Re: Kawasaki Ninja 300 Ownership Experience

Thanks mate. Thats encouraging.

Re: Kawasaki Ninja 300 Ownership Experience

Guys,

has anyone tried upgrading N300's horn to a more louder one? is it ok?

I am considering the the Air Pipe horn or Stebel twin one. I am more inclined towards screaming banshee but shipping seems to be costly than the product itself. Share your knowledge.

Re: Kawasaki Ninja 300 Ownership Experience

AFAIK, air pipe horns are illegal in india.

U can try roots vibrosonic which is much louder.

Re: Kawasaki Ninja 300 Ownership Experience

My sincere two cents. leave the speed to track days, its not worth it to speed on Indian roads. If not for erratic traffic the road conditions are also not up to the mark. Enjoy your bike but still always have that little cautious attitude at the back of your head. No denying the fact that the tendency to twist the throttle a little more never seems to die BUT STILL!!!!

Re: Kawasaki Ninja 300 Ownership Experience

Well you have the bike now, must be heart and mind said yes to it. Now to ride on the streets/roads/city/village/public roads, you have to ride by mind and not by heart. Your mind will set your upper limits based on the traffic and road conditions. Go with this limit, never allow your heart to overtake your mind. Things will be always in your favor. Ninja 300 is basically a beginner bike for tracks, but can be enjoyed riding in all situations road/street/tracks/traffics.
Hope you are going to hit tracks for learning track riding, otherwise you need to find places with twisty curves to hone your skills and open stretch of roads to practice handling acceleration and deceleration in various conditions.

Re: Kawasaki Ninja 300 Ownership Experience

I am always cautious while driving cars and while in my bike even more. I bought Ninja 300 primarily for touring. Earlier i used R15 to trips around 400 - 500 kms per day. But, the highway overtaking required calculated moves and felt under powered when i wanted to overtake. In the Ulundurpet -> Salem highway (4 lane), some times i was sandwiched by cars, which i was not comfortable with. I always want my own space in highways. i tend not to follow a vehicle within 10 - 20 meters (depending on speed) and also ensure, no vehicle is tailgating me. With R15 i used to clock around 115 - 120 kmph, but the way R15 accelerated, i was totally in control. With ninja the acceleration is instant. I guess i have to be a little gentle with throttle inputs. couple of rides after the initial scare were good and to my liking.

I am never taking this bike to tracks although i might enjoy it, but not certainly in the near future. One reason being, I have basic riding gear.

LS2 helmet
Zeus riding glove.
Cramster textile mesh jacket
Cramster riding pants and
Spartan Ryo raptor boots

I was told these are basic gear and would not hold if i crash on speeds more than 140 kmph. Also, is LS2 a basic helmet that will split open in these speeds? I was recommended HJC GL17 which has a good shell. it costs north of 35k. i guess i have to wait.

Apart from that, 120 -130 would be max. speed for my skill level for near future and have decided to take turns slow and steady. I want to enjoy the ride and happiness it gives me at the moment.

Eventhough, Ninja 300 is costly, i like the refinement of the engine, the easy clutch, the gear changes and the speed with which we can crawl in city traffic (like a hero splendor). Till now, i have always compromised teh vehicles based on cost and VFM - be it cars, bikes. This is the first vehicle that i went for with my heart and absolutely loving the decision.

Re: Kawasaki Ninja 300 Ownership Experience

Glad to see you are giving equal importance to the riding gear.

Re: Kawasaki Ninja 300 Ownership Experience

Got my bike serviced at 32000 km and apart from a change of spark plugs which were almost disintegrating, the remaining service was the usual change of oil, filter etc. It was a pity that I couldn't immediately source NGK iridium spark plugs which is what I wanted to make the change to, but had to settle for normal NGK plugs which cost Rs. 90/- per piece. The change from an O ring chain to the X ring some time back has been worth it as the benefit has been two fold. I now have less frequent issues of chain tightening and less intervals of lubing the chain, which is a boon when on long rides. The Pipercross airfilter is in good condition and performing well. Some radiator fins are bent apparently due to high pressure water being the culprit and I caution my fellow riders to be careful when getting the bike washed from local washing centers. Ah yes, I also got my right side headlight bulb changed as it had fused. This is the second time that this had to be changed, the first one being a year-and-a-half ago. I installed the bulb which the Bajaj Pulsar 220F uses and which is at a nominal cost of Rs. 300/-.

Re: Kawasaki Ninja 300 Ownership Experience


Hi vmarutha

N300 is considered one of the best learner bike out there. And the acceleration is so linear that people call it 'Too Boring' when reviewing. You will soon get used to those buiding revs.
Tracks are the safest places to take these bikes and test your riding skills. As its a controlled environment and most of the time you would be riding with other (experienced) riders following a set of rules for overtaking etc.
No riding gear can save you from a head-on collision @ +140kph


I loved the underlined part.



Cheers.

Re: Kawasaki Ninja 300 Ownership Experience


Gr8 update.. was this your first spark plug change... DISINTEGRATING... ?? i used the NGK in ninja 250 for close to 30000 kms... still then the condition was ok.. will the iridium spark plug make some major difference?
where did you get the pipercross airfilter and price? Is the cleaning process same a KN filter?

Re: Kawasaki Ninja 300 Ownership Experience

Yes, the first spark plug change. The bottom part of the plug was in pieces after it was pulled out which showed that it was brittle. I am glad none of those pieces found itself into the engine else this could have turned out to be a very different story. Apparently the iridium spark plug has a better spark and lasts much longer than conventional ones. The Pipercross airfilter was bought from Motozone in Pune and at the time which was almost 3 years ago cost around Rs. 3500/-. I do not know how K&N airfilter is cleaned but the Pipercross is a DIY simple 10 minute process of washing, drying and reinstalling and which should be done every 5000 km.

Re: Kawasaki Ninja 300 Ownership Experience

Thanks mate. I have now started to be gentle with my throttle inputs. the first day with my enthusiasm in place, just revved it beyond 6k rpm and it scared the hell out of me. It was twilight time, and the low light didnt help things either. My post was based on that. But, now with gentle response, i am doing good and at a safer spot.

you are correct, No riding gear can save me in those speeds. Just want to have a good product to atleast save me if i fall down. I dont think i will be doing those speeds, apart from occasional bursts when there is a open highway in front of me. As part of this, i need to upgrade to good horn, Stebel nautlius. I like the Screaming banshee but unavailable in India currently. A good horn will surely help in avoiding a panic situation. I checked with the KTM service center guys, they do not encourage for an after market horn saying the electrical issue will come up. But, i think Horn upgrade is a must for our highways, let alone electrical issues. It might save us.

Regarding the MMSC track, any idea what are the costs and timings. I know they conduct track hours for motorbikes on Saturdays. I will have to give a personal visit. Will they allow me to ride with my textile riding jackets on?

Re: Kawasaki Ninja 300 Ownership Experience

Came across this sad incident today.



The biker crashed and the helmet split open from behind. From the pictures, it looks like an MT helmet. RIP Nandakumar.

Re: Kawasaki Ninja 300 Ownership Experience

Good luck buddy that you were able to identify it in time. so meaning that 30k +/- kms is the generic life of a spark plug. but being brittle and cracking down is another issue, which in case of spark plugs should not be their as spark plugs are usually changed when they do not produce enough spark due to corrosion or filment becoming too thin. IMO

With traffic condition of india, 5000 kms clean job is good . thanks for update on it.. i might also think to go for it.

Re: Kawasaki Ninja 300 Ownership Experience

Isn't a helmet supposed to break on high speed impact?