Kawasaki Versys X300 - All My Mods
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- Опубликовано: 24 июл 2024
- When I first got my Kawasaki Versys X300, I didn't plan to do many mods to it. Here we are a year and half later and I started counting all the mods I have done and realize its no longer like it was stock. In this video, I briefly talk about all my mods.
Many of these have their own dedicated videos. See links below for specific videos for some of the mods.
Luggage Bracket - • Kawasaki Versys X - DI...
Foot Pegs - • Kawasaki Versys X300 -...
Kickstand Enhancement - • Kawasaki Versys X - Ki...
Barkbusters - • Kawasaki Versys X300 -...
Windscreen - • Kawasaki Versys X300 -...
Garmin ZUMO XT - • Kawasaki Versys X300 -...
GPS Tracker - • Kawasaki Versys X300 -...
Light Bar: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07...
00:00 - Intro
00:10 - Bag Bracket
02:16 - Skid Plate
02:58 - Crash Bars
03:29 - Fog Lights
04:31 - Pegs
04:57 - Kickstand
05:22 - Centerstand
05:47 - Barkbusters
06:54 - Windscreen
08:00 - Garmin
08:55 - Tracker
10:51 - Tank Bag
11:43 - Tires
13:02 - Conclusion 
Авто/Мото
I just purchased my almost new 2017 Kawasaki X300 Versys on Monday of this week. It had 1540 miles on the odometer and looks absolutely brand new! It was delivered to me by the original owner on Tuesday April 13, 2022 which is the first day that I rode my new motorcycle. The previous owner rode it to my state so that he could rest assured that I would register and title his motorcycle before he turned it over to me. First let me say that I am 68 years old. I am 5-10" tall, weigh 269 pounds and I have a 29/30" pants inseam. I looked all over for specifics on whether this motorcycle would be a good fit for me. I knew it was tall with the seat height at 30.9". But would I fit this motorcycle well. I already had a bad experience owning a 2002 BMW R1150GS that was a huge machine, a real monster. That BMW proved much too tall and heavy for me to safely handle so I sold it right away. I replaced that BMW with a 2001 R1200C Pheonix which proved much more manageable with it's seat height of a mere 29.9". But it is a 1200cc machine which means it is VERY heavy! So I bought a little Honda Grom which proved to be so much fun that I thought to myself, "wow, look at what I have been missing." Then I discovered a Blog online where a girl named Noraly is riding her 2022 Honda CRF300L from South America to Alaska. She calls her site "Itchy Boots" where she posts 3 videos per week on average. After watching her great adventures for a couple of months I decided that I must have a motorcycle just like hers. But then I discovered that the Honda CRF300L is nearly impossible to acquire right now unless you are willing to pay $2,000 over MSRP. Yikes. That is when I discovered the 310 BMW and the X300 Kawasaki Versys. I went with the Versys for several reasons. First, it was availability. Next was value and finally after watching many reviews on RUclips I liked the twin cylinder water cooled engine making 40hp. So I bought one! I have ridden it 60 miles so far. This is what I can report. First, it IS TALL. We lowered the rear shocks to the lowest factory settings and now I can almost flat foot the motorcycle. It actually seems manageable although I almost dropped it going up the ramp into my shop today. Scared me a bit. The motorcycle is whisper quiet. I like this because my Honda Grom snarls like a mad dog with it's aftermarket Vance & Hines pipe. Really it is too loud. But the X300 has a very nice exhaust note. I do not plan to change this. Next, This motorcycle handles beautifully. The ride height seems tall but the bike is so friendly in every situation. I just love my new X300. Finally, this motorcycle is geared very low. Extremely low. But I guess Kawasaki wanted it this way. I go through the gears to find that I am in 5th at 37mph lol. I hit 6th at about 43 mph and that is the last gear. It seems like it should have a 7th & 8th gear lol. The bike redlines at 12,000 rpm. Whoa, that makes it a screaming machine. When you ride 65mph the engine turns 7,500 rpm. This is very alien to me and seems insane. But there is tons more throttle left after that, all the way to 12,000rpm. Amazing! This bike gets 51mpg so the high rpm must be efficient. I researched re-gearing the bike but you cannot alter it very much without disturbing the engine's code(s). For this reason I plan to leave mine all stock. Finally, the seat is very hard, most uncomfortable. I rode 40 miles today and my Fanny wanted off of this torture device. I guess I am spoiled by the Corbin Seat on my BMW R1200C. Finally, my biggest concern was, "will this motorcycle have enough power to haul my fat butt around lol". Yes it does! The low gearing is so powerful that this little Kawasaki doesn't even know that I am onboard. I get the impression that the X300 could carry a circus elephant if one was so inclined. I hope this little report will help others decide to buy a X300 Versys. I sure am happy with mine. So lite and easy to handle. That is where the fun is!!!
