There is something about the Versys-X’s temperature gauge that will make you freak out. Kawasaki calibrated the gauge in such a way that it often displays 5 out of 6 bars (presumably when the water temperature reaches 100℃). At this point, the ECU will activate the radiator the fan.

I often venture off the beaten track, which can be particularly hard on a bike. This is particularly true for the Versys-X, which is a road bike in adventure guise. Slow speeds and high ambient temperatures will make your engine run hot. Even though I have never experienced any overheating, I wanted a way to keep the water temperatures down…

… Enter The Fan Switch

I stumbled upon the -take a deep breath- SmartMoto CoolAIR Radiator Fan Switch. SmartMoto makes this switch for several Kawasaki, Honda and Suzuki models (see HERE).

The switch allows you to manually switch on (and off, obviously…) the radiator fan, without impairing its automatic operation. The kit is well finished and uses premium components, such a metal flip-up switch with a waterproof cover.

The packaging is plain and simple, as you can see below. Printed installation instructions are not provided, but they can be found online (Kawasaki-specific instructions are available HERE).

Installing the Fan Switch

As far as the connection goes, it’s plug and play. The kit uses a passthrough with OE plugs and one ground wire. So it’s basically plug-and-play. The connectors are Kawasaki OE parts, so they fit snugly into the ECU. The ground wire can be connected on the right-hand side of the rear subframe, near the battery.

Click on the pictures for full size.

Installing the switch and the LED however will require you drilling into the dashboard. IIRC, you need to drill a 6mm hole for the switch and a 5mm hole for the LED.

Caveat: the LED is ultra bright. If you install it somewhere in front of you, it WILL blind you at night.

Trust me on this. I made this mistake on my old Versys-X. So the second time around, I did it slightly different. For starters, I drilled a hole in the blanking plate of the OE fog light switch (better than drilling a hole in the dash). And I located the LED underneath it, at the lower edge of the dashboard where it cannot possibly blind me.

Click on the pictures for full size.

Conclusion

This is very nice bit of kit. I think it is priced reasonably, given the build quality. Of course, you could DIY it for a fraction of the cost. But this kit gives me peace of mind, as I prefer not to hack into the stock wiring harness.