Adventure Bargains 1.2 - Kawasaki Versys 300 - Road/off road Test (Some cursing. 4k)

Thank you for the fair review of what will be my second motorcycle. I agree with you on the footpeg situation. When i get mine i will have to adress that first. I cant wait till i finally get mine, i have to pay off my 2024 klx 300 first.👍👍

You sounded surprised that the Versys was at home on the road. Surely that’s exactly where it was designed to be ridden and the place in the market where it was aimed at.

That looks a right laugh Nathan...Brill.

Perseverance, good lad, good video

i keep telling people that scramblers and adv bikes are very heavy for proper off road , this proves it ;;

Great video Nathan, I've had one of these for a couple of years now and it even saw off a KTM 390 Adventure which I bought to replace it! You're right of course that on tricky UK trails the bike isn't very capable. But as an easy to ride travel bike that can take lots of luggage and has a big fairing to protect you from the elements, it's one of the lightest ones around. And that ultra-light clutch has to be felt to be believed 😊 P.S. big thanks for uploading in 4K! That trail footage would have been a horrible smudgy mess in 1080P.

Jeez, I thought you were going to have a heart attack doing all that mud wrestling! Strange having 2 sets of heated grips fitted 🤔

Got a Versys X 300 2017 and a Z900 2020 and I was surprised at myself that I prefer going to work on my Versys. I can put my backpack securely on the back seat / rack and I can use gravel roads that nobody takes. Took a bit longer to commute, but was so relaxing and enjoyable. Bought the Versys used, it had only 4000 km on the clock, with the stock tires, which are fine for the road but not much else. Since then, I changed them for Dunlop Trail Mission and they are a good.

Great review, and interesting video, thanks for the effort that went into it.

Great commitment to a thorough review. Entertaining

Nice video.
This was a bike that was never on my radar until my son-in-law purchased one and I had the chance to spend a couple days on it. Fell in love with little bike. I’m older now and this inspires confidence off road for me. I bought a 2021 with 6500 miles that looked like new and really enjoying it.
Appreciated your evaluation, thank you.

Test rode a 23 model here in Oz , ended up with a Versys 650 ,for a year,here in Australia we have lots of bitumen back roads , where you can go 500kms in a day tour loop without seeing traffic ….so I felt this bike was too busy in the revs department for relaxed exploring .
Yes that weight when you drop it , so many inexperienced riders buy GS , Tigers, Vstroms , and go off road , with no comprehension of the terror of being pinned under a heavy bike in the middle of nowhere ,on your own .
As a kid was lucky to have started riding a Honda Z50 and later YZ80s thousands of kms in difficult bush terrain , I weighed approx 60Kg, YZ 80 was 65kg , I could wriggle free if pinned , fast forward to present have a Honda Transalp after selling the Versys 650, 😢..the Honda weighs 208kg wet , so I stay on the black stuff , or gentle dirt roads .
Really miss the dirt riding of yesteryear , but would only ride those former places on a proper lightweight , but then I know the bitumen roads wouldn’t be fun …and they are fun here in Australia , beautiful scenery ,great weather .
This video should be viewed by all inexperienced riders thinking about riding alone off road.
The one thing that gets you through 95% of difficult terrain is momentum , being able to dab a foot when needed …with proper boots on , but number one must , YOU MUST BE ABLE to get the bike off a pinned leg on your lonesome , and then pick that bike up.
In Australia this still sold new until this years model , is going to be replaced by the upcoming KLE500.
The powers that be in their infinite wisdom , decree power to weight ratio must be low for Learners , so the manufacturers build heavier bikes to achieve this , real twilight zone logic .
Why is Britain , the USA , Australia beholden to Euro emission laws?
Aren’t they sovereign nations ?

Nathan, do you think you would have done better with TKC80s fitted. The fact that you were spinning up on the road indicates you would have had almost zero grip on that polished stone.
Again a brilliant video.
I see too many tempting trips for next year have been posted on your website. You are causing me serious problems. Keep up the good work,. Bob

Good honest video, brilliant. Keep up the workout, saves visiting the gym.
You put me off the bike for me to down size from a f700gs. I need to keep looking.

I bought a second hand Versys 300, this year with 3200KM on the clock. I wanted a bike that would be easy around town, capable at highway speeds and able to do some touring on. I don't see myself using it for serious off road riding, maybe the odd gravel road, so for me this bike is a bit of a unicorn, does everything I want it to do reasonably well at a price i couldn't beat. I imagine I'll have this bike for quite awhile and enjoy every ride I take o it.