I wear earplugs and I love the sound of riding my bike at 8-9,000 RPMs. You get used to it. The bike really makes its motto at any road anytime.
I've got a 15 tooth front spoket and it does 65 mph at 7000 rpm.Also improved the range on the low gears.
I got one for my wife and she loves it! I take it out and rip it too, it's a fun bike for sure.. I put a delkavic slip on 🤯
Lotta pro tips tucked into those mods. Thanks for letting us know how to make riding a little easier with smart mods. 💪
Excellent choice of mods. Thanks for sharing the details and including links in the description! I'm going to learn to braze, so I can fab pannier supports as well.
Thanks. Good to see how a real person uses the bike compared to some promotional thing or pro review. I'm very interested in this bike.
Really nice bike, its classy and functional congrats my friend!
9" gravel is called Quebec crush over here.
I installed a taller windscreen but went back to stock because it got dirty and was hard to see through when riding trails.
Tires are Motoz Rallyz rear and Shinko e-804 front.
I also installed Hyperpro suspension front and back that's better suited for gravel and fire roads.
Warning: I installed cheap crash bars and took them off right away as they will bend the bike's fairing brackets if dropped. Invest in a good set.
I also bought a cheap bash plate and will replace it with a T-Rex over the winter.
Center stand if priceless. You might be wise to carry some ties to prop it up if the Chinese spring lets go. I bought a stock spring for when this happens.
I replaced the bars with aluminum ones that have less sweep.
Mirrors are a pain sometimes when riding in the woods. Branches hit and loosen them. I have to keep a wrench handy to place and tighten them. Almost on every ride in the woods.
For the riding I do, I prefer the stock gearing. I even have a 48 tooth rear sprocket but that's an overkill. I bought it with a 15 tooth front sprocket (didn't know at the time) and fount it sluggish in technical stuff. Now with the 14/48 sprockets, I have perfect control of the rear end on fast gravel curves and tricky up and downhill technical maneuvering. Throttle control is now my best option.
I installed a Seat Concept tall seat and that makes it much easier to control in gravel and such. Also easier on the knees.
I can hardly wait for the riding season to start up again next spring.
Thank you for your comment! Love reading others experiences with this bike. I'm with you - I keep looking over at my bike and then daydreaming about going out on another moto camping trip!
Really a great video, super cool well laid out bike. I've rode cruisers for about 20 years now, currently own a 2015 fury but I'm kinda interested in some light off road riding. I'm 5'9 180lbs and was looking at the 650 or Honda competitor but this 300 might be just right. I'm 51 years old though so I'm only gonna be riding fire roads and good trails.
I strongly recommend the T-Rex Heavy Duty Skid Plate. it is the only one that doe not use the origninal brackets that holds the lower below engine plastic cowls. All other skid plates including the standard T-Rex on your bike attaches to the little brackets that are in turn attached to the screws/ears on the fragile aluminum oil pan. The oil pan was never designed to take any kind of forces from off road or urban bashing of the skid plates. On my channel I've recently modified the T-Rex Heavy Duty skid plate by first attaching it to the genuine Kawasaki crash bars (as they are not a good design) and added two more angle iron brackets that go back to the M10 frame/center stand mounting bolts. All this allows the X300 to be lifted up in the air on a standard motorcycle jack. There are other videos that show proper install of many additions including a Soundbomb Split Air Horm, barkbusters by T-Rex, full LED bulbs swap out and a lot more. More to come.
Interesting... They must not have had the Heavy Duty skid plate when I ordered mine because I would've selected that one when purchasing. I'll have to look more into it. Thank you for your comment!
Thanks for the video! I just bought a 2019 Versys x300 and I am looking to do some mods. This is my first bike and I'm ready to do a little adventuring!
Welcome to the club!
