was a fluke with the Z1100 I rode earlier this summer, but no, it is as good as it gets.

Chassis

Four-piston calipers clamp down on twin 310mm discs up front, and a larger, single 260mm disc helps bring things to a halt out back. They feel terrific, with a firm feel and linear engagement that’s easy to finesse, and good progressive bite that’s easy to modulate. 

43mm front Showa forks are aided by electronically controlled damping adjustment, and the rear shock uses a horizontal back-link with an external reservoir, electronically controlled for damping and spring preload - it’s able to raise and lower at the touch of a button, on the fly. All this enables a 5.9 and 6 inches of travel between the front and rear, respectively, and it is both very comfortable and quite capable of masking the machine’s 571-pound heft.

Electronics

As I mentioned above, a six-axis IMU measures the bikes movements, and influences how the ABS, traction control, and wheelie control all work with you. There’s also multiple ride modes, configurable modes, and cruise control, too. It all works through a fairly small but easily legible TFT screen that’s flanked by an analog tachometer; it’s not the slickest interface around, but it’s really legible, only held back back somewhat obtuse controls. A tacked-on USB-C charger and heated grips round out the Versys’s creature comforts.

On the road

The Versys 1100 is a surprise and a delight. It is tall, heavy, and powered by a high-strung four banger, none of which typically correlates into a bike that I’d want to take to go to the post office, but that’s what I ended up doing with this. It is shockingly easy to ride at low speeds, with a smooth engine, broad powerband, and super forgiving clutch with the friendliest gearbox in the world. I’m not sure how they pulled it off, but it carries its weight low, and it’s really, very surprisingly easy to maneuver around town and on light trails.

All of Kawasaki’s effort didn’t just go into a bike that’s good at sitting in traffic and negotiating parking lots, though. It’s a lot of fun to kick down a couple gears, crack open the throttle and sail away on a howling tidal wave in a big hurry. It’s powerful, playful, but it’s got more than enough grunt to be lazily lugged - you don’t actually need to downshift, you’ll just want to to hear that exotic intake snort.

The riding position is very comfortable, upright, very slight forward lean, long feet to seat ratio, all feeling very natural, with a plush seat. The ride is superb at soaking up bumps, it leans over and turns in happily, it’s easy to adjust in a corner, everything about the way it goes, turns, and stops is so friendly. It feels like a very charismatic hooligan of a friend who could get you into a lot of trouble, but can always charm their way out of it with a heart of gold and a silver tongue. It goes around making lame Dad jokes and asking “who let this guy in here?” but is also secretly kind of a badass who’s exciting to be around.

Money

This bike, with the sweet engine, with the impressive chassis and electronics, and mostly superb build quality (admittedly, the tacked-on USB-C charger looks very tacked on), and the standard 28L hard luggage - which is keyed to match the ignition! - rings up at $20,999. For all of what this bike can do, and how well it can do it, I think it's a steal y’all are sleeping on.

Wrap it up

You may have noticed this is primarily a car site and I am primarily a car guy; most of the time for me, bikes are for point A to point A fun rides, or maybe a deliberate A to B and back again, letting cars do the boring errands. That wasn’t the case with the Versys, I took this thing everywhere, happily. Going to work, to get groceries, to meet a friend, to go scout out shoot locations, to zip across town to pick up a new camera lens; all the tedium I would normally reserve for tedious cages was shouldered by the many versatile systems (that's what Ver-sys means!) of the 2026 Kawasaki Versys 1100 LT SE, and it made every trip a treat.