Versys-X 400 speculations thread

At least I know more about bike I own and rode a dozen and a half countries through then some keyboard worrier which gets his info from google and knows better than owners and MFG making it.. right?.

If you Google "Yamaha t700 MPG" it comes with result above, 40MPG. It's on internet so it must be true. I'm afraid the irony was wasted @rideforzen .. maybe he needs to dig out his copy of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance or at least drop zen out of his name. Repeating knowingly false information about bike he had never seen in person ain't cool.

If you can click a link and read you will know. You can't handle the truth .

How did your phone call go ? 412 dry must mean 460 lbs wet. Lol

At least i was out on my bike yesterday. How was Starbucks ? Heres some pics, so you can pretend . You should get out more, poser.

Can you guys please drop it? You're both boring the shit out of the rest of us...

I would like to drop it . Not sure why hes so angry at me for a dealer posted weight. Its like saying a Japanese bike is reliable. Just goes into a frenzy. I admit it makes me laugh.

Troll boy wins. Most awesome touring thumper on the continent. Oh thats right its not even on this continent. Ok the world !

A little too much dick measuring going on. Will this help?

Cool pics @ridefrozen

I don't drink coffee, sorry

Why don't you just drink a nice big mug of STFU for once.

Maybe Kawasaki will see what’s happened to this thread and make a Vx400 out of pity.

S00oooo ... not to hijack this thread or anything, but wouldn't a reliable 350-pound 400cc motorcycle with a 4-gallon tank, windscreen, and comfortable riding position be an awesome basis for a mild ADV bike? Maybe something like a ... oh, I dunno, a VX400? :)

Although I do understand that people enjoy a good debate about cylinder quantity, I've gotta say: I've had singles, twins, and inline fours* and the engines in exactly none of them were any sort of limitation. At all. Zero. Whatever the manufacturer put in the frame seemed to work just fine for me.

* It just so happens that my wife and I were joking last night about the fact that she doesn't even have any idea what my current motorcycle is even though she sees it every single day. ("Some kind of Honda maybe? CD, or CB something?") Which made me try to recount all of the bikes I've owned since I've known her. It was 14 or 15 to the best of my recollection, including Hondas, Suzukis, Kawasakis, and a Montessa. About halfway through my list she said, "Sorry, but all I hear is CB blah blah blah DRZ blah blah blah EX blah blah blah..." Love that woman. She cares not a whit about cool machines, but that's OK.

Hello All,

New here to this forum although I have been reading this thread on and off for the last few months. I am in the same camp that a X-400 is an obvious choice to be manufactured since the X-300 isn't Euro 5 compliant. The weight would be the same very likely and yet give you that torque/hp boost.

I have been seriously contemplating a X-300 and made an offer of 5K at a local dealer for 2y.o NOS but thanks to covid the dealer came back at me at 6K otd which seemed to be current year price. SO I decided to wait to see what Kawa released this year. That said Kawa released the KLR300 super moto and that started my whole churning process again. I'm looking for some feedback as pros and cons of a x-300 vs klr supermoto from those that have ridden both(older klx 250sm). I suppose I am looking for the "unicorn" or least close enough. I was planning Shinko 705s on the supermoto or shinko 700s with 4.5 /5.0rear combo.

Thanks for any input.

Not an answer to your questions, but I have always been intrigued by the possibility of revalving of sumo suspension for dual sport use. Hopefully someone chimes in with more concrete experience. Probably cheaper than adding an inch or 2 to a vx3. That's the split...

Between the age of 14-20 I had a SP125 ,rl 250, xl350 , 2 sx650s and a Nighthawk S. Even as a young man it was clear what the different engine characteristics were. I also had a xt500 in my early 20s that I rode 60 miles to work and back with about 40 miles on I-205. It worked but sure missed the inline 4 and the 650 p-twins. Later tried a klr650 for long distance but sold it and stuck with my fz1000 and 300exc. I just haven't had much luck with a thumper that could run the hwy like a P-twin , V-twin or I4. Now in my mid 50s and 29 bikes later I've found the P-twin adventure bikes hit a sweet spot for my needs.

