Kawasaki Versys-x 300 & Suzuki V Strom 250
New twin-cylinder Japanese lightweights blend big-bike image with screamability…
IN THE JULY 1988 issue of Performance Bikes were a Yamaha TDR250, Moto Guzzi Le Mans Mk 5 and Honda NTV600. For an oily teen this magazine had considerable influence, hence a smoking 250 in my shed, an illogical desire for obstinate Italians and solid belief in drab Hondas. They weren’t the only things to make an impact. The test of Kawasaki’s GPX250 ran the headline ‘I’ve got a buzzbox and I’m going to abuse it’. I’ve never forgotten the words about giddy redlines, lunatic throttle abuse and ‘a noise like a Messerschmitt in a nose dive’. Why are we rambling off down this side street? Kawasaki have put this frantic buzzbox in a sensible adventure bike. Taken from the Ninja 300, the 296cc twin has lineage back via the ZZ-R250 to that shrill GPX. It’s still thrashable – it screams to 13,000rpm, a grand into the red, and needs at least 6000 showing for anything resembling acceleration. 75mph on a motorway is a fizzy 9000rpm in top, and even 30mph in fifth is 5000rpm. All these sub-500cc machines feel rather short geared after a big bike, but the 300’s revs exaggerate things. You hit fourth in a car park. Approaching a junction it feels like you’ve shifted back to first while still in third. It makes my two-stroke TDR250 feel positively flexible. Despite needing spanking the Versys does top-gear overtakes easily enough, with smooth drive – you only notice a two-cylinder rumble below 4000rpm. And despite the idea of a madly-revving sportsbike motor into a trail-style all-rounder being odd, the 300 is actually quite usable, and certainly fun. Like the 1043cc model sharing its name the Versys is capable. It’s a full-size adventure experience; tall, spacious and with presence, the only things betraying capacity are an electric drill exhaust note and the wide throttle. Features are friendly: mirrors, light and screen are effective, the rack isn’t just cosmetic, switchgear is okay, and it does 63.5mpg. Kawasaki will gleefully add crash bars, 12v socket, centrestand, luggage and other practical niceties, too. It’s a firm seat, but comfy enough. In fact, comfort increases on longer rides as foam gives. Suspension has long-ish travel, but road springs – the ride’s sporty. Damping isn’t as plush as the trailsoaking Honda, but as good as the Suzuki. So adequate enough.
‘It screams to 13,000, a grand into the red’
At 175kg wet the Kwak is 13 kilos less than the Suzuki and a whopping 60 less than the Benelli. It’s nimble, with easy control and crispness to the steering. The front-end shimmies over white lines and cat’s eyes at speed, and sometimes you notice the inertia of the 19-inch front wheel in town, but overall handling is good. Pity it looks plasticky and toy-like next to the rugged Enfield and functional Honda. It needs fewer plastic bits, and more functional, solid elements – the Suzuki’s Dr750-inspired beak, proud round headlight and overall lines are nicer, and side-by-side it’s the V-strom 250 that our designer Paul Lang prefers the look of. The Suzuki is softer and friendlier than the occasionally harsh Kwak, though offers similar features and benefits. Its compact high-placed dash pleases, the screen works, and switchgear is as fine as on any bigger Suzuki. That stylish lamp works well, and ride quality is a good match for the package; hardly sumptuous, but the 250 bobs along inoffensively. The V-strom gives a pleasing 72mpg too, almost 9mpg more than the Versys. The Strom is going slightly slower, though. Natural speed isn’t as high. There’s not much in it – it isn’t far off on acceleration to 50mph, and at 75mph does 9250rpm, so is similarly geared to the Kwak. However, the Suzuki has a shorter range and on motorways has nowt in reserve. On fast A-roads you pull out to overtake and the grip has no twist left. The 248cc twin gives away 48cc and 15 horsepower to the Versys, and power-to-weight is the weakest of all. (Apart from the Royal Enfield, but that has 40% more torque.) It’s because the Strom is based on the old Inazuma commuter. The twin’s happy between 6000 and 8500rpm, but there’s not much cracking off below and little reward for thrapping beyond. Inazuma roots mean the chassis is light, trim and the opposite of imposing, but also too small to be convincing. The ’bars need a chopper-style rise from the spindly yoke, and the riding position is scrunched if you’re tall. It’s like a 125. There’s nothing really wrong with the Suzuki, it’s just a bit ‘meh’. For city commutes the 250 is effortless, efficient… but for longer journeys and bigger aspirations the V-strom is rather underwhelming and unmemorable compared with the brandaware BMW, convincing Enfield or high-quality Honda.