Nice set up you came up with for your saddlebags
I commented on your vid Why I bought a Versys X300, but I've done more mods since. I'm 6'3" and was cramped on this bike. (I have a Husaberg FE390 and a Suzuki Vstrom 650 XT, but still like this bike a lot, but needed mods.) My mods: 2" Rox Pivoting Risers; foot pegs lowered 1" (Motorwerx brand lowering blocks); wider foot peg (screw to existing peg base, looks same as yours); Enduro Engineering hand guards with plastic wind deflectors; T-Rex skid plate (small one of the two they offer); T-Rex crash bars; light bar added to front of T-Rex crash bars (1x1" angle aluminum with a Auxbeam 4" 9 element LED light on each end; Mad Dog ATV seat cover with 1 inch of foam underneath, then all of that covered with a SitNFly brand seat cushion - finally a comfortable seat); Givi AirFlow windscreen (very happy with that); Givi luggage racks with DIY Pelican cases screwed to them (not removable - and I added 1/8" aluminum backing plates to the inside of the cases for strength; a DIY top case, Pelican case mounted to factory top rack; I fabricated a 1/8" aluminum plate that screws under the windshield factory screw holes, then mounted a Ram Mount 1" ball for Garmin 396 LMT-S GPS (see AdventureTech over the dash shelf on their website - I copied their idea, but made mine a bit smaller); Quadlock phone mount); Mitas E07+ tires; USB added where the round 12 volt power plug cover is; lastly, I added strips of red reflective 3M tape to various places facing rearward; yellow on a few places on the sides and white one the front forks and front of the hand guards - just an inch or two strips, and a bit dorky, but sure lights up at night! I stand a lot (I'm 73 and have bad knees & back, but the bike fits me very well now. Thanks again for all your vids, cycle and otherwise. Great channel! - (BTW I grew up in Dallas and went to Lake Murray on my honeymoon - in 1967. We have a lot in common. GeezerWheels in SW Colorado.
Very nice! Lots of mods for sure! Thanks for your comment!
Nice job on the bag securement.
I also recommend getting a gear shifter with a spring loaded toe. Something that fits a YZ450F will also fit the Versys X300. They'll prevent you from having to ride with a bent shifter if you drop on the left side, and possible prevent damage to the gear selector shaft too.
Great suggestion! I should also get something like that for my KLX250 as I've bent that lever more than once while trail riding.
@reizeprimus Does the yz450f shift pedal fit this model? Versys 300
@@ignaciofraijo9871 Yea it does mate. I have a video that will show you the clearances and how it fits: ruclips.net/video/Su57uMefEsE/видео.html
@@ignaciofraijo9871 Apparently my earlier message was construed as spam. Anyway I had a vid that will show you the clearances and how it fits on the Versys. Just click my username and use the search bar to find:
"HOW TO Replace Shift Lever on Kawasaki Versys X300"
Great choice I love this bike and the mt07
Thanks. I was looking at the KLR but now think I'm going with this bike.
I don't have experience with the KLR, so I can't really compare it, but my impression is the weight and seat height are what turns me away (and some others towards) a KLR. But I would really like to try riding one at some point. Also I like the parallel twin on the X300.
Your tyres look very much like my Pirelli Scorpions Rally but much much cheaper which approx 150$ each here in Thailand, mileage is very good but these days I don’t do so much off roading. But in a month or so I do a 3000kms to N Laos from. My home in Thailand. Most of the group are using CRF Hondas so I am double checking my 300X is up to it, the Laos roads, although not strictly off road are in very bad condition, a lot of dirt and broken tarmac and big potholes. I already have a bash guard, I took the original plastic ones off. Today I go for a new front HL led, last year in Vietnam we were late one day and the led was very much appreciated the power of led, I have the original Kawi spots, which I found recently visiting Malaysia really annoyed one motorist that he nearly drove me off the road until I switched them off.
Good work
The T Rex skid plate was my first addition and the next was crash bars. I'm thinking about a center stand and maybe a soft rear bag for the rear rack and call it good (for now).
Great job, thanks !
Your pannier mod is awesome. Anyone that spends $500 to $800 dollars on a piece of bent metal to keep their bags out, away and secure, is not really inginuative (not sure if that's even a word) Like you said, you don't even need them most of the time, but a little something for a piece of mind is a good idea, do it yourself for free and it becomes a great idea. You can fit a lot of stuff in a $125.00 set of saddlebags.
Well set up, and thought out bike.
Thanks for your comment, and agree completely on the luggage!
Absolutely golden mod. I will make something similar. Most propably I will bend some 6 mm (1/4") steel bar to achieve similar function, but a little bigger support area as my soft panniers (Givi Easy-T, EA100B) are guite flexible. Maybe some shape which fits the bike styling. Thanks again for this idea! 👍
Good video, thanks !
Thanks!
It looks nice!!
Great video, thanks for your effort and sharing.
I bought the Versys X 300 a few months ago, only 160 miles on it. I didn’t like it, I feel the engine so stressed and not a smooth drive at 50/55 mph.
Maybe just not the bike for me, I will trade it for a KLX 300 just for trials or a V-Strom 650 to have a relax engine.
The thought that the engine is stressed doing 50/55mph is really just a mental block. It didn't take me long to learn that this engine is built to rev, and likes it up there in the high range. It is afterall using the engine from the Ninja 300. However, I do understand the desire to have a lower revving higher torque machine, esp for trails. I have a KLX250 and feel like this X300 is a much better cruiser, and more torquy than the KLX250. Have not been on a KLX300, but I wouldn't think it would be that different from my KLX250. Either way though - you gotta do what you want to do. Plenty of options out there!
