10 Affordable Japanese Bikes That Ride Smooth On-Road And Off-Road

It’s not difficult to build a great motorcycle when you have an unlimited budget. That’s for R&D – but that also means that the product will cost a lot when it goes on sale. There is something to be said about the amount of tech that goes into a premium bike, but it can arguably be more difficult to develop a budget motorcycle. You see, budget motorcycles are held to really high standards today. They can’t be rubbish, either to ride or own, else word will get around quick enough and sales will dip.

Thankfully, most manufacturers have been ‘round the block more than a few times, and know their way around the accountants’ demands. The Japanese have always been the best of these, and arguably the finest example of this cost-effective engineering are affordable motorcycles that can deal with any road condition with equanimity. Here are ten affordable Japanese bikes that ride smoothly on-road and off-road. Expectedly, the list is mostly dual sport bikes, but there are a few surprises as well.

Kawasaki KLX230

Price: $5,199

Kawasaki

The KLX230 cost less than $5,000 until a short while ago, and that gives you an idea of how much value it delivers. It might have a tiny air-cooled 233 cc engine that puts out only 17 horsepower, but coupled with the six-speed gearbox, it has enough puff for short highway runs as well. The perimeter frame and link-type rear shock give it good ability both on and off the road. ABS is an optional extra and costs $300. You get a larger front brake disc if you opt for it.

Yamaha XT250

Price: $5,499

Yamaha

The XT250 has grown long in the tooth and was even taken off Yamaha’s website earlier this year, prompting us to believe that it would be discontinued. Thankfully, Yamaha has seen the error of its way and has put it back on sale. This is a motorcycle that is the halfway point between the two small Kawasaki KLXs, with a cradle frame and an air-cooled engine with a 5-speed gearbox. This is one of the motorcycles with simple components and leverages it to become indestructible. Whether on road or off, the XT250 will do what you need without complaint.

Kawasaki KLX300

Price: $5,649

Kawasaki

The KLX300 is a slightly strange product when compared to the smaller KLX230. It gets a more sophisticated liquid-cooled engine with a double overhead cam and 4 valves. But Kawasaki has housed it in a cradle frame. We suppose it makes it better on tarmac thanks to the significant bump in performance from the engine, and better off-road because of the frame that is better at the rough stuff. All it is missing is ABS, which isn’t available even as an option: another strange omission from the KLX300 when the KLX230 has it.

Honda CRF300L

Price: $5,749

Honda

The CRF300L is the baby dual sport in the Honda range. It uses the same single cylinder engine used by the Rebel 300 and CBR300R, so you’re guaranteed reliability from it. It is coupled with a six-speed gearbox and switchable ABW. A recent update has given it a USB-C charging socket. This engine doesn’t make much power, but it is an extremely smooth unit with a great torque spread. These are characteristics that make it good everywhere, although with the low power figure, it isn’t exactly suited for long highway trips.

Honda CRF300L Rally

Price: $6,499

Honda

The CRF300L Rally is the adventure bike version of the CRF300L above. The differences aren’t much, to be honest; the Rally looks a lot more like an adventure bike rather than a dual sport, but that’s about it. It has the same positives, like the liquid cooled 286 cc engine and six-speed gearbox with switchable ABS. It doesn’t have the option of a lowered suspension for a more accessible seat like the dual sport does – the CRF300LS is exactly that, a more approachable on/off-road machine.

Kawasaki KLR650

Price: $6,999

Kawasaki

The KLR650 hasn’t changed much in the time it has been in production, and it is the gold standard for dual sport bikes that hang their hat on simplicity and reliability. It has managed this by being great to ride everywhere, especially off-road. ABS is now present, but isn’t switchable. Its sustained popularity and reliability mean that even if you don’t like it in stock form, there is massive capacity to customize it on a relatively low budget – and you can also reduce the budget further by picking one up used.

Honda XR650L

Price: $6,999

Honda

The KLR might not have changed much over the decades, but the XR650L hasn’t changed at all. Honda has given it cosmetic updates over the years, but what you get is a blast from the past, complete with an all-analog instrument cluster, a carburetor feeding the engine fuel, and halogen bulbs for the lights. It has truly amazing ground clearance, thanks to the dry sump design. The engine oil is stored in and cooled by the frame itself – an interesting wrinkle in an otherwise bog-standard design. Expectedly, it does much better off the road than on.

Honda NX500

Price: $7,399

Honda

The NX500 is on the opposite side of the spectrum as the XR while still retaining similar abilities. This is an adventure tourer with alloy wheels that doesn’t claim to be good off-road. In fact, it doesn’t have switchable ABS. However, the traction control can be switched off, which hints at what Honda intended: a tourer that can take on all roads and even the lack of roads without complaint. You also get a 5-inch TFT color display with Bluetooth connectivity and navigation to support its incredible tank range provided by the hyper-efficient twin-cylinder engine.

Suzuki DR-Z4S

Price: $8,999

Suzuki

The DR-Z4S is probably what the XR would have evolved to, if Honda had kept updating it. It doesn’t seem like much from the outside, what with the seemingly ordinary setup – it has even retained the five-speed gearbox that the DR-Z400S had. However, there are a raft of changes under the skin. A new steel perimeter frame anchors bodywork, driveline, and suspension. The engine itself has fuel injection, a by-wire throttle with ride modes, titanium intake valves, sodium-filled hollow exhaust valves, four level traction control, and ABS that can be switched off at both ends.

Honda XL750 Transalp

Price: $9,999

Honda

The Transalp is an adventure bike, and it sports a wheel rim size of 21 and 18 inches. That is usually reserved for enduro-type bikes, but the Transalp is in reality a mild-mannered tarmac-biased ADV. It is comfortable, whether you decide to take the long way via the highway or choose to take a shortcut through dirt. The feature set supports this, with switchable traction control and ABS, a standard two-way quickshifter, the most powerful engine in an ADV below $10,000, self-canceling indicators, all-LED lighting, and a 5-inch TFT color display with Bluetooth and navigation.