And yes the modern singles have improved, but if you compare engines like the bmw310 single with the kawi 300 twin, for me its an easy choice. The twin all day long for my use.

People used to buy DRZ400SM then buy 21/18 wheels and sell supermoto wheels for more.. 400SM came with better suspension then 400S it was the easiest way to get a better bike. If you use bike daily or go to sumo races then keeping both sets makes sense.. as for difference in suspension btw KLX 300 and SM you need to ask owners IIRC they are pretty even.

Check out 390 ADV it is what VX 400 should have been if it were. I have came several times to getting VX 300, once before they got to dealerships and every time it was other bike I bought and it was because of suspension. Here a review of 390ADV it's in french scroll and see the amount of air he is getting on stock suspension.. tells you all.



Now in a short moment there's gonna be a turd swinging monkey who is gonna recycle all this previously posted crap about pumpkin reliability, fake weights, thumper horrid vibes and 180deg ptwin silky superiority but the truth is that the difference in VX 3 and 390ADV price will not get you nowhere close to 390 stock suspension and difference in weight and power btw KTM 390 and kwak 400 platforms is insignificant to say the least.

I just looked on cycle trader and dam at $5899 plus fees. those are some spendy prices down there. A 2019 in Sanford at 5k plus extra fees. Probably what you already saw.

I paid $4500 in 2017 with no extra charges but dmv. I sold it for 3500. Usually this is the time of year for good deals. Crazy year.

And nothing wrong with looking at the BMW310 and the ktm390. Its hard to beat the KTM suspension in this category. Or find a drz400 for $3500 and have much better suspension. Looking for more dirtbike or adventure bike ?

The ktm 390 gives the kawi 300 a good run. But the 400 twin makes 10 more hp and 8 ft/lbs more torque than the 300. So...

I'll add something to this for what it's worth. I have no personal riding assessment experience with the 300 Versys but quite a bit with the KLX250, KLX300, and the "S" models. I love my heavily modded '06 KLX250 turned 300 for the way I use it. However, I will say that it sucks on the highway. If you gear it for rougher off road, even decent 2-track, it will suck for pavement highway speeds...and you'd better gear it down for off road or I think you'd be highly disappointed. This is probably where the 300 Versys shines...but gives up some off road competency. Over many years of trying to modify this or that bike for all manner of use, I've just come to the conclusion that you need two bikes...period. Find a used street legal dirt/DS bike and then get a pavement bike.

Now...it's still not that easy IMO. I no longer want a big, high powered, pavement bike, but I want a pavement bike that will cruise at 70-80 mph "with ease" all day...capitalize "with ease". They can make all the claims about a 300 Versys being able to do this, but it's not the type of "cruising" I want to do with a smaller displacement bike. I'd consider 500cc to be about as small as I want for this pavement capability. Now...I do want to do some dirt roads and easy 2-track on my ideal pavement bike. It doesn't have to be an expensive ADV bike like the T7 or similar, but I don't want a strictly "road pig". I bought a Kawasaki Z650 for this purpose with numerous mods to accomplish this. You mention Shinko 705's, and I have a new set sitting in the shop just for this purpose for the 650...along with crash guards and other components to make dirt roads and such more survivable when the inevitable occurs.

We all joke about the unicorn, but I think most of it comes down to how much dirt you really want to do and what your definition of "dirt" actually is. The difference between doing real dirt/trails and doing pavement is decently large. Only bikes like the KTM690 and such are actually capable of putting a decent dent in both venues...and even they're not perfect.

On you main question about the 300SM, I'd say it's a bike trying to span too wide a gulf. The Suzuki 400SM was/is probably the better at it. If staying with a 300 single from Kawasaki, I'd go with the S-model. I think there's a legitimate reason these 250-300 SM models have come and gone over time. For most potential customers they're somewhat lacking in power and are a little too compromised for real dirt work.

This one has me puzzled. Why wouldn't you just buy the dual sport version?

...ken...