Do you by chance remember the brand of those crash bars? Bike looks sweet, nice work.
T-Rex is the brand of the crash bars. Thanks for your comment!
Great video! I have the same bike, bought it 2 months ago, and I want to start doing some trips. I'm adding some accesories and I grab some good ideas from your video! Can you tell me what do you have to solve a flat tire in the middle of nowhere? Thanks!
That is something I'm lacking. Luckily that has not happened to me yet. I almost always ride with someone else, and have many times had to tow or have been towed out, but never had a flat myself while remote. I've seen others haul a spare tube with them. A cheap tube can be packed small and stored under the seat, but then you also need tire spoons and some way to inflate it. I would be curious how others handle it.
Great video.
do u hae a video on how u hooked up and parts for the fog light
Hey man, liked your vid! Just bought a V300X myself and I was looking at changing the foot pegs right away since I plan on taking it off road and the standard look tiny. Do you have a link for the ones you bought by any chance? Thanks!
D'oh! Nevermind, found your video on the foot pegs!
How is the skid plate holding up or more specifically how are the oil pan flanges it's mounted to holding up?
Nice mods .who makes your engine guards? I also have a 300x and im wanting to mod it. Ty
Engine Guards are T-Rex. I purchased them in a combo order with the skid plate.
do you recommend the bike? I am thinking of buying to take a trip through Morocco (a lot of off road)
I have the same bags. They are pretty ratty. Tried to buy new ones. Can not find that model bag anymore
Hi, have the same bike. Have some crazy ideas about suspension upgrade but need someone who lives in a country where the KLR650 is available too. I don't. Interested?
Which brand of center stand is that? I just bought the same bike
Wish they have a version of these with cast wheels and tubeless tires. Would like to have one for a daily commuter, but will never have another bikes with tubed tires.
I think the KTM 390 ADV has cast wheels.
Cast wheels are typically less durable for offroad or in the long run in general. The new Aprillia Toureg 660 has spoked wheels but they are tubeless.
@@inrptn Yeah, and a few thousand more I'm sure, and I don't have an Aprilia dealer in 500 miles. I just think the Versys 300 would be the perfect commuter if it didn't have the damn tubes. I'm either going to work at night or coming home at night and have plugged and been back on the road in less than 10 minutes a number of times... can't do that with a tube. Also have never had a problem with a cast wheel in 40 years. They are fine unless you are off road doing motocross jumps. My 650 V-Strom has 71,000 miles and is going strong every day. Just think it's a shame Kawi can't offer two versions of the Versys 300 to make it the perfect commuter.
@@BlueRidgeKat1 The Aprillia is 2x the cost actually. Don't know if its worth it, I'm looking at these two bikes. Very different, but very similar.
What size are tyres mate?
how strong are the magents, has it ever come off whilst carrying phone/wallet etc in the wind whilst riding? Looking to get a small Tank bag for my Versys that is magenectic yet strong hold.
Have never had a problem with the tank bag coming off. Magnets are very strong, yet the magnets are also encased in fabric so it won't scratch up your tank either. I've been really happy with the cortech stuff!
I got the small Shad tank bag 20 for my x300 .
It is solid with mag mounts, has the safety strap but not needed ever.
Looks good on the bike too..
Search Kawasaki forum - “new tank bag”, for pics
I also changed out the mirrors because they were cheap and the tightening nuts were too small.
Which mirrors did you change yours out with?
@@uthe54 DoubleTake amazon 160.00
What crash bars are you using?
Do you have a link for the extra lightbar?
I have added it to the video description. Thanks for asking!
I would put a trickle charger on it so i don't forget to turn on the GPS tracker.
That also would work! Thanks for your comment!
What mpg you get on it?
What brand crash bars are those Mike??
T-Rex. Thanks for your comment!
I just want the bike and travel everything here with no care in the world
Wow, I learned something new, leaves can hurt your hand?
Leaves are attached to branches, you know this already. Just playing dumb for no reason.
Added a 15 tooth sprocket !!
and what changes did you notice?
Wow, I love the mods! Fancy compared to mine. I wish I had got stronger engine guards. Check out my mods here: ruclips.net/video/qEB0XWVmTu8/видео.html
Thanks for your link! I just watched your video and agree with just about everything you said. One thing about the engine guards - mine are solid, but they are also heavy. All that protection comes at a cost. Everything has some sort of trade off!
Єто не кавасаки , єто серая какаето плеш . Кавасаки кислотно- зеленого коліру. Україна.