ianhogg
Race Dog
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2010
- Messages
- 1,503
- Reaction score
- 20
- Location
- 34 Stanbury Street, Proserpine, QLD
- Bike
- Kawasaki Versys
KLE 300 test ride 29/6/2017
Yesterday lunchtime I collected Vernon Perry’s KLE300 demo bike and took it home for the day for my wife to try and took it back this morning. It was a new demo with 36km on the clock and I noticed later at work, no plates or license either.
There is an awful lot to like about this bike. There is no shortage of good small capacity bikes on dirt but this one has a special party trick, it will hold its own on freeways, up and down hills. It’s a bit disconcerting to see the rev counter sitting at 9000rpm but the bike likes it, there is quite a bit more to go and it is smooth and vibration free. You will have to spend BMW type money to get a better screen; it pushes the wind away from your body without turbulence and roaring in your helmet. The seating position was perfect for me at 6’2’’ and it is a sensible low seat for the unsure and vertically challenged. The handling is fantastic. You will WANT to find corners on this bike and it is pretty composed no matter what you chuck at it. The tractable engine and 6 speed box will cover every area that you and the bike want to cover without diddling with the gear ratios and the fuel injection mapping is perfect. The odo tells me I averaged 22km litre giving a range of 380km.
However, it is quite a lot of bike for not very much engine, you will be hard pressed to pop the front wheel over a rock step but that’s not really what it’s about. The suspension is actually pretty compliant when you starting hitting things that it needs to deal with but the initial travel is quite hard and irritating on rough surfaces and it doesn’t look like you can do very much about it. My pet hate and it applies to it’s bigger brother the 650 Versys, is the protective panels behind the footpegs that catch the bone on the inside of my heels ( I ride with the balls of my feet on the pegs) and the seat, while wide and shaped, is bone hard. Once my wife had realized that it wasn’t so big, just clad in big panels and that the seat was comfortingly low she was quite at ease with it but it didn’t take her long to realize that this is actually quite a heavy bike when it comes to pushing it around with the engine off. She did complain about the rock hard seat and had noticed that it was a cut above the rest in the handling department.
Q&A
Will I appear to be a naff on this bike?
No Ernest, you’ll be able to do all the things your mates can do with their ones.
Can I take it on a trip like Big Mac did over Chiefs Road and the Matabeng pass in Lesotho with all those big KTM, BMW and Triumph riders?
In a heartbeat Jon. This is where it would really excel. You’ll find quite a few of them may look in at their Kawasaki dealer when they get home.
Is a big, throbbing beast between my legs that will impress my mates?
Sorry Sean, if you are looking for personal validation because your mummy didn’t love you this is not your bike.
Is it a chick’s bike?
Yes Thorsten, they’ll love it.
Can it be a real bike if it has ABS?
Keep your panties on Heinz. This is Jap ABS. It only works when you want it to. If you just can’t throw off that German anal thing there is an easy to get to fuse that you can pull.
Would you do an extended tour of RSA on this thing?
Any day Peter, and you can leave your scooter behind for your commuting because this bike has it beaten from here to Xmas. It is the bike you were always looking for.
Yesterday lunchtime I collected Vernon Perry’s KLE300 demo bike and took it home for the day for my wife to try and took it back this morning. It was a new demo with 36km on the clock and I noticed later at work, no plates or license either.
There is an awful lot to like about this bike. There is no shortage of good small capacity bikes on dirt but this one has a special party trick, it will hold its own on freeways, up and down hills. It’s a bit disconcerting to see the rev counter sitting at 9000rpm but the bike likes it, there is quite a bit more to go and it is smooth and vibration free. You will have to spend BMW type money to get a better screen; it pushes the wind away from your body without turbulence and roaring in your helmet. The seating position was perfect for me at 6’2’’ and it is a sensible low seat for the unsure and vertically challenged. The handling is fantastic. You will WANT to find corners on this bike and it is pretty composed no matter what you chuck at it. The tractable engine and 6 speed box will cover every area that you and the bike want to cover without diddling with the gear ratios and the fuel injection mapping is perfect. The odo tells me I averaged 22km litre giving a range of 380km.
However, it is quite a lot of bike for not very much engine, you will be hard pressed to pop the front wheel over a rock step but that’s not really what it’s about. The suspension is actually pretty compliant when you starting hitting things that it needs to deal with but the initial travel is quite hard and irritating on rough surfaces and it doesn’t look like you can do very much about it. My pet hate and it applies to it’s bigger brother the 650 Versys, is the protective panels behind the footpegs that catch the bone on the inside of my heels ( I ride with the balls of my feet on the pegs) and the seat, while wide and shaped, is bone hard. Once my wife had realized that it wasn’t so big, just clad in big panels and that the seat was comfortingly low she was quite at ease with it but it didn’t take her long to realize that this is actually quite a heavy bike when it comes to pushing it around with the engine off. She did complain about the rock hard seat and had noticed that it was a cut above the rest in the handling department.
Q&A
Will I appear to be a naff on this bike?
No Ernest, you’ll be able to do all the things your mates can do with their ones.
Can I take it on a trip like Big Mac did over Chiefs Road and the Matabeng pass in Lesotho with all those big KTM, BMW and Triumph riders?
In a heartbeat Jon. This is where it would really excel. You’ll find quite a few of them may look in at their Kawasaki dealer when they get home.
Is a big, throbbing beast between my legs that will impress my mates?
Sorry Sean, if you are looking for personal validation because your mummy didn’t love you this is not your bike.
Is it a chick’s bike?
Yes Thorsten, they’ll love it.
Can it be a real bike if it has ABS?
Keep your panties on Heinz. This is Jap ABS. It only works when you want it to. If you just can’t throw off that German anal thing there is an easy to get to fuse that you can pull.
Would you do an extended tour of RSA on this thing?
Any day Peter, and you can leave your scooter behind for your commuting because this bike has it beaten from here to Xmas. It is the bike you were always looking for.
