Kawasaki J300: the wedding planner

HOW much alcohol do you need for a stag night? I didn't want things to get out of hand at mine, so I set the limit at as much as I could possibly carry.

Luckily I had Visordown's long-term Kawasaki J300 scooter for the weekend. If I'd been on my usual long-term test bike, the Yamaha MT-07, my stag do might have been an entirely different sort of evening.

The MT-07 may be an accomplished motorcycle but it cannot carry 27 half-litre cans of lager and four 75cl bottles of spirits under the seat, as I discovered the J300 can.

That was me sorted. And for the guests, two litre bottles of fizzy pop, suspended from the bag hook in the J300's foot-well.

In fact I could probably have got more on the J300 without much trouble. There isn't quite as much under-seat storage as you get with some maxi scooters, like the Suzuki Burgman 650. What you do get on the Kawasaki is that big rear carrier. Along with the expansive pillion seat, it makes a huge flat surface to strap things to. If I'd stuck a big bag on there, I could probably have carried twice as much booze.

I decided 300 units was probably sufficient, but the rack has proved useful on other occasions. When I needed to get a set of one-piece leathers home from work, I strapped them to the back in a big cardboard box.

I could have done with the J300 when I rode to the airport to go on new bike launch recently. As my picture shows, you can strap an enormous kit bag to an MT-07 but it doesn't leave much space for the rider.

This is the difference between a scooter and a motorcycle. A motorcycle is for riding; a scooter is for getting there, in fairly normal clothes and with everything you need to take with you. It's a transport solution. A fun one but a transport solution nonetheless. And the J300 is probably the best you can get for the money.

I said it after riding it at the launch, and I'm just as convinced of it now: it makes the prospect of scooter ownership suddenly much more viable because it does 85% of what a maxi scooter will for half the price. That includes performance, comfort, weather protection and, as I can now testify, luggage capacity.

It feels a bit lumpen straight after riding a motorcycle, and it's no good if you insist on doing wheelies but, as a facilitator of an easier and more convenient life, the J300 rules.

Model tested: Kawasaki J300

Price: £4,049

Power: 28hp

Fuel economy (tested): 76.5mpg

Kerb weight: 191kg

Seat height: 775mm

Availability: Now

Colours: black, silver, black/green

Read part five of our Kawasaki J300 long-term review

Read Visordown's first-ride review of the Kawasaki J300