[techfreak]

Hello BHpians this is going to be my first proper ownership report in team BHP. So it may be not as interesting or as informative as some of our talented riders or writers.
I will though try to make it interesting as much as I can.

Machines have always fascinated me and although I ended up taking up the profession of arms I always remained connected to machines, may it be my bike & car, or my flying ones or firing ones in the line of duty. Yes even in my youth days a fast car or bike pulsed my heart more than a lass passing by. Well, coming to topic, childhood riding escapades went stealing my grandfather's Hero Majestic & Kinetic Spark to learn biking. At that time (1983-84) it was like “WOW”.

Fast fwd a little & college days went enjoying my father’s Bajaj Chetek, few borrowed TVS Max 100, now iconic RX-100, TVS SHOGUN (Boy it was a real Hooligan!!) Fast forward a little more & College ends, I land up in various training academics so no biking from 1997-2002 till I actually earned my rank and started getting pay and the dream of having a 2-wheeled girlfriend just took over me and thus came the trendiest bike of that time Hero Honda CBZ. Had paid some 60k odd at that time & got comments like “ You should have bought a 2nd hand car rather “ etc etc but we had a excellent honeymoon and a short marriage.

By the way my first marriage with silver CBZ ended with my 2nd marriage to my better half and the bargain was, I was left with no 2 wheeled darling from 2005 to 2010.

Then enter 2010, I had a extramarital affair rekindled - PASSION FOR BIKING took the better part of me and my senses & I told my wife let me have another girl , else I am going off. So began the search again. By this time I was past my mid 30s so criteria were :

• Good Handling.
• Comfort.
• Good highway ability.
• Not costing a BOMB.

After lot of hunting I zeroed in on RE TB 500 and Pulsar 220. Booked Re TB 500 with a claimed waiting period of 6 months but after about a month my anxiety to get a new girlfriend got better off me and picked up a pulsar 220 off the shelf.
No waiting nothing.Into the shop at 11 Am, out with bike at 4 PM.

However had a stormy relation with "Pulsy" (I name all my rides - bikes & car) Inspite of following a healthy running in,had a engine seizure at about 2000k & we broke up.
So there I was again in search mode again, and that was the time (Aug 2011 if am correct) CBR launched, took a test ride booked it pronto. Got delivery in about 10 days after pulling few strings here & there. {Wrong I know,. but needed company DESPERATELY ;-) }

Few pics of my good times with Blackie, my little Ceeber.







And this one after I had to repaint her due to severe scratching during transport





Good thing going, my third love affair went strong with numerous pan India rides with lovely memories. But she was feeling little weak when up fully loaded with two up for long trips especially on highways. Also by this time I had belted enough miles to polish & regain my biking skill and the lack of power on highway and very limited off the road (Not off road, I mean trail capability) prowess had fired my adulterous streak even more and I was silently looking for a more capable companion for my Blackie (CBR 250 R ABS).

In the lookout the following were the must have qualities :-

• Relaxed ergonomics for long rides.

• Handling (CBR had spoiled me)

• Good power (I am no speed freak but do enjoy fast rides when conditions permit safely).

• Luggage carrying ability without any modifications read "JUGAAD".

• ABS (Must have)

• Good sales/service network.

• Not exorbitantly expensive to maintain.

• Some SNOB value.

• Budget

: Not sure kinda open with upper limit pegged at 10 lakh ,most unrealistic part may be.

Based on the above had the following in mind:-

• Tiger 800 (then this XCx, XRx, etc were not available, so it was either 800 or the Explorer)
• Street Triple
• Z 800
• Bonneville

I know, out of the short listed bikes only Tiger 800 has all the boxes ticked and a little more (proper Adventure Tourer) than my requirements but other were also okay. So began the rounds of TDs, going through reviews, research on up keep & maintenance effort, cost etc.

Bonnie: Bonnie was/is a looker loved it for its :-

• Look
• Smooth unstressed power
• Fairly reachable service network

However it went off list due to :-

• Hard suspension
• No ABS

Z 800 : Liked Z800 in all respect , ticked all boxes but somewhere I felt it is not a proper tourer & deep inside I wanted an unfaired bike. So though overall I liked it, it didn’t excite me.

Street Triple: Again same story as Z800, it just a better & little bigger CBR with lot more power. A big off was the very low ground clearance. So our affair broke off even before it started.

