Cycle News Staff | July 7, 2021
We head for the hills aboard Honda’s new CRF300L and Kawasaki’s new KLX300 dual sports.
The Honda CRF300L (left) and Kawasaki KLX300 doing what they do best—providing great, stress-free fun on the dirt.
Photography by Kit Palmer
We have learned from past reviews of the KLX250 and CRF250L that these are two surprisingly capable motorcycles that are extremely fun to ride despite their relatively small displacements, soft suspensions, and small price tags. Our review of the new 300cc versions of each bike revealed that they have only gotten better. A little more displacement and a few more refinements to both went a long way.
Although both bikes are completely street legal and can comfortably cover road miles at 60-plus miles per hour, they are better suited to exploring dirt roads and trails and running quick errands around town.
After a significant amount of time riding both these bikes on pavement and dirt (okay, we admit, mostly dirt), we’ve compiled our thoughts on some of the main categories that you will likely consider when trying to choose which of these two bikes might be best residing in your garage.
Both bikes are handsome, but the Honda makes us want to get on it and go. It’s a looker, for sure.
Price | 2021 Honda CRF300L vs. Kawasaki KLX300
There are a few options here. First, both bikes are relatively affordable at well under $6000, so you can’t go wrong here no matter what. Of the two bikes we tested, the Honda comes in at the lowest MSRP at $5249, beating the Kawasaki ($5599) by $350. Not a huge difference, but that is a lot of gas money. The Honda CRF300L offers ABS as an option; the KLX300 does not. ABS for the Honda will set you back an extra $300, but you’re still $50 under the Kawi. However, you get two color choices with the KLX—traditional Kawasaki Lime green and Fragment Camo gray. The Camo version costs $200 more than the simple green version. The Honda is offered in only one color—red—but you wouldn’t want it any other way, which leads us into our next category.
Fuel injection and more displacement, which both bikes have now, do wonders when riding way up in the mountains. When it comes to power, the KLX has a slight advantage over the CRF-L.
Styling | 2021 Honda CRF300L vs. Kawasaki KLX300
The Honda whips the Kawasaki’s behind here. The Honda looks modern and racy, the Kawasaki is sort of old-school and uninspiring. Funny, though, at first, we initially thought the KLX looked sharp—until we parked the Honda next to it. No, the KLX isn’t a bad-looking motorcycle at all; it’s just that the CRF300L looks so darn good! Heck, at a quick glance, the CRF300L would not look out of place under the Honda HRC tent sitting right next to Ken Roczen’s and Chase Sexton’s factory motocross bikes at the RedBud National. The Honda’s bodywork, graphics and black wheels look sweet! The KLR300, on the other hand, seems dated and conservative by comparison. However, the Kawi’s Camo version, with its black rims and blacked-out frame, does look more modernistic, but the Camo part drew mixed opinions from our testers. Some like it, some, eh, not so much.
Newer riders will enjoy the Honda’s ultra-cushy suspension.
Comfort (AKA Ergonomics) | 2021 Honda CRF300L vs. Kawasaki KLX300
No real winner or loser here. They are both comfy. The sitting position on both bikes is relaxed for riding on pavement or dirt roads. The Honda’s seat feels slightly cushier and a tad lower relative to the handlebars. From past experience, however, we have found that the Honda’s L seat foam breaks down quickly, allowing your butt to become too familiar with the seat base. But so far so good with the 300’s seat. Time will tell.
The Kawasaki’s seat height relative to the pegs and handlebars is slightly taller, making it a little roomier for taller riders. The weak link in the Kawasaki ergonomics department is the footpegs. They are just too small. You kind of get used to them but riding both bikes back-to-back immediately reminds you how much more stable the Honda’s larger pegs feel.
Seat height. This is a major deal for many people. Often, it’s a deal-breaker. It’s a confidence builder for beginners and for shorter riders alike, to be able to plant both feet firmly on the ground when not in motion, and there is no easy fix if you can’t. At right around 35 inches, both bikes are middle of the road in this department, but the top of the Honda’s seat is approximately half an inch closer to the ground than the Kawasaki’s, 34.6 inches versus 35.2 inches. A quick visit to your local dealer will reveal which bike fits you better. Just swing a leg over them and sit. No test ride is needed.
Both the CRF300L and KLX300 are street-legal, eliminating having to load them into a truck to get to your favorite riding spot and letting you ride into town for refueling (and perhaps more importantly, hamburgers).
Suspension | 2021 Honda CRF300L vs. Kawasaki KLX300
Okay, now things start separating themselves. When it comes to suspension, there is a clear winner here. Remember the extra $350 you spent on the Kawasaki? Well, here is what you get for that extra dough—superior suspension.
Kawasaki stepped up (as it had in previous years with the KLX250) by fitting the KLX300 with pretty darn good suspension components. Up front, you’ll find a fairly high-tech 43mm upside-down (USD) cartridge fork. The “cartridge” part is key here, because the cartridge design makes it possible to adjust damping, in this case, both rebound, and compression, via 16 “clicks” each. The cartridge also prevents the mixture of oil and air for more consistent damping. The Honda’s forks are also 43mm USD forks but are cartridge-less and, as a result, non-adjustable.
