BikeSocial review | BMW G310GS / Honda CRF250 Rally / Kawasaki Versys-X 300 / Suzuki V-Strom 250 

I'd say it's just a ploy to make the rest of the laurels seem more believable... because they praised all 4 bikes in the end.

Great to hear you've sorted the seat Rob. And that the suspension gives a little over time. Hope you have plenty of happy miles on it.

i find the seat is good myself, the suspension is spot on for what it is, & the little 300cc engine always puts a smile in my face.

Get some better speakers. I could hear them just fine.

Ditto- the audio sucks. Mumbley and low volume.

Agree, audio is too soft. Potentially a side effect of trying to use directional audio, results in both channels being super low

Not only is it quiet but also for a non-native that Chester accent sounds like a totally separate language )

It is panned hard left for the guy on the left and right ditto. They need to fix it by not panning it fully.

You don't want to bring the Kawa on the highway. They're great bikes for small roads and green laning.

It's the worst one of the lot imo

@@peterd3215 haven't ridden any of the others so can't really compare but i'm still enjoying the GS. use it daily too so i've put plenty of miles on it. it's comfy and good fun to ride. brakes are decent, clutch and gearbox are good. not sure what there is not to like about it

@@NickyLong89 it is comfy, I've ridden it twice and the 310r once. In isolation it might be ok but having ridden alot of bikes I found the suspension way too spongy, it's this main factor I dislike especially against the competition, it's likely the worst suspension of those in this video except the CRF but that's basically an off-road bike licenses for the road, I found the suspension on the BMws quite dangerous and when pushing on even a little it wants to tuck under, it's disconcerting. All the bikes I tested had QC issues. One had a very bad noise squeaking coming from the drive shaft. All the other bikes are better to ride and most are the Japanese bikes are certainly more reliable. but some are definitely not as comfy as the GS.

@@peterd3215 I’ve not felt that yet but then again I’ve not really pushed on with it. I paid just over £3k for it which for me is a lot of bike for the money really. I do have an R7 coming soon so it will probably be going at some point in the near future but I’ve enjoyed it so far. I’ve done about 2 hours straight on trips so far and I have enjoyed it. I have fitted a bigger screen to it and it does have heated grips and bark buster hand guards which makes it a lot more enjoyable. Only time I’ve noticed the soft suspension is on semi heavy braking but other than that, not really noticed it

@@NickyLong89 I really want to like it, I was going to buy one after my Himalayan but settled on a cb300r after many test rides. Still want a small off roaders. Have been riding for 20 years ish and having gone up to 900cc I'm now much happier reliving my youth in the 300/400 bracket. More power is just more probability of accident or fine. They don't get you there any quicker or are any more fun for me.

Jay B exactly wish they would do a slightly bigger 450/500 version

I mentioned the twin engine as it wont eat itself on the longer faster routes

CB500X with the Rally Raid L3 kit is the bike you want

True, but sounds expensive tho

BlooJay cb500x isnt really what I meant

Same. I live in South Korea and BMW's come at a premium. Difficult to get maintenance on them outside of Seoul or Busan as well. I've been comparing with the WR250, and the Honda is nearly $2500 cheaper?! I previously owned a KTM 690 SM and the reliability was brutal, so, just for sake of comfort, it's looking like the Honda will be my next purchase.

@@jamzzzist By brutal reliability on the KTM you mean it is good or bad in terms of it?

@@mariorad529 as in not great. I always had problems with the throttle body/mapping. However, it was a 10 year old 1st generation SM, so, probably the newer models are fine. A few of my friends have 690s and have had few problems. Maybe mine was just a lemon..

Alinel Woundhorn interesting, never thought of it like that

in 2021.....

They have now.

Lol

The problem was we talked longer than we thought so didn't have the footage for that length of time but didn't want to edit it down either. It was just me and a camera out and about so was limited by that. Possibly a helmet cam would have padded it out but wouldn't have shown much of the bikes either. Cheers for watching though.

Something to consider for next time :)

You have to consider, it's just Nathan out there by himself with a tripod. It's a lot of work finding scenes, setting up the gear, riding past and then collecting and carrying on. I appreciate getting expert content in a small niche. I think we should cut them some slack. (But please double check the sound next time.)

Or atleast review the couch

bought jasons book years ago.postie bike from australia.have met him,a really nice guy. also like the other chaps tests for bennets very enjoyable to listen to.