Tiger 800 : Enter Tiger 800 - love at first sight, well more than that actually it was “ Love at first photo” it was already ticking all the right boxes and bettering it in many aspects.Took two long test rides once in Pune & once in Delhi, it just had hit the bull's eye. The moment I swing my leg over the bike my fast pulse raced even faster. Felt at home right from the word go. Both the time after the test ride came back smiling ear to ear.

Then got a chance to ride a friend’s 800 in Leh for ride to is Khardung La and beyond & I was sold, ABSOLUTELY.
Then came the reality of life. Money matters, Tiger was way off budget, in 2014 about 14 lakh on road, she was like a distant dream, at least in the near immediate future. So the wait continued with my love affair with “Blackie” in full swing like “Ghar Ka Bhoola, ghar Ko aaya”.

Enter the Versys 650 aka Blondelle

Time kept flying and stumbled upon the “Versys 650” thread, seemed good & got hooked to it, waiting for it to launch took test ride of Ducati Scrambler but it was off list quickly because of limited luggage option, hardly any pillion space & low seat height.

Sometime in mid 2015 got in touch with a Kawasaki dealer in NCR & he kind of confirmed launch of baby Versys in last qr 2015. In the meantime had a look at the bigger Versys & liked it. Versys 650 being a smaller clone of it looks were already a yes. By the month of Oct 2015 Google had nothing new to offer to read or watch on Versys 650. It was a bike ticking all my requirement of a two wheeled beauty and the best part was it was most likely going to be in my budget. The whole month of Nov & Dec went in checking the “Versys 650 launch thread & finally cometh 24 Dec 2015 & my new love landed on Indian shores at a fairly affordable price tag.

Story Cotinues.

[The Great]

Originally Posted by techfreak

Story Cotinues.

Great writeup, but somehow the pics arent loading.

And posting only 2 pics of your new bike is a serious crime on teambhp

[techfreak]

Versys Love Begins

It is after the launch of Versys 650 my quest for a new two wheeled beauty for company took an even interesting turn. Starved of biking since Apr 2014 due to being posted in an isolated part of the country owing to my job profile, I was kind of getting impatient to have “Blondelle” home. (That’s the name already chosen). But at the same time I was skeptical also to book such an expensive set of wheel without a test ride. And as such being in Ladakh I had no option of even having an ergo check on a display bike. Again the excitement took the better off me & booked the bike on 12 Jan 2016, kind of buying a lottery ticket for 5000/- (the cancellation charge) with mentally ready to forego the amount if I don’t like the bike.

Booked the bike on 12 Jan and was proceeding on leave with a layover at Delhi for about 8 hrs between the flights on 21 Jan 16. So planned to take a look at the bike in Delhi. It was 21 Jan and I was in Delhi. Feeling like a kid to be given some chocolate and sweets I was in the showroom even before it was open. And as I asked the guy cleaning the place when will they open, the fellow gave me quite a quizzical look with me carrying my suitcase, backpack and a big camera bag early in the morning at 9 O'clock, I must be looking like a guy looking for a place to stay rather than someone looking for a premium motorcycle outlet. So kept waiting for them to open as the surprise awaited me. Finally the SA landed up & there she was standing in all her glory beside her elder sibling.

My first look impression

a) Looks almost as big as the 1000, just a wee bit smaller especially the width.
b) Looks much better in person than photos.

And yet again I was falling in love again but luckily the SA come to my rescue to help me not to fall
Poor guy I must say as, as he started to explain the tech specs, features etc, the bike Romantic in me just woke up off its slumber & gave him so much about history, geography & features of Versys that the fella left me with the bike alone for a while. When I was just plain admiring and taking a note of the finer nuances of the beauty, comes the same SA & springs the surprise on me “Do you want a test ride?” I was like "Oh what? buddy you offering me a date with the beautiful babe with parental permission!!" I was surprised as till then no one anywhere had a TD of the bike.
I was like yeah sure but how soon? Then he tells the catch, sir we can only go for a short ride as the bike is yet to be registered to which I said never mind with thoughts like “pyar ke do pal bhi bahot hai zindagi ke liye”. And off we went out, I on the Versys and the SA on a Z800.