In the back, both bikes feature single-shock units that ride on linkages. Kawasaki labels its linkage system Uni-Trak and Honda’s Pro-Link. Despite the names, they are similar in the overall design. The Kawasaki, however, gets a more sophisticated shock that features a piggyback reservoir (to help keep the shock fluid cool for better consistency and performance) and spring preload and, like the fork, offers 16-way compression and rebound damping adjustability. All great stuff that you don’t usually see on sub-$6000 motorcycles. Hat’s off to Kawasaki.
Honda, on the other hand, went the cheaper route. Honda offers none of these things with the L’s suspension, except for shock spring preload. Honda wanted to keep MSRP as low as possible, figuring that the entry-level rider, which this bike targets, won’t truly reap the benefits of the better performance of a higher-priced shock. Heck, Honda might just be right. After all, Big Red has done well with the L when it comes to sales.
Despite the CRF’s simplistic suspension, it does work just fine for the newbie. It comes from the factory set up quite soft with both the spring and damping, which, again, a beginner rider won’t think twice about. But novice-skilled-on-up riders will quickly out-pace the under-sprung and under-damped shock on a rough road and will have to pay a lot more than $350 to remedy the situation.
The Kawasaki’s shock comes from the factory much stiffer, though still a little on the soft side overall, than the Honda’s and can take far more abuse before reaching its limit in the hands of a more experienced rider, who will also appreciate the shock’s fine-tune-ability.
The Honda’s fork is, like its shock, very soft. The Kawi’s fork is soft, too, but much firmer than the Honda’s and, as mentioned, offers damping adjustability.
The Kawasaki’s suspension is cushy enough for the beginner to enjoy yet firm enough for the more aggressive rider to have fun on, as well—at least to a point. Simply put, you can push the Kawasaki much harder than you can the Honda on the same technical trail before running out of suspension.
Overall, a beginner rider probably won’t notice the difference between the two suspensions, but more skilled and heavier riders certainly will, and, for them, the Kawi’s suspension rules.
You might be surprised just how fun these two “small-bore” and affordable dual sports can be on the dirt for both new and experienced riders, especially when your riding partner is on one as well.
Handling | 2021 Honda CRF300L vs. Kawasaki KLX300
The suspension performance is a big part of motorcycle handling, and for that reason, the Kawasaki is, again, much easier to ride at a higher pace. It goes through rough stuff better and corners better with less effort. The soft rear shock on the Honda seems to squat down even when turning, making the front-end traction feel vaguer. But, again, a beginner won’t have any issues with either bike when it comes to handling.
Both bikes tip our scale at a little over 300 pounds (full of fuel), 313 for the Honda and 304 for the Kawasaki, so neither one is exactly “light,” but they are not excessively heavy either. The Kawasaki weighs nine pounds less than the Honda, which is insignificant, really, we doubt you will feel the difference once in motion, but the Honda might feel lighter, or at least equivalent to the Kawi, for some because of its lower seat height and seemingly lower center of gravity.
Overall, both bikes handle well and perform alike at slow speeds, but your confidence will wane sooner on the Honda compared to the Kawasaki as the trail pace picks up.
Both bikes perform well overall on the dirt until speeds pick up on rough terrain. That’s when the Kawasaki’s superior suspension shines.
Brakes | 2021 Honda CRF300L vs. Kawasaki KLX300
We preferred the braking performance of the Kawasaki, which had better bite up front than the Honda. The Honda’s front brake felt too mushy for our liking and required a good squeeze on the lever for hurry-up stopping. However, this is not a bad thing at all for the beginner who is still trying to master the scary front brake because the Honda’s is slightly more forgiving than the Kawasaki’s.
So, no real winner or loser in this department either, but we must give Honda kudos for at least offering ABS, which can be disabled in the back for off-road riding. Even some of our experienced test riders won’t say no to at least front ABS on dual-sport bikes when given a choice. The Honda tested here was not fitted with ABS.
The Honda benefited the most from the increase in engine displacement.
Engine Performance | 2021 Honda CRF300L vs. Kawasaki KLX300
It’s a close battle in the engine-performance department between these two. They are both excellent performers, just a little different. The Honda seems to feel like it benefited the most from the added displacement from the previous year.
Even experienced riders can enjoy these bikes on trails as they have enough power to climb decent hills, chug through soft terrain and accelerate rather quickly out of the turns. Our test riders admitted that it was difficult to feel a significant power difference between the two bikes, but side-by-side drag races on the pavement did reveal that the Kawasaki has a clear advantage when it comes to powering through the gears. This didn’t surprise us too much since the CRF gives away 12cc’s (286cc to 298cc) to the KLX right off the bat.
However, one of our testers felt the Honda had better overall performance and torque in the low-to-mid-range, which should be advantageous, again, for newer riders.
Excessive vibration was a non-issue for both bikes. Neither bike had problems cruising comfortably along in the 60-65 mph range on the pavement.
Both bikes carry about the same amount of fuel: 2.0 gallons for the Kawasaki and 2.1 gallons for the Honda, which, for most beginners and novices and even many experienced riders, is more than enough for one sitting on these bikes.
