RX3 Visits With the X-300
I received a call from a nearby dealer to come take a look at the new Kawasaki Versys X-300....couldn't resist....
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...psf1ikiza7.jpg Took a 10 mile test ride: http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...psanssmvok.jpg First impressions: Fit and finish is very good. Body panels fastened with bolts, not sheet metal screws. Engine is smooth, and exhaust is quiet, compared to my RX3. Clutch lever pull is incredibly light, (1 finger if you like ). It has "clutch assist" and a slipper clutch. The bike is well balanced and handles with a light touch on the handlebars. High revving engine, like the RX3. Power comes on around 5,000 rpm and higher. Red line ~11,000 rpm. It will be difficult to keep it under the recommended 5,000 rpm for the first 500 miles.....don't tell anyone I had it up to 65+ mph with no effort. http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...suqdwm8pr.jpeg Wheels have aluminum rims with heavy duty spokes. http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...pslygboozy.jpg Single radiator, as opposed to the RX3's two. http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...psfupundla.jpg The exposed header pipes will limit its off-road worthiness. http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...pssuwxyws8.jpg Made in Thailand label on the headstock. There are a couple of guys on ADVrider that have already purchased one. A very nice bike and I would like to have one. The only thing stopping me from buying it is the dealer price. ABS model is $5,700 USD. Add sales tax and all the dealer BS fees and I was quoted an OTD price of $7,500 USD. ...and that is with no accessories. Similarly equipped, it will easily be the price of two RX3's. :hmm: .....hmmmmmmmm. jb |
You did the dealer a good service with this write up:tup: nice
It is really the best on going from spec comparison. The benelli adventure is up and coming. The proposed rx4 will have its hands full competiting . It will need to be farkled out or substantially less then the x300 . Too close and the win will go to Kawasaki |
Nice bike....
But I guess I will wait for Yamaha to put there R3 motor, 321cc twin in a small tenere.... . |
Does it use the Ninja motor?
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Although rpm is a relative term. The X-300 owner's manual shows peak hp (39) at 11,000 rpm and peak torque (25) at 10,000 rpm. However,the Ninja 300's torque curve is pretty flat from 6,000 to 10,000 rpm. I expect the X-300's to be similar. jb |
Nice, fair write-up. Thanks jb!
39hp....so about 15 more out of 50cc's (round numbers). Not bad. It's interesting to hear that it's just as pipey, if not more so, than the RX3. Did you notice major acceleration difference for that extra 15 horse? It's good to get your input as you are able to ride much more daily than many of us (between work and weather) and you truly "use" your bikes. If it was a 450-600cc, I may be able to see that price but that's an awful expensive 300cc bike, minus bling. I wonder how much the accessories would cost on top of that 7500.00 to get it as dressed as the RX3? Did it ride as firm as the RX3? I know....only ten miles. Hard to check out everything. Also, I see you're on your tip-toes. Is it taller than the RX3? |
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I did a few roll-ons from 40 to 60 mph that assured me the bike could keep up with traffic. Quote:
Hard side cases...$430. Top box............ $100. Engine guards....$215. $745 plus tax ~$800 There are other accessories but they are not stock on the RX3 either. Now that I am looking at the cost of all the accessories I have added to the RX3, the total puts it in the price range of the stock X-300. :hmm: Quote:
With the Progressive rear shock ($500), the RX3's is about the same as the X-300. Quote:
The seat height is a little taller than my stock RX3 with the lowering link ($100) and narrow seat ($250). However, since I mounted the taller 80 series rear tire on my RX3, the seat height is about the same. Oddly, I could not find the "seat height" in the specs listed in the X-300 Owner's Manual. To reiterate, these are all "first impressions". It usually takes 500 to 1,000 miles to determine if a bike suits me. At first look, the X-300 fits my road-oriented riding better than the RX3. But I haven't given up on the RX3. I'm still riding it....11,000+ miles. Every time I get on the bike, it feels like I am at home. The on-road balance and handling are better than most bikes I have ridden. The main reason I am considering a bike in the same category as the RX3 is the possibility that I will need to put a lot of money into a pending engine repair. If that is the case, I would rather put that $ towards a more suitable bike. jb |
"Oddly, I could not find the "seat height" in the specs listed in the X-300 Owner's Manual."
Seat height according to the web pages. X-300 - 32.1 RX3 - 31.3 Basically the same. I love checking out new stuff. That had to be a ton of fun. Thanks jb! |
39 hp from a 300cc mill? I'd like to verify that on a dyno. Manufacturers are usually very optimistic when they list stuff like weight and hp, knowing that lots of people will take those numbers as gospel. I'm thinking about my Guzzi V7 (744cc) which dyno'd out at 39.57 hp stock and 41.86hp after flashing the ECU. That's about 10 hp less than advertised.
