[Scootereno]

That's right folks Kawasaki is jumping into the Scooter Market with a 300cc model next year. A Ninja for us old folks.....
http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/925/1...le/2014-Kawasaki-J300-Scooter-First-Look.aspx

 

[Desert Rat]

So it's another Kymco power train scooter

 

[Chérie]

Me automatically eliminate as it one more piece of Chinese junk !

 

[ChipDoc]

Everyone used to say that about Japanese products too. But if they can find that balance of quality build and attractive price point, they'll join the ranks of the big boys soon enough.

 

[LeDude]

competition is a good thing, wish them good luck, it certainly has the potential of being a good mid size scooter.

 

[Scootereno]

Kymco certainly is being aggressive in the scooter market as well as branding for many other manufactures. I am just shocked Kawasaki jumped on-board.

Cheri, Kymco is not Chinese crap but Taiwanese.....Big Difference. They do have a quality control depts. in Taiwan but not so much in China.

 

[Quantum Mechanic]

Kymco is a massive firm in Taiwan. It has been associated with Sym and Honda but is it's own boss now and has been for some years. The Kawasaki is a complete Kymco build from them. It of course makes the engines for the BMW 600/650 twins too. It doesn't make rubbish and is not Chinese. In 'Urop' it's a top performer and we don't take rubbish over here. They have a good reputation.

 

[kimbo4]

Kymco is not crap, they are a very good and reliable scooter but have been known to build a simpler bike (not as many bells & whistles) and use older technology than other manufacturers. Now though they are really stepping up and a lot of their bikes offer better styling, fuel injection, ABS, etc, especially in Urop and Asia. They seem to even be finally using some outside help in naming their bikes...no more "Grand Dink" or "Super Dink". I really liked the Downtown 300, it accelerated faster than the B400, had the same top end and the mpg was higher but the ergonomics were a complete disaster unless you only stayed in the city limits. If Kawasaki hasn't changed the ergos Suzuki will still reign supreme and won't have much to worry about in lost sales. One thing I noticed though, it appears that the Kawasaki offers less hp than the Kymco

 

[Jeff_MdR]

Cherie - you seem to have a knee-jerk hatred of anything Chinese in the scooter/motorcycle realm. You can accept or reject a product for any reason whatsoever - hopefully it's based on actual personal experience because then your opinion would be worth considering (as I consider your opinions on the Burgman to be worthwhile).

I have more of a raised-eyebrow skepticism with pre-conceived biases about dealer support and parts supply chain. I won't be an early adopter of the J300 (mainly because the rollout is in Europe, not N. American), but I will be looking forward to real-world riding tests, reviews and rider reports. I'll base my buying decision on the specific product when the facts start coming in.

As scooter lovers, good products help 'our cause.' I hope the new Kawasaki is a screaming success.

 

[Elliott Larron]

 

[29534]

The simple fact that Kymco has met Honda, BMW and Kawasaki quality standards makes it good enough for me. None of those manufacturers are known to make poor quality bikes. I've had several of each and they were all good.

 

[Jeff_MdR]

Well done promo video. I was a bit taken aback by the obvious theft of the 'Burgman grin' that the rider/passenger displayed!

 

[kimbo4]

When I watched that video I could see that the ergos had not changed at all and I laughed at the very soft J in the J300 badge...some people will mistake it for 1300 . I don't know how this will do for Kawasaki, the fact that it is a Kymco will go viral and I can't see Kawi selling it for less than the Kymco price point so it may not sell at all.

 

[ChipDoc]

Nice promo. Yeah, I spotted that "1300" too. I wonder how it actually handles riding over all of those trolley tracks? I liked the shorty windscreen too.

 

[Dave_J]

In about two years I will be going thru a life challenging event, again, RETIREMENT. I will not need the 650 for commuting 41 miles one way. This may fit my needs at that time.

I have no bones with Kymco. But I do think that when a Top Notch builder like BMW has a off shore builder make over 90% of the bike and then tries to pass it off as a 100% TOP NOTCH product is BS. But for years your Top 3 US car makers have been doing joint ventures together, GM make most of the tilt steering columbs that Chrysler uses, Jeep used Toyota Automatics and Peugeot 5 speeds in the Cherokee 4 L.

 

[Jeff_MdR]

I've never been a fan of the matte finish look. But this J300 appears to have a satin sheen that bridges the gap between a non-reflective matte and traditional gloss. I like it.

 

[Chérie]

Me automatically eliminate as it one more piece of Chinese junk !

The fact that Honda, BMW and Kawasaki go to a Chinese company like Kymco simply mean that in very competitive market they trying to market less expensive product to meet price point with product that they can purchase cheaper than what they can build them self even if quality is so so and not up to their highest quality standard.

Me have not change mind, automatically eliminate as it one more piece of Chinese junk ! Kawasaki big disappointment with this crap.

 

[Dave_J]

Well Suzuki does outsource too. Take the 650 V-strom/SV650, You can get a made in Korea Hyosung GT650 for less money. But look at the engines and "WHAT THE HECK" they are the same. Speedo's are the same...... http://www.hyosungmotorsusa.com/new_...T650&year=2012

 

[R120]

The build quality on a Kymco downtown is way better than on my Burgman 400. Over her in Europe Suzuki have a don't have a great reputation for build quality, very much being considered the bottom of the Big Four on that front.

As the other poster said the Downtown has weird ergonomics, but is a very well put together piece of kit. Kawasaki have a huge cult following over here based on their race bikes, theis scoot will shift big numbers as people who wrongly turn their noses up at a Kymco will but the Kwakiutl based on the name and race rep livery alone.

Smart move from Kawasaki - I would rather by a bike developed for them by a company who knows how to build a good scoot, that see what they came up with on their own!

 

[kimbo4]

Once again here we go...Taiwan IS NOT CHINA!!! Taiwanese people do not like to be called Chinese and consider themselves to be quite different. It's much like the same looking but different Canadians and Americans or better yet how do you as a French Canadian like being told that there is no difference between you and an English Canadian? Most of the Taiwanese originally came over from China but they have been there for 100's of years and are quite different people, just like virtually everyone in North America has come from somewhere else and after a few generations we are quite different than our ancestors. Give the Taiwanese a break, they sub-contract for almost every manufacturer out there with very good results and their own branded bikes are always on top of the reliability standings.

I would love to find out how many parts from our Burgmans are sourced from Taiwan!