1st Ride Impression

Twisted the key, thumbed the starter and she fired up without a fuss with little high RPM finally settling into a smooth muted burble. Clutch feel was smooth but 1st gear engagement was a big CLUNK but engaging all other gears were smooth. Initial roll on was smooth without the madness of something like a i4 (Z-1000 & Z-800) But it pulled strong for sure. Immediately out of the showroom we were in the morning Delhi traffic, I was little apprehensive initially but as I started to wade through the traffic trying to keep pace with the Z800 I was immediately in groove. She was soaking up the bumps and road imperfection beautifully, me being in 3rd/4th cog generally, she was pulling smoothly without any snatchings (I had noticed the same during my scrambler TD at crawling speeds). Brake feel was good without any heavy diving & brake bite gradual for an excellent and assured feel. Then the guy took me to an open stretch & I opened the throttle to be rewarded with smooth power all the way up to about 140 kmph without a hint of vibration before I backed off owing to traffic & safety. Then we turned around to return on same route. When I tried to activate the ABS, it was effective yet unobtrusive, No major pulsation etc like my CBR. Overall I returned happy & sure of not losing my hard earned 5K. Here I would like to thank the dealer again who let me take another longish test ride immediately afterwards without any commitment to book with him. (The fact being I had already booked & boy I was already planning how to break in, ride etc etc in my 20 days stay at home.
Little aware I was though about the fantastic marketing strategy & plan Kawasaki India had in place for the terrific little machine. Fate had decided like a stubborn father not to let me have his beautiful daughter with ease thus came end of Jan, mid of Feb. & I was out of station for about 2 months.
There was no surety of as to when will Blondelle come, how am I gonna take delivery. I even thought of staggering delivery by 2 months but loan was through and the bank was not ready to hold on for so long.
(What is the period banks generally wait before disbursement & after sanctioning of loan?. I had no idea so dropped the plan to stagger delivery.)

Then the super supporting dealer offered to drop the bike home which I refused owing to a non-run-in bike in the hand of our excellent mechanic lot. Suddenly in some change of plan I was visiting home for 15 days in mid march, so informed the dealer to ready the bike for delivery, which he happily obliged else he was planning to send the bike to my place at his cost on a Tata ACE.

So on 21 Mar it was a hassle free n smooth delivery. I reached alone to the showroom and she was parked all shiny n beautiful. All paperwork was already done and they just had to give me a little brief n I was off. The clock was reading only 3km, must be the distance from the godown to the showroom.







They also gave a box of assorted chocolates...May be to sweeten all the delay they had done. Overall good delivery experience.

Out of the showroom straight headed to the fuel bunk to top her up and the typical inquisitive look and questions came :-

• How much?
• Kitna deti hai?

I was feeling good from the admiring looks she was getting and proceeded to meet with couple of fellow BHPians from Bhubaneswar. And soon I was on road again for my 175 km journey home. This was the most difficult and testing part. She was easily hitting 85kmph in 4000 rpm and with the feel of underlying power and superb 4 lane road invitingly empty, I was just somehow restraining myself within 4k rpm with trying to vary speed and RPM all the while. This must be one of the most torturous ride of my life. Reached home impressed and happy. All that I had read about the bike over the months were actually true.

She basking in the sun with Blackie..my baby Ceeber





My 1st Ride Impression (PROPER RIDE)

Though I had test ridden the bike twice before during the TD, my ride home was the first proper ride. My impression after the ride home was just awesome.

• ERGONOMICS Boy she is tall. I am 5 ft 11 inch and my shoe must be adding an inch at least and I was not flat footing on both sides simultaneously though could touch both sides adequately. The rider position is in did touring friendly and comfortable. The rider, footpeg,handlebar positioning is spot on. One sits as like in a comfy chair with absolutely no stretching and trying to reach out kind of feeling. Overall was very very comfortable for intended long (Read very long) rides. There is adequate space for the rider to move around as also the pillion also should be comfortable with that super wide rear seat. ( My guestimate...yet to have a pillion ride with me for a firsthand comment).

• ENGINE Coming from a CBR ( Just to remind 24 odd BHP) I was a little apprehensive of the so called 69 horses. But the way she delivers all those horses is reassuring, gradual and smooth. One could feel the grunt and power that's there but it isn't threatening. Engage the clutch, slot into gear and release the clutch and she just moves smoothly with a touch of throttle, no judder nothing. In my initial ride i was keeping her below 4k rpm as stipulated for run in, but even at 4k RPM speed was about 83 km/h in 6th cog, so was able to keep pace with traffic easily, though I felt there was just a hint of vibrations in 6th gear & 4k RPM which used to become butter smooth at about 90kmph which was at 4200 RPM or so, beyond that the engine is all about smooth torque and NO VIBRATION at all.