In the States or Australia, any country really with wide open spaces and great tracks. In the UK? Never, cr@p flooded paths, garbage. Not for me.

seems like a jeckyll and hyde bike, float along or bang it through the gears, I have always fancied one since reviews by Ryan F9, plus Zac and Ari in the states. Fancy a swap/px with a classic xj650 shaftie? My shed is full to capacity and I am rubbish at selling bikes;) though I am about to try harder and get one of these, they intrigue me.

Another cracking vid Nathan. Thorough, thougtful and detailed but huge fun as well.
I had a pair of Kenda's on the Himalayan, fine in the dry on the road (lasted well on a very dry LeJog) and okay off on a muddy trail but bloody awful in slippy conditions. I tried to gel with them but swapped them out for another pair of TKC80sa when still about 25% left as valued my life too much. When they stepped out a couple of times when pulling away from a damp junction, on a Himalayan!!, i knew they were awful 😂

.....also love the free form rant about picking a bike up 😂 hulk force 😂😂
Yup all that cobblers about how to pick a bike up means diddly squat when you/the bike is in a muddy ditch. If i could find that 5ft nowt skinny lass who lifts GS' up with ease i'd be tempted to take her as pillion just to pick the bike up every time i drop it.

Great video Nathan, so much more engaging and entertaining than most bike channels. Your straightforward style is refreshing and informative. Very interesting little bike. I had a Yamaha MT03 as a road bike for a couple of years and it rode very similar by the sound of it. Gearing was a bit low and the engine very revvy. It was a lot of fun though and quite peppy. Also totally reliable, easy to handle and very cheap to run. If you actually get down to what you need a bike to do in real everyday use and leave your ego out of the equation, it did everything. I suspect the Kawasaki would do the same.

you need to learn how to ride a 125 keep the rpm's up, when going up hill.

My buddy runs Dunlop Mutants front and rear, uses it as commuter and loves it. I wonder if Kawasaki KLE will be the rebrand using the 450cc of newer Kawa family mates.

Great wrap up Nathan. I’m in Aus and have a Versys 300 in the stable.
It is pretty much everything you said.
For perspective I just returned from a 1500km tour with 8 other riders, all on 1000cc plus machines. I’d normally take my Wing but due to recovering from surgery needed to go light.
Speeds were constantly above our limit 100kph, often up to 125-130.
I had the green machine fully laden, panniers, tail bag, seat bag and 100kg of me.
People might assume the Versys would be thoroughly out of its depth, not so. I was always in the action, comfortable and it was no issue on hills, through the twisty bits she was a delight.
You can easily tour on the Versys 300.
The gearing is odd, till you actually ride it in all sorts of conditions and then you realise that those Kawasaki boffins are much smarter than we think.
On standard gearing I rarely need to change down from 6th on hills, start in 2nd normally and just go to 5th around town often not needing to change down on corners. Get out on trails and first is very handy for pottering along.
It’s meant to rev and you soon get used to it, and it remains smooth regardless.
And yes I agree the power is linear.
Only really 3 issues, original tyres are not great ( but they’ll be gone soon enough) the seat is horrible but easily replaced or fixed. The ABS, at least for Aussie dirt road riders is a worry so needs a switch added to defeat it when needed.
Overall a fabulous little workhorse that can be bought cheap and thrashed without mercy.

Stop yapping and pick up the damn bike already !!!

I spotted it had two heated grip controllers one on the dash one on the tank bizarre.....

I think it says it all that you have over 100 comments after 17 hours. This is a wonderful do it all bike and pretty capable off road if you can ride a bit. Only downside is limited ground clearance. Kawasaki missed a trick not upgrading to the 400 engine. Im hoping the new KLE500 will be lightweight with the 451cc engine from the Ninja 500.

Im empathetically reliving every time I've picked up a bike through your heavy breathing... when I dropped my speed triple in a mud pit I thought my cardiovascular system may implode.

It’s early Sunday morning I’m on my first cup of tea chilling on the sofa……. Wow I’m totally stressed and out of breath watching this epic struggle. You get my vote for perseverance Nathan more so for sharing real as it is footage of off roading in the Uk 👍

Wrong kind of bike for the terrain you are on

I have Kenda big block on front of my Himmy. It was terrifying for the first 1000 miles . It has got better , I'm very confident on road with it now. It's also good off road. Don't think I will get another for the back though especially as it's winter and I need a replacement now.

If you have a reasonable level of knowledge about what you're looking at, you can get all sorts of good bikes for this sort of money and the longer we go on I think it'll only get better for anyone buying. Which is nice...

