Kawasaki Ninja and Versys 300 Quality?

[Familyonthemove]

I was about to buy a new Versys x300, but happened to see a used x300 that was looking surprisingly rough - especially considering it must be under a year old.  The bike had off-road tyres fitted, and it had been dropped several times, and the owner was clearly not into cleaning it - so I guess it's an example of accelerated wear.  But the coatings on the swing arm, hubs, exhaust and rack don't seem to be durable enough?  

 

What's the experience of Ninja 300 and Versys owners of the durability of these bikes?

 

Looking at the photos below, my 3 year old CRF has lasted better than this 1 year old Versys.  Not sure now if I'll be getting a Kawasaki - unless this example is an unusual case?

 

[macknife]

Looks an excessive example to me. Clearly been using it off road a lot without taking any care of it at all.

I have a Ninja and after 2-3 years it's still in excellent condition. IMO the Kawasaki 300 series are better quality than both Honda and Yamaha.

[JonnyF]

Looks like the bike has been trashed with zero maintenance. The scooter in the background looks even worse. Also worth noting the Versys is essentially an all round bike, more biased to the road but capable of a bit of light off road stuff, fire trails etc. Seems like this guy probably should have bought a KLX. 

 

In terms of Kawasaki quality, I have a 2008 Ninja that I owned since new, it gets the rough end of the stick (I basically use it when I don't want my favourite bikes to suffer - rainy days, downtown BKK etc.). I ride it like I stole it (after warming it up) and it still purrs like a kitten, and after a wash it still looks fantastic.

 

Unless their standards have dropped significantly on the new models I'd say there is nothing to worry about.

 

[pbas400]

do you live near the sea ?

[Familyonthemove]

24 minutes ago, pbas400 said:

do you live near the sea ?

Central Bangkok

[papa al]

B100 at the car wash and some oil on the chain, ... be fine.

[eisfeld]

I agree it's a bit of an outlier maybe but considering that there seems to have been some actual offroad riding, not much cleaning and that it's the budget version of the Versys... it's bound to have marks like that. I'll see how my Africa Twin will look like in a year (already has a few wear marks on the passanger grab handles). My CBR500R had quite a lot of black coating on the front forks come off from stone chips I guess. And I obviously don't ride that one offroad at all - just Phuket island traffic. Hm makes me think... maybe can gold anodize them :)

[papa al]

52 minutes ago, eisfeld said:

maybe can gold anodize them :)

good idea.