• BRAKES Brakes are reassuring is the least to say. The brake bite is instant and strong yet gradual enough for one to modulate a smooth & sure stop every time. The ABS was smooth with very minimal pulsation compared to my baby Ceeber but seemed a little over enthusiastic at times. Over all fantastic brakes with the safety net of ABS, perfect for a high speed tourer.

• SUSPENSION Suspension in the front is a SFF aka SEPARATE FUNCTION FORKS by SHOWA. They work just beautifully. In SFF one fork takes care of the preload and other rebound. In Versys it is SFF with both adjustable independently. The rear shocker is single unit mounted little offset without any linkage etc with only preload adjustment. I am yet to change the factory setting of either front or rear but its just so supple, glides over road imperfection efforlessly . It felt absolutely set for our kind of NO ROAD road conditions

• INSTRUMENTATION The dash is a typical Ana-Digi affair and to be frank looks quite plain jane affair & could have been better, may be a full digital affair. It gives loads of information though. Its a big analog Tacho on top graduated till 13k RPM and rest is digital with the Speedo being the boldest. It shows plethora of info like Instantaneous fuel consumption, average fuel consumption, ECO mode indication, Clock, Fuel level, two trip meters, odometer, Cruise range with available fuel, Neutral light on the left and one big warning light to the right. A word about the ECO Mode- It comes on when the engine is at the optimum speed for an gear with respect to fuel consumption, so it shall help one to stretch that litre to the max if one wishes to. But in all that comprehensive list it misses out on a gear position indicator, though a separate gear position indicator is available as accessory.

ACCESSORY OPTIONS

• LUGGAGE OPTIONS Being touted as a long distance tourer it has enough options for carrying luggage. Kawasaki offers excellent ( But Pricey) hard side cases which doesn't need any rack etc to fit. The attacment points are cleverly designed and integrated onto the grab handles and footpeg extensions. An optional top case is also is available though that needs an extra rear rack apart from the top case itself.
  If one is looking aftermarket, being an old and international model it has all major accessory maker offering adequate option to choose from whether hard luggage or soft luggage.
  It also has enough bungee/anchor points all around to secure that odd backpack or drybag one may carry.

• OTHER ACCESSORIES Kawasaki also offers various other OE accessories like LED Aux lights, heated grip, Gear Position Indicator, 12 V Power Socket etc as already mentioned a lot of other stuff is available from many other reputed aftermarket accessory manufacturers.

POSITIVES

• Ergonomic and comfortable touring friendly seating posture.
• Tried and tested engine with more than adequate power to maintain day long cruise at sane & insane speeds.
• 21 ltr tank for 400km + range with little reserve at about 22kmpl that she is delivering now.
• Good seat both pillion and rider.
• Good range of accessories available both OE as well as aftermarket.
• Excellent brakes with ABS.
• Superb suspension with full adjust-ability both front and rear ( Rear only preload).
• The Ohhmp factor

NEGATIVES

• No main stand as standard or OE accessory though is available from SW Motech as well as Hepco Becker.
• No gear position indicator in spite of having a comprehensive instrument console.
• Weak Head light in spite of twin 55 watt configuration.
• Only color option is Black, though internationally a white, yellow and kawasaki green option is available.
• Super pricey OE accessories and unsure availability with dealers.
• Ideally should have come with dual sport / adventure tourer tyre aka Pirelli Scorpion Trail. Though Kawasaki touts the Versys as a road only bike it is much more capable.

MY VERDICT Over all it is a complete motorcycle with little or no shortcomings. Most of the negatives that I have listed are easily remedied. Just wish Kawasaki had also launched the LT or Light Tourer version with side panniers and gear position indicator and 12 Volt accessory socket albeit at a higher cost, am sure a lot of us would have prefered the LT version to ABS version which is available now.

Versys never the less sits at a niche spot as such in the Sport Touring/Adventure Touring category as above it is the Tiger 800 XR which is about 10.60 lakh ex showroom and below it is the recently launched RE Himalayan at 1.8 lakh price tag. At 4 lakh (Ex Showroom) price difference it can almost do 80% of what the Tiger can do off-road and universally it is accepted to be better than Tiger on-road. Having ridden a Tiger 800 I personally feel Versys to be an better option for most of Indian riders who has long been deprived of a machine which could do long trips two up and luggage with adequate comfort with the ability to handle Indian roads well. Am not comparing it to Himalayan as both sit in two very different category both price wise as well as positioning wise.