Oh that muddy incline!
This is where things like that Honda 125 trail scooter thingy start to make sense. Light enough to throw around. At 5'6" and 65 kg, I struggle to pick most bikes up if I drop them. 170kg bike on a slippery hill. Nightmare situation. I had an old Suzuki 125 2 stoke trail bike here on Corfu. Very tall for me. Dropped it a few times on olive grove tracks. Took me throwing a lot of f**KS at it to get it right side up each time. So I go with what you said. Off road you need a bike that's as light as you can get. I'd add, as simple as you can get. Less tech, less plastic, more farm machinery. A bike that can go through a bush without snapping bits off. I'd love to try one of the old Yamaha TW 200s. Not powerful. But low enough to get your feet down, and without all the tacked on bling they seem to think essential these days. Have you ever ridden one? They are an odd bike. A bit like the Suzuki Van van. same size tyres. Look like they stole them off a quad bike. Not a bike for motorway cruising. But I think they could work on a muddy lane in Devon.

Hi Nathan, was looking forward to your video, thank you. Picked one up 2 weeks ago for 3800€ with 3000miles on it, in Belgium for the misses. Made the choice for this as there's isn't much/good choice for a small touring/light offroad capable bike for a small female. Seat height has been a real struggle since she's 1.63m, this one of the only ones she felt comfortable on and that is with the stock seat, we have the oem lower seat (-25mm) on order atm. This is her 3rd bike, she comes from a VanVan 125 and 200.
Wanted to ask you if you have any experience with the Yamaha Serow/XT250, the Serow is the fancy Japanese spec one, there's a few imported ones around. Seems like a really good offroad capable travel bike if you want something light and small (21hp/123kg) with decent suspension, and it still looks highway capable as well, tops out at 140km/h. They are a bit pricey though. Any thoughts on these?

Thanks for the tyre review! 😂👍

I have put 48k miles on my 2018 x300. I can take it on nigh impossible trails. I love it every time I take her out.

Nate, that was a viewers anxiety trip mate ... LOL

Did you see that Royal Enfield have announced an upgrade to the Scram 411, now to be a 440, minor uplift in power and torque, and at slightly lower revs compared to the 411, and also now with a 6 speed box, not yet known if it’ll come to the UK, but 6 speed box might be better for getting up the hills!

I really enjoyed this video showed the real issues with heavy bikes. I'm trying to find a bike that can keep up with an old 600 transalp, yet be light enough and fun on green lanes and trails. It needs to be cheap around 2k and also as I expect to drop it.

Any thoughts?

Thanks Nathan, there was a very valuable lesson in there for inexperienced off-road riders. Bikes rarely drop in convenient places, and even if you were unhurt during the drop it’s easy to hurt yourself when struggling to lift it. Don’t ride alone off-road is the general rule, but if you decide to, try and get local knowledge about unfamiliar trails and be prepared to walk potentially difficult sections first.

I owned one of these and quickly sold it and got a 22 CB500x which imo is better in every way except weight. That engine gets old real quick. It might rev like a screamer but it's all bark and no bite.

You need to produce a small inflatable air bag that attaches to an exhaust, and lifts a bike up.

Think of me if you do. 😊

Real time off ,very informative and a useful video ,I'd forgot how physical a drop can be ,stopping and breathing getting your heart rate down before carring on ,all really useful advice ,thankyou.

Would the Himalayan have managed that lane better?

I own one. It is pretty good overall, dont momd the revs as the engine is very smooth. I find the lack of low down torque annoying when setting off from a standstill. The biggest weakness is that the suspension locks up going over corrugations. The suspension on my NX500 is in another league and the grab bar makes it easier to pick up in my experience

Great video! One careful owner haha. Loving the content keep going 👏

Haha god love ya, that trail bit was great

What a breath of fresh air your channel is Nathan. Like many it’s my go to place for proper, real world, bike reviews, no nonsense just how it unfolds. Everything you said about your spill was on the money - it’s so easy from an armchair to say, “I could do that on my 800cc beast” but in reality it ain’t. Thank goodness you had those Kendas on for the final climb, even if they are shite on the road!😂 Epic stuff as usual and so informative for those of us looking at moving into this small adventure bike market. Also makes me realise what a super and adaptable little machine the 300 Versys is. Looks like a lot of fun and those in the know obviously come to love its uniqueness.👍

One more go with a different set of tires would be gold. Also with the riding adjustment of needing to keep the ROMs on this bike much much higher.

Interesting video especially where you had issues on the trail. Not related to the Versys, but for example how would a Honda XR125L of compared if you got into trouble. Assuming a XR125L would have the power to attempt such a trail?