Fit & Finish | 2021 Honda CRF300L vs. Kawasaki KLX300
If these were our own motorcycles, we’d be plenty happy riding them just how they are for quite a while, but there are a few things we’d do to them right away.
Both bikes would benefit nicely from some aftermarket handguards. Even the simplest and “cheapest” (least expensive) plastic guards would be excellent additions to both bikes.
It makes us nervous riding any kind of motorcycle off the pavement without engine protection underneath the bike. The Honda comes sans skid plate, so we’d look into that right away when it comes to the Honda. The Kawasaki arrives from the factory with a small but effective bolt-on skid plate and brush/rock guards welded onto the lower frame rails that help protect the lower side cases and water pump and help keep your mind at ease.
As mentioned, larger footpegs are in order for the KLX.
The stock tires on both bikes are decent, and we’d probably get some wear on them first before seeking out more aggressive and better-sticking DOT-stamped knobbies for the dirt unless we had a big ride planned. Otherwise, we’d just as soon get our money’s worth out of the stockers and then step up to some better rubber later on. There are plenty to choose from.
Same idea here with the handlebars. We wouldn’t be heartbroken the day we dropped either bike and bent the steel handlebars because this would give us an excuse to replace them with sturdier aluminum bars.
We’d also investigate foldable mirrors for both bikes. We know that Doubletake and Acerbis make good options.
That’s about it, really.
Honda did a better job routing the water-cooling hoses out of harm’s way than Kawasaki.
Summary | 2021 Honda CRF300L vs. Kawasaki KLX300
Both bikes hit the bullseye when it comes to doing what they were designed to do—appeal to the entry-level or inexperienced rider looking for something affordable for both on and off the road use while also delivering in the performance department. They handle well, have good suspension, and their motors are extremely capable without the intimidation factor. The added displacement just made them more fun and even easier to manage, as well. Sometimes more power will do that.
As mentioned earlier, the main thing that sets these two bikes apart is their suspension. The Kawasaki’s is far superior to the Honda’s when it comes to the dirt. However, the true newbie or novice might not even notice the difference or even give it a second thought, but the more experienced rider will indeed prefer the Kawi’s suspension over the Honda’s.
Again, anyone new to the sport will enjoy both bikes equally; it’s just that the newbie will outgrow the Honda much sooner than the Kawasaki, making the Kawasaki our pick of this two-bike litter. CN
VIDEO | 2021 Honda CRF300L vs. Kawasaki KLX300
2021 Honda CRF300L / Kawasaki KLX300 Specifications
| MSRP: |
$5249 / $5599 |
| Engine: |
4-stroke, single / 4-stroke, single |
| Drivetrain: |
DOHC, 4-valve / DOHC, 4-valve |
| Cooling System: |
Liquid / Liquid |
| Displacement: |
286cc / 298cc |
| Bore x Stroke: |
76.0 x 63.0mm / 78.0 x 61.2mm |
| Compression Ratio: |
10.7:1 / 11.1:1 |
| Horsepower (claimed): |
27.0 hp at 8500 rpm / NA |
| Torque (claimed): |
19.6 lb-ft at 6500 rpm / NA |
| Fueling System: |
PGM-FI Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI), 38mm throttle body / Digital Fuel Injection (DFI) 34mm throttle body |
| Clutch: |
Wet multiplate, assist/slipper / Wet multiplate |
| Transmission: |
6-speed / 6-speed |
| Starting System: |
Electric / Electric |
| Final Drive: |
13T/40T / 14T/40T |
| Frame: |
Steel semi-double cradle / Steel Perimeter |
| Swingarm: |
Aluminum / Aluminum |
| Front Suspension: |
Showa, 43mm, USD, telescopic fork, non-adjustable / KYB, 43mm USD, telescopic cartridge fork w/16-way compression damping adj. |
| Rear Suspension: |
Showa, single shock, Pro-Link, preload adjustable / KYB, single shock, Uni-Trak preload, 16-way compression and rebound adjustable |
| Front-Wheel Travel: |
10.2 in. / 10.0 in. |
| Rear-Wheel Travel: |
10.2 in. / 9.1 in. |
| Front Brake: |
256mm disc w/2-piston caliper; optional 2-channel ABS / 250mm disc w/2-piston caliper, ABS not available |
| Rear Brake: |
220mm disc w/1-piston caliper; optional 2-channel ABS / 240mm disc w/1-piston caliper, ABS not available |
| Front Tire: |
80/100-21 in. / 3.00-21 in. |
| Rear Tire: |
120/80-18 in. / 4.60-18 in. |
| Wheelbase: |
57.2 in. / 56.7 in. |
| Rake: |
27°30’ / NA |
| Trail: |
4.3 in. / NA |
| Seat Height: |
34.6 in. / 35.2 in. |
| Ground Clearance: |
11.2 in. / 10.8 in. |
| Fuel Capacity: |
2.1 gal. / 2.0 gal. |
| Weight (curb, actual): |
309 lbs. (311 lbs. ABS claimed) / 304 lbs. |
| Colors: |
Red / Lime green & Fragment camo gray |