My little one having his share of fun on Blondelle :-)



All in all I am a happy owner. Hope she turns out to be trouble free in long term. She is performing flawlessly and plasters a smile end to end whenever i swing a leg over her and go for a ride. Soon Shall be doing a 800 km ride with my son and doing the 1st service in between.

Story continues.

[mobike008]

Note from Mod : Thread moved from Assembly Line section to Superbikes & Imports


Hey Sambit :

Congratulations on this fantastic acquisition and welcome to the club. That's a lot of miles clocked in 20 days and shows your eagerness to ride and enjoy this beauty

I think our views match to a large extent about how the Versys 650 performs. Enjoy your ride and keep updating this thread even with minor updates and also keep sharing lot of pictures as you enjoy this ownership

Cheers & Ride Safe
Avi

[Haroon]

Congrats techfreak on the beautiful Versys.

I think the engine guard and probably a center stand could be the first functional accessories to add on.

Here is wishing you a long innings and many many memorable miles with Ms. Blondelle

[VellVector]

Congrats on your new bike.

I would look outside the OE luggage options. You will find a lot of good options from other manufacturers at better prices. Tough they may not be available in India.

I just picked up a very nice Tail bag for my Z800 from the US. I remember seeing some nice options for tourers as well.

I personally am not a fan of a center stand especially on the run and for maintenance I prefer a paddock stand. Any particular reason you want a center stand?

[techfreak]

Thanks all. Yes considering the price of OE accessories I am looking at aftermarket accessories. Especially for fog /auxiliary light n luggage option. But even then brands like H&B, SW MOTECH are if not equally but are do expensive, though quality of the stuff is very good. May be if the ride is expensive the accessories do get expensive with it, simple economic sense for companies. If one can afford 8 lakhs for bike he/she may surely afford another couple to accessorize it.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by VellVector

I just picked up a very nice Tail bag for my Z800 from the US. I remember seeing some nice options for tourers as well.

Can you share a picture of the tail-bag, price and where you got it in US?

In a few months, have a full 30kgs suitcase dedicated to me so plan to get a few motorcycling knick-knacks

[VellVector]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Can you share a picture of the tail-bag, price and where you got it in US?

In a few months, have a full 30kgs suitcase dedicated to me so plan to get a few motorcycling knick-knacks

I got the tail bag for $80 from Revzilla. (Link - http://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/ogio-tail-bag). I buy most of my gear and like from them. I have not yet had time to mount it on the bike. I will try to do it this weekend and post a picture.

[abhishek46]

Bhaina, Many congratulations on your purchase!
I was not aware that kawasaki has sales and service in Bhubaneswar.
How is the engine heat in Bhubaneswar's torrid summer conditions?
Anyways, enjoy the bike to the fullest!

[techfreak]

@abhishek46 thanks a lot.
I have done about 1300km so far and there is just no issue of heat in the engine. It's as good or bad as a 390 may be. On the move just no problem.
Presently away from bike for some time, sad part.
Will soon update further.
And yes Kawasaki 650 cc n below bikes are available in BBSR through KTM dealer on order only and they do provide service too.

[techfreak]

My journey with Blondelle completed 1280 km as also she underwent 1st Service, all going good.

As planned I was out on my 800 km sojourn when she had clocked about 600 km and was to be away from the service centre so did the 1st service at about 725 km.

Service Experience

• 1st service basically is tightening / checking of all bolts etc for correct torque and tightness.
• Change of engine oil & Oil filter.
• Attending to any complaints.

Since Blondelle was running fine complete service was a pretty quick affair. I had to wait only for the engine to cool down before they washed and got her on the service ramp. After that it was a 30 min affair total. Total expense Rs.3300/-, out of which Rs.1050 was labour rest spares.( Engine oil & Oil filter.)





As per discussion on another thread wanted to use Motul 300V engine oil but the same was not available. As also, as per the service supervisor Bajaj recommends Motul 7100, so used Motul 7100 10w40 . However, I would recommend to use 300V to all if it is available as having used 300V on my CBR I can say it's a better oil than 7100 and change interval being 6000 km in Versys we can safely use 300V. (Just a note Motul 7100 has a longer change interval vis a vis 300V which is a race spec oil.)



