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**The Monk** · 05-31-2013, 11:51 AM

Re: Ninja 300: xBhp first impression and ride report

Thanks for the lovely review MG. And the photos were awesome as always

**niranjanvaidya** · 05-31-2013, 12:03 PM

Re: Ninja 300: xBhp first impression and ride report

Short and sweet review

BTW...ye baal ki dukaan kaun hai bhai

**HeartBrokenBiker** · 05-31-2013, 01:13 PM

Re: Ninja 300: xBhp first impression and ride report

I wanted to cheer "knee down, knee down" on the last pic... then I noticed :P

Cool review.

**sunilg** · 05-31-2013, 01:34 PM

Re: Ninja 300: xBhp first impression and ride report

Superb!

the 'medium' sized images didn't do justice to your photography MG, so I've removed the medium tag from them. The pics look much better now.

p.s.: let me read the review now.

**vantheman5211** · 05-31-2013, 04:13 PM

Re: Ninja 300: xBhp first impression and ride report

Great ride impression.
I still prefer the front headlamps look of the old ninja as to the look of the new one. However it is no doubt resulting to a much more agressive looking stance and that is another positive.

How i wish i could afford this, but it is an aim of mine to buy this one 3 years down the line.

**DeVille** · 05-31-2013, 04:47 PM

Re: Ninja 300: xBhp first impression and ride report

I guess most of us actually didn't notice that xBhp had not tested the N300 post launch here and the 1st impression from Philippines earlier posted was the new N250R.

Though I've not yet ridden the N300, I swung a leg over it at the showroom and noticed the foll things-

It looks visually smaller than the 250R. On comparing the specs, it indeed is shorter in length, not sure about the width though. The liberal use of black that breaks the fairing visually adds to making it look almost half a segment smaller...also the front fairing not extending all way to the visor reduces visual bulk
Feels cramped as Ashutosh mentioned. This is due to the lower seat height. The pillion seat is again in useless territory- like the Duke's
The gear lever feels very compact...almost like the R15

All of the above are -ves in my book as I'm atleast 6'1" and hate feeling cramped up. I'm guessing pillion comfort was tad better on the 250R
1 thing the report has missed is the exhaust note. It sounds much better than the 250R...

Personally I think the 300 has lost some of the unique character and identity of the 250R in an attempt to be more modern to please buyers. I loved the distinctive fused twin headlamps of the 250R and also that planted stance at standstill that the flowing, seamless fairing would impart. It had a swagger- it didn't care if the entire world had moved to digital speedometers and was proud of those analogue dials (no points for missing fuel gauge though).

Am sure the 300 is a more capable machine, but it now looks like it's trying too hard to woo the R15 buyers with that split headlamps and those slats on the side fairing look strangely similar to those of the R15 V2. While they were at it they could have put in LED taillights and indicators, that even the Duke 200 has at 1/3rd of the price...

**whymail** · 05-31-2013, 04:47 PM

Re: Ninja 300: xBhp first impression and ride report

[MENTION=7123]sunilg[/MENTION] : that's quick thinking... the larger fotos look far far better... hell the very 1st foto is out-&-out devilish! *superlike*

**Samarth 619** · 05-31-2013, 06:12 PM

Re: Ninja 300: xBhp first impression and ride report

Thanks MG Bro. Good review.

As for my perception, I can find glimpses of R15 V2, in its frontal looks, going by the headlight and fairing grills. Of course, this Double headlight design is very common abroad, and even in India only the non biker is going to get confused between an R15 and this bike. Heck, I can identify both of them merely by their sounds.

I can somehow see it being "Indian-ised". Grab Rails, under seat helmet lock, luggage hooks, double headlights, compact than before, low end torque, etc. But Kawasaki got a good balance between practicality and sportiness of the machine. Appreciable definitely!
As far as front brake is concerned, it might be possible that the test bike has some problems. Although yes, brakes do get downgraded too, but I feel its highly unlikely Kawasaki will soften the brakes purposely for all Ninja 300's. After all, they sold Ninja 250R in the same market itself.

Now, just waiting for the KTM Duke 390 to be shown... Although, its not in Ninja's league, but after all both are Road machines, and here is my list of comparison based on specs:

KTM Duke 390 over Ninja 300:

Lesser Weight,
Lesser Price, & maybe cheaper spare parts,
More power and obviously, better Power to Weight Ratio,
More parkability (guess that's a new word) due to lack of fairing, although yes, Duke will also look so "checkable" in Indian context.
ABS, & the ability to switch it off at will,

Ninja 300 over Duke 390:

Better Looks? (Subjective though.)
More "Racy" overall than Duke, engine and ergonomics both,
The feel of a twin cylinder is never coming soon to a single cylinder.
Slipper Clutch,

This is an armchair comparison only. Everything else can be said, only after we get to ride both the bikes back to back.

**s_hari** · 05-31-2013, 06:43 PM

Re: Ninja 300: xBhp first impression and ride report

MG, that was one good review. Enjoyed reading it.

If we forget the price i think this is the best bike in its class. Only if Bajaj can start manufacturing it in India like KTM Dukes...

**Hackdrag** · 05-31-2013, 08:23 PM

Re: Ninja 300: xBhp first impression and ride report

Originally posted by Samarth 619 View Post

I can somehow see it being "Indian-ised". Grab Rails, under seat helmet lock, luggage hooks, double headlights, compact than before, low end torque, etc. But Kawasaki got a good balance between practicality and sportiness of the machine. Appreciable definitely!
.