As for the cost...I got lots of options (skid plate, front and rear tire w/ 19" wheel trail package, tourer package...aluminum bags etc) and the bottom line was $5900 delivered to my door. I think it's easy to forget that the X-300 price is MSRP. Delivery, setup, documentation, etc are profit centers for the dealer and those numbers are unknown. I'm guessing a gap of $1.5 ~ $2K between the two bikes when all is said and done. That's not to say that the X-300 is not a good bike, possibly more capable than the Zong, just that CSC has less overhead to cover and thus can offer more for your money. Peter Y. |
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the 39hp is prob taken at the crank...
on a avarage they lose 20% in the drive train. so yer looking at around 31 at the rear wheel... .. |
Hi,
It's a very, very nice bike. No doubt. If it were available here, I'd keep an eye on it as a replacement por my RX3. But: this just got my attention. X300 Front Suspension: 41 mm telescopic fork, 5.1 in travel Rear Suspension: Bottom-Link Uni-Trak, 5.8 in travel with adjustable preload RX3 5.1/5.6 inches front/rear) wich are very close, but then they got these reviews Rider magazine, about Zongshen said "Though short on travel for an adventurer" ADVPulse on the K "...a long-travel suspension offer better bump absorption on rough terrain as well". Rounding up, I thought the Green machine would have a longer, more off road apt suspension. http://ridermagazine.com/.../2016-cs...nture-road.../ http://www.advpulse.com/adv.../2017-...-versys-x-300/ |
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so the geomitry of the rear would only let them increase the travel only so much more over its intended design... ... |
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Though there is a dyno graph for the Nnja 300, same engine, that peaks out at 34.5 rear wheel hp at ~11,000 rpm. jb |
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On a RX3 ride today I noticed I was tiptoeing on both sides, so my RX3 seat is a bit higher than the X-300. Changing the rear shock preload changes the seat height. I'm not really in the market for another small displacement bike. Like you, I like checking out new bikes. In the case of the X-300 and its price, it opens a lot of choices for other bikes. jb |
Don't forget about the BMW G310, Suzuki WeeStrom 250, Honda CFR250L Rally, Royal Enfield Himalayan and the soon to be announced KTM 390 adventure.
The small adventure bike market is about to go from nonexistent to bloated very quickly. |
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On the road today and passed thru Victoria. Sorry if I blow up thread using my crapnot so smart phone. Must be bombing these across the nation. I noticed the height too but its a good thing IMO. Also I mentioned that the seat was stiff and sales guy also agreed. Suspension was tight but as expected and I sure it probably is adjustable. Said it was just built yesterday And put out to on the floor. Yes the clutch pull was nice. No didn't leave with it but it is very niceand jap quality standard. From dale fun center in Victoria Texas today Attachment 9114 Attachment 9115 Attachment 9116 |
IMO. Kaw trying to ride the fence between entry level street consumers and low weight adv'ers. Sales guy said I think 386 lbs. That is big draw lower weight with higher HP ability
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As long as the RX (and sister bikes) don't start exploding and CSC continues to keep a good rep, more and more people will check them out from sticker shock at the Big 4. That's exactly how I got into CB's. I almost fainted in a Yamaha shop. |
Skid Plate
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The safety of the exhaust system on the 300X is also a reason I'm looking at the BMW G310GS. It has a very unique exhaust system that exits the engine from the rear of the engine, very similar to the Cannondale dual sport motorcycle of quite a few years ago, before filing for bankruptcy. No need to worry about the possible damage to the exhaust system. :clap: |
Why do almost all motorcycle engines have exhaust that exits on the front and intake on the back?
To me it makes more sense to have intake on the front (ram air potential) and exhaust exit at the back of a 4-stroke. Exhaust on the back would probably be better for air cooled engines as well. Plus exhaust systems could be made shorter therfore bikes could be made cheaper. It would be a mess if you tried to fit a 2-stroke exhaust behind an engine. |
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Building a motorcycle one has to think about where that engine will live, relative to the wheelbase. In most cases you want the weight to be distributed 50/50 front to rear. If you put the intake on the front that means you have to position the bulk of the engine farther back so the intake tract (fuel injection, air box, etc) do not hit the front wheel. Most manufacturers opt to put the exhaust side fwd and intake aft so it is easier to package everything. Maybe BMW has figured a way to make this work, time will tell.
Peter Y. |
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jb |
I've got nearly 15k miles on a Ninja 300, I know that mill pretty well.
I will say that exhaust is utter dogshit, and it traps a lot of moisture under that heatshield which is particularly annoying for the midpipe clamp, which corrodes fast. There's a lot of aftermarket solutions, though, most are stainless. 300 is not known for great fueling below 6k, I'm guessing they've tuned this bike accordingly as I had to get a fuel controller to sort mine out. I think 39HP is very optimistic, although I do note those header pipes look a lot less restrictive than the Ninja 300. Conventional wisdom says that an aftermarket exhaust system and tune on the 300 is worth about 5-7hp. |
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google is your freind... .. |
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Let's not forget that the hottest part of the engine are the exhaust valves, exhaust ports and header pipes. I'd imagine that keeping that in the front in the cool air flow may have something to do with it???? Just a guess. I'm no engineer nor so I play one on TV.
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$7500 OTD. what are these people smoking?
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Well, they can then swap the cranckshaft & gearbox, fore & aft... taking weight close to the CoG, and clearing space in the front to route the header pipe out of the way... ?
Can't remember any motorcycle engine built that way. |
Most if not all longitudinal V engines have the rear cylinder exhaust "backwards" and seems to work fine right?
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it's called " new rare model" aka...profit $$ |
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I know HD have had some battles with this, too. |
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Peter Y. |
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It's good to see some activity in the RX3 section of the forum but......
Just in case anyone forgot this thread is about the RX3 and the X-300: :) I took another test ride today. This time a 20 mile ride on a non-ABS version: http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...psvwdlvfqi.jpg jb |
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