[akshay4587]

Originally Posted by ebonho

Those are all numbers bro. But numbers rarely tell you the entire story.

From whatever I have read by the foreign