I'm thinking the same. I would say they had done their home work well.
Lets see the market response, after all its India

**Satellite.kid** · 05-31-2013, 10:02 PM

Re: Ninja 300: xBhp first impression and ride report

Originally posted by DeVille View Post

....

Am sure the 300 is a more capable machine, but it now looks like it's trying too hard to woo the R15 buyers with that split headlamps and those slats on the side fairing look strangely similar to those of the R15 V2. While they were at it they could have put in LED taillights and indicators, that even the Duke 200 has at 1/3rd of the price...

Wouldn't this be an incorrect point of view? I mean Kawasaki designed the Ninja 300 the way it is because they wanted to make it look *more* like its elder sibling, the ZX10R, and they have fairly succeeded in that. Hence the two headlamps, a nose-down design and an overall supersport look. Any comparison to draw similarities with the R15 design would be unfair. And why would Kawasaki give a dime to woo the Yamaha owners? I would safely assume that the R15 owners were not even remotely in radar as Kawasaki's target customers for their Ninja.

Kawasaki wanted to make a statement. The statement which says that Kawasaki don't give a dime for cheaper and *seemingly* more value for money motorcycles like CBR250R and probably they don't care how much it sells against the Honda. Their market strategy for Ninja in India says a lot about their approach towards this class of motorcycles. Honestly, they couldn't have gone any other way. Ninja 250 (fuel injected version) was already a notch above the rest as a quality product. Ninja 300 was always the right way to go in my opinion.

MG · 05-31-2013, 10:13 PM

Re: Ninja 300: xBhp first impression and ride report

Originally posted by vantheman5211 View Post

Great ride impression.
I still prefer the front headlamps look of the old ninja as to the look of the new one. However it is no doubt resulting to a much more agressive looking stance and that is another positive.

Originally posted by DeVille View Post

[*]It looks visually smaller than the 250R. On comparing the specs, it indeed is shorter in length, not sure about the width though. The liberal use of black that breaks the fairing visually adds to making it look almost half a segment smaller...also the front fairing not extending all way to the visor reduces visual bulk

I too mentioned the same as a probable negative but I personally love the look of Ninja 300 over Ninja 250 and compact is the way to go and offlate even the liter class bikes are going that way

Originally posted by Samarth 619 View Post

I can somehow see it being "Indian-ised". Grab Rails, under seat helmet lock, luggage hooks, double headlights, compact than before, low end torque, etc. But Kawasaki got a good balance between practicality and sportiness of the machine. A

India is very small market for Ninja so thinking that they made changes thinking about the Indian customer is not correct. Probably world over these are the features which everyone wanted and twin headlight is more to look it like the elder sibling

Originally posted by Satellite.kid View Post

Kawasaki wanted to make a statement. The statement which says that Kawasaki don't give a dime for cheaper and *seemingly* more value for money motorcycles like CBR250R and probably they don't care how much it sells against the Honda. Their market strategy for Ninja in India says a lot about their approach towards this class of motorcycles. Honestly, they couldn't have gone any other way. Ninja 250 (fuel injected version) was already a notch above the rest as a quality product. Ninja 300 was always the right way to go in my opinion.

Exactly my point hence I started with the brand thing in my review

**DeVille** · 05-31-2013, 11:28 PM

Re: Ninja 300: xBhp first impression and ride report

Originally posted by Satellite.kid View Post

Wouldn't this be an incorrect point of view? I mean Kawasaki designed the Ninja 300 the way it is because they wanted to make it look *more* like its elder sibling, the ZX10R, and they have fairly succeeded in that. Hence the two headlamps, a nose-down design and an overall supersport look. Any comparison to draw similarities with the R15 design would be unfair. And why would Kawasaki give a dime to woo the Yamaha owners? I would safely assume that the R15 owners were not even remotely in radar as Kawasaki's target customers for their Ninja.

Kawasaki wanted to make a statement. The statement which says that Kawasaki don't give a dime for cheaper and *seemingly* more value for money motorcycles like CBR250R and probably they don't care how much it sells against the Honda. Their market strategy for Ninja in India says a lot about their approach towards this class of motorcycles. Honestly, they couldn't have gone any other way. Ninja 250 (fuel injected version) was already a notch above the rest as a quality product. Ninja 300 was always the right way to go in my opinion.

What I mentioned was pure personal opinion and I know it's tainted by the fact that the 250R has been a favourite and has grown on me enormously past couple of years.
All that you have put down is fact and I do agree. I'm sure the slight resemblance to R15 was coincidental and the intention was to scale-down the 10R. I concede that Kawasaki has covered almost everything this time in terms of being a perfect entry-level supersport

The bottomline is that my eyes influence my perception although my brain knows better

Originally posted by MG View Post

I too mentioned the same as a probable negative but I personally love the look of Ninja 300 over Ninja 250 and compact is the way to go and offlate even the liter class bikes are going that way

Again, if I was of average dimensions I would have no cribs but thanks to the anomaly I am (6 footers are misfits in Indian society, pun intended) I hate being cramped for space. This is futile bickering though as I'm not the TG (would have to float my CV in the IPL to afford a 4L entry-level supersport ) and Kawasaki wouldn't bother about pleasing me anyway!

**Satellite.kid** · 05-31-2013, 11:47 PM

Re: Ninja 300: xBhp first impression and ride report

Originally posted by DeVille View Post

...
The bottomline is that my eyes influence my perception although my brain knows better

This happens to us all the time, doesn't it?

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Kawasaki Ninja 300 Review: xBhp Ride Report, specs and other details

Kawasaki Ninja 300 Review: xBhp Ride Report, specs and other details

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