Observations post 1st Service

• Gear shifts have become little smoother however it is still clunky especially neutral to 1st gear.
• The engine note has become a little smoother.
• Apart from above not much change I have noticed.

Post servicing did another 500+ km and the best part was completing 800 km post which I could go upto 6000 RPM. Even at 4000 rpm in 6th gear speed used to be around 85-90 kmph, adequate for traffic condition even on highway but just the thought of another 2000 rpm being available was reassuring. At 6000 rpm in 6th gear speeds were about 130 km/h odd (don't remember exactly) but it was more than enough to keep up with the highway traffic safely.

Now comes the sad part, shall be out station for about two months so Blondelle goes into rest mode. However I have ensured weekly starting the engine and cleaning up , so she is ready to go the day I reach back. Planning to use this time to finalise on accessories and order them.

Accessories Planned

• Sump Protection Guard
• Aux Light
• Fairing/Engine Guard
• Top Case
• Have a pair of Rynox Nomad saddle bag which I plan continue to use. They have served me well and still lot life left in them.

I am yet to decide on brands etc though likely to be either from SW Motech or Hepco Becker or may be a combination of both. Have decided to go slow on accessories as past experience says most of the accessories bought in haste are seldom used. Have done this stupidity before so cautious this time.

[v12]

The first ownership thread with its first service details in the first page itself!

Congrats Techfreak on the V650. The Versys threads are really tempting me .... Kawasaki, why don't u make a Versys 800?? What's the cost of the second and third service and what is carried out? 3300 is not to bad at all for a 650 Kwacker compared to the ~10k on the Z's. Another factor to seriously consider (ownership cost) while buying a big bike.

P.S. One small request. Could you also update your service costs in the below thread :

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/superb...ml#post3948230

[shan_ned]

Originally Posted by techfreak

As per discussion on another thread wanted to use Motul 300V engine oil but the same was not available. As also, as per the service supervisor Bajaj recommends Motul 7100, so used Motul 7100 10w40 . However, I would recommend to use 300V to all if it is available as having used 300V on my CBR I can say it's a better oil than 7100 and change interval being 6000 km in Versys we can safely use 300V. (Just a note Motul 7100 has a longer change interval vis a vis 300V which is a race spec oil.)

Rather than paying more attention on which one to choose between Motul 300V and 7100 (as we may not see any significant difference between the two for street use), we can look for a far more beneficial thing - Oil viscosity grade. The recommended rating is 10W40, but the manual also suggests to go for a higher rating based on the climate/environment. If we look at the manual closely, 10W50 or 15W50 is the recommended one for climates having ambient temperature hovering around 40 degree celsius (which the case is in most part of our country). For me, these are the following benefits I can see first hand :-
1. Smoother gear shifts (though engaging the 1st gear is still clunky)
2. Reduced engine heat (one can see the fan kicking in less frequently).

It is your choice to go between 300V and 7100, but the more important stuff is the use of right oil viscosity in accordance to the climate. For summer, go for 10W50/15W50 and 10W40 for winter. Hope this helps.

[techfreak]

Originally Posted by shan_ned

Rather than paying more attention on which one to choose between Motul 300V and 7100 (as we may not see any significant difference between the two for street use), we can look for a far more beneficial thing - Oil viscosity grade. The recommended rating is 10W40, but the manual also suggests to go for a higher rating based on the climate/environment. If we look at the manual closely, 10W50 or 15W50 is the recommended one for climates having ambient temperature hovering around 40 degree celsius (which the case is in most part of our country). For me, these are the following benefits I can see first hand :-
1. Smoother gear shifts (though engaging the 1st gear is still clunky)
2. Reduced engine heat (one can see the fan kicking in less frequently).

It is your choice to go between 300V and 7100, but the more important stuff is the use of right oil viscosity in accordance to the climate. For summer, go for 10W50/15W50 and 10W40 for winter. Hope this helps.

I fully agree more than the brand it's the viscosity grade which matters for the health of the engine especially with the kind of extreme summer we are facing this year. I was just comparing between 300V & 7100 keeping the grade same (10w40) as my use is mostly highway runs keeping the speed at the highest possible limit with purview of safety. My experience with Motul 300V has been good so the tilt to it.

However its a valid point you brought in that whether 300V or 7100 one should go for a thicker oil keeping the ambient temp prevailing.