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Ninja 300 or rc390 or 390 adventure or cb500x, which one to go for?

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  • Ninja 300 or rc390 or 390 adventure or cb500x, which one to go for?

    Hello everyone, I'm in the market for a new motorcycle and was hoping you guys would help me decide. I currently own an apache 180 and wish to upgrade.
    Let me tell you something about myself. I love touring. I've ridden from Nagpur to Goa and back, Nagpur - Leh - Delhi, I've done Pune to Goa and back a couple of times, and many small weekend rides. I want a capable motorcycle on which I can tour and commute to office everyday (with more emphasis on touring). I'm 21 years old, just started working so I want something that'll be relatively cheap to maintain. My budget is something below 4 lakhs (my dad will be gifting me the motorcycle)

    Here are the bikes I'm considering:
    Kawasaki Ninja 300
    KTM RC390
    KTM 390 Adventure
    Honda cb500x

    Ninja 300 :
    I personally feel in love with the ninja the moment I saw it at the showroom. Its a great tourer with a long range and has a great build quality. I also liked the sitting stance, the spot on handling, the high revving twin and the big bike feel that the ninja gave me. The only problem I have with the ninja is that it's high maintenance costs. I'm told that the ninja has long service intervals which kind of justified the high cost of its parts. But I heard that the ninja's fairing costs 72,000 bucks. This really put me off as I don't want to constantly have the fear that I might go bankrupt if I met with an accident on the ninja. Ninja owners kindly provide your inputs.

    RC390 :
    I know that the rc isn't a tourer due to it's aggressive sitting posture and tiny fuel tank. But people on R15's have been touring without much trouble. Also the rc is more powerful, has more torque, is lighter and costs half as much as a ninja. And personally, I love it's looks. However, there have been many cases recently of d390 rims shattering. Bajaj/KTM in response said that when designing rims, there's a tradeoff between lightness and strength of the rim and that they chose lightness over strength. This was quite a lousy response. They need to address the rim issue before somebody gets killed.

    390 adventure and cb500x :
    These bikes would be great tourers and would be perfect for my requirement. But the there's no word about when the 390 adventure is coming to India, and no official news about launch of the cb500x.

    Additional info:
    I'm currently living in hyderabad and plan to ride to Goa (my home town) often. The traffic here in hyderabad is pretty bad. So I'm thinking of not selling my apache and using it for commuting.

    Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

  • #2
    Re: Ninja 300 or rc390 or 390 adventure or cb500x, which one to go for?

    Query Approved

    Ninja in market
    RC390 not yet lauched!
    390 Adventure is still a myth, no concrete info on it yet, just a few spy photos in the west!
    CB500X not launched in India and no real hope of it coming here either!

    Now you can go through your options again
    Biking is not about what you have between your legs, its all about how well you use it!!!!!!!

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    • #3
      Re: Ninja 300 or rc390 or 390 adventure or cb500x, which one to go for?

      Ninja will always be high on maintenance and parts, the other day at the service, a guy on N600 got his tank replaced (maybe some other things too), the bill he payed was north of Rs 1 Lac, but that said, build quality of a Ninja will always be super superior to KTM, but the cost difference is much more than difference in quality + performance + thrill combined.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Ninja 300 or rc390 or 390 adventure or cb500x, which one to go for?

        Originally posted by ags1773 View Post
        Ninja 300 :
        I personally feel in love with the ninja the moment I saw it at the showroom. Its a great tourer with a long range and has a great build quality. I also liked the sitting stance, the spot on handling, the high revving twin and the big bike feel that the ninja gave me. The only problem I have with the ninja is that it's high maintenance costs. I'm told that the ninja has long service intervals which kind of justified the high cost of its parts. But I heard that the ninja's fairing costs 72,000 bucks. This really put me off as I don't want to constantly have the fear that I might go bankrupt if I met with an accident on the ninja. Ninja owners kindly provide your inputs.



        Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk
        Why are you worried about the cost of the farings. Get a zero dep insurance cover on your bike, it will cover all plastic parts. And by the way if you check the cost of parts of any high end bike which is a CBU or a CKD the prices are all going to be in the same range.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Ninja 300 or rc390 or 390 adventure or cb500x, which one to go for?

          ninja fairing is not 72,000!! Agreed it is on the costlier side but then you get awesome Kawasaki quality. Other bikes you mentioned are not available right now and don't expect them to be available anytime soon...

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Ninja 300 or rc390 or 390 adventure or cb500x, which one to go for?

            Originally posted by arnavsameer View Post
            Why are you worried about the cost of the farings. Get a zero dep insurance cover on your bike, it will cover all plastic parts. And by the way if you check the cost of parts of any high end bike which is a CBU or a CKD the prices are all going to be in the same range.
            That's great man! I didn't know such a thing existed. I always heard people talk about zero dep insurance, never bothered to ask what it ment. Thats star for the ninja.

            Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

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            • #7
              Re: Ninja 300 or rc390 or 390 adventure or cb500x, which one to go for?

              Originally posted by GT007 View Post
              ninja fairing is not 72,000!! Agreed it is on the costlier side but then you get awesome Kawasaki quality. Other bikes you mentioned are not available right now and don't expect them to be available anytime soon...
              I was reading on some American forum, some guy crashed his ninja 300 and had to replace his entire fairing. Said it cost him 1200 usd.

              Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

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              • #8
                Re: Ninja 300 or rc390 or 390 adventure or cb500x, which one to go for?