What's cool is the Honda gets compared to these bikes in one review with the conclusion "light and by far the best off-road, underpowered on-road" .. and then in other reviews it's compared to the WR250R, KLR250, DR400 with the conclusion "By far the best on-road, but heavy and the suspension is weak off-road". It occupies a unique position in the market.

It's coming in 2021! (I hope the reviews are good!)

rather than 100% L&R Should have been mixed more central

Yes!!

i'm pretty sure they did it that way on purpose so you could easily tell who's talking. but it would have made a lot more sense if most of the video was of the riding footage, where you can't see who's talking.

Thanks for the feedback Daryl. I'll pass it on to the video guy and see if it can't be remedied for next time. Cheers.

Sounds great on my macbook... dont change it !

Def needs a mix. Set your speaking at -6db

I think it's great on headphones cheers!

Agreed, a bit of pan is nice and natural, but the hard pan left and right is hard on the listener's brain.

themrdiamond I don’t have a license either but I want one

Yep, planning on buying CRF 150 as my first bike

same lol

You could and should change this. 😁

Stacey Schroeder glad to hear it. I want to buy the CRF because many motovlogers suggest a dualsport or a dirt bike as a learning bike. Now the last thing I need is ask myself if I really wants a motorcycle cause I live in a third world country and the traffic here are terrible. So many stupid drivers/riders who didn't follow the traffic rules. Statistically speaking in 2016 there's 3605 reported accident with 375 deaths in my city alone.

You can take the fuse out, or even connect a switch up with an in line fuse holder

Yes have done that think it's a better bike with out abs got a non abs order for next year I have got a yamaha t max 530 and it's fine with abs good bike two up

James Doolan 130mm suspension travel... Of curse!! 😂.

Much much higher price point then these bikes reviewed

They all averaged around 80mpg. The Kawasaki and Suzuki both had around 17-litre tanks, the BMW has 11-litre and the Honda 10.1-litres.

Yeah I guess it's filled by the likes of the Versys 650, F700, V-Strom 650, CB500X etc, then F800, Triumph 800 etc. But agreed, definitely space for more effort in the middle range.

Christoph N. Do you even know about bikes?

Yeah sadly we stopped getting them a long time ago, and some of those didn't even make it here officially at all. Emission regulations mainly. Pretty much the only bike left in that 650 class is the SWM Super Dual.

Dr-650

I miss the dr350se stopped in 2000

Which one have you chosen?

@@chrisw4215 I hope he took the Rally. Better for a beginner and it will last

It will last

Hey Oliver. It's a lane just out the back of Brockamin to the west of Worcester. There's a full loop mapped out on one of the trail forums, I'll try and dig it out.

Not missing at all: it didn't exist when the video was made.

Please SPEAK UP!

Yeah subtitles for the next video for you.

I'm not an English speaker but I can understand them very well. Just the sound a bit soft though.

Sir Fed Other category, your bike is enduro, not multipurpose.

Juan Carlos González and the honda isnt?

Carlos Leon Isnt.

So would I if I could get one n the UK :/

geez, i didn't know that. go ktm! i like honda because it's bulletproof. if i'm going around the world, that's what i would like to have.

Because logistically it's just a lot harder to do. All the manufacturers have to have their bikes availability at the same time (not always easy), you have to transport them to the same place, have four riders, and sometimes four bikes side to side makes it difficult to isolate the bikes. It's also a lot more expensive an operation to put together. Doing them separately just makes it that much more manageable, and I think gives a better insight into each bike.

Then the Rally will win the beauty pageant

Sadly it doesn't look like it!

Jev8oy the XT is a pure dual sport bike, not claimed to be an adventure bike, i guess that's the reason why it's not on the list. Yamaha needs to do a Tracer 03 or something like that, if it wants to have any presence at all in the adventure section under 450cc.

You can always buy a WR250F and put some plastics on it, but it's a pure trail bike with lights so maybe not the best idea and it's very expensive as it's a competition machine.

Very slightly, only because of the 10 kg less weight -- and maybe a bit cheaper if you drop it a lot. But as soon as you have to ride more than a few minutes on the road at 50 to 70 mph to get to your off-road riding the Rally comes into its own. Especially if you're returning home after dark, it's starting to cool off, or there's light rain etc. The Rally will also go 40 miles more on a tank.