                Originally posted by ags1773 View Post
                I was reading on some American forum, some guy crashed his ninja 300 and had to replace his entire fairing. Said it cost him 1200 usd.

                Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk
                No it is not... fairing costs between INR 8000 - 10,000. Get a zero dep insurance and you dont need to worry for anything.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Ninja 300 or rc390 or 390 adventure or cb500x, which one to go for?

                  Originally posted by GT007 View Post
                  No it is not... fairing costs between INR 8000 - 10,000. Get a zero dep insurance and you dont need to worry for anything.
                  Good to know. It kinda makes the 8000 rupees crash bobbins look pointless

                  Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Ninja 300 or rc390 or 390 adventure or cb500x, which one to go for?

                    Originally posted by The Monk View Post
                    Query Approved

                    Ninja in market
                    RC390 not yet lauched!
                    390 Adventure is still a myth, no concrete info on it yet, just a few spy photos in the west!
                    CB500X not launched in India and no real hope of it coming here either!

                    Now you can go through your options again
                    So now the 390 adventure and the Honda are out of the picture. Its ninja vs RC. The guy from Bajaj probiking here in hyderabad said the rc might hit the market by June.

                    Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Ninja 300 or rc390 or 390 adventure or cb500x, which one to go for?

                      I would only recommend a Ninja to you for it's currently in the market. It's proven with it's reviews as well. The others however are pending in both category, not yet launched and no Indian reviews.

                      Moving to spares, its not everyday you will be replacing them, right? Only if you crash the Ninja or meet with an accident you will have to replace them. Avoid them, avoid the replacements. Now, regarding the periodic checkups, they are not expensive considering it's done with a longer gap when compared to the Indian mobikes.

                      If you look around, you'll find a lot of Proud Ninja owners, also some of the Posers who own them. They are Proud because it's a VFM mobike, then there are Posers because it's a sexy looking Sportsbike.

                      Though you are thinking of N300, a cheaper suggestion is a well maintained used N250.

                      Sent from La Suisse
                      To be The Best, You got to beat The Celebrity...
                      xBHP Trivandrum ICE sheet
                      - RX 100 ('87)
                      - Ninja 250 ('10)
                      - Impulse ('11)
                      - Tiger 800 ('20)

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Ninja 300 or rc390 or 390 adventure or cb500x, which one to go for?

                        Originally posted by The Celebrity View Post
                        I would only recommend a Ninja to you for it's currently in the market. It's proven with it's reviews as well. The others however are pending in both category, not yet launched and no Indian reviews.

                        Moving to spares, its not everyday you will be replacing them, right? Only if you crash the Ninja or meet with an accident you will have to replace them. Avoid them, avoid the replacements. Now, regarding the periodic checkups, they are not expensive considering it's done with a longer gap when compared to the Indian mobikes.

                        If you look around, you'll find a lot of Proud Ninja owners, also some of the Posers who own them. They are Proud because it's a VFM mobike, then there are Posers because it's a sexy looking Sportsbike.

                        Though you are thinking of N300, a cheaper suggestion is a well maintained used N250.

                        Sent from La Suisse
                        Thank you for your input. Will the 250sl be a CKD or will it's production be localised like the Duke?

                        Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Ninja 300 or rc390 or 390 adventure or cb500x, which one to go for?

                          Originally posted by ags1773 View Post
                          Thank you for your input. Will the 250sl be a CKD or will it's production be localised like the Duke?

                          Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk
                          Firstly the N250sl is not a tourer given the fact it's going to have only a 11L fuel tank when compared with N250r of 17L fuel tank. Also, it's a single cylinder which will red line at 10,500rpm approximately giving a top speed of 153kmph an d will reach 0-100 kmph only in 9secs. The ruling factor is it's not yet launched here and there is no Indian review.

                          Now, CKD or Localised! We can't be sure yet, but we can hope it'll be localised considering it's competition in India, the Duke and CBR namely.

                          Sent from La Suisse
                          To be The Best, You got to beat The Celebrity...
                          xBHP Trivandrum ICE sheet
                          - RX 100 ('87)
                          - Ninja 250 ('10)
                          - Impulse ('11)
                          - Tiger 800 ('20)

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Ninja 300 or rc390 or 390 adventure or cb500x, which one to go for?

                            Originally posted by ags1773 View Post
                            I was reading on some American forum, some guy crashed his ninja 300 and had to replace his entire fairing. Said it cost him 1200 usd.

                            Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk
                            I can get you the whole kit which includes left, right fairing an front headlight fairing for around 260$ that around 15000-16000₹
                            Just because you haven't seen it doesnt mean its impossible...expect the unexpected.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Ninja 300 or rc390 or 390 adventure or cb500x, which one to go for?

                              Originally posted by The Celebrity View Post
                              Firstly the N250sl is not a tourer given the fact it's going to have only a 11L fuel tank when compared with N250r of 17L fuel tank. Also, it's a single cylinder which will red line at 10,500rpm approximately giving a top speed of 153kmph an d will reach 0-100 kmph only in 9secs. The ruling factor is it's not yet launched here and there is no Indian review.

                              Now, CKD or Localised! We can't be sure yet, but we can hope it'll be localised considering it's competition in India, the Duke and CBR namely.

                              Sent from La Suisse
                              It's best to go for the ninja 300 then. A 10,500 rpm red lining single doesn't sound very ninja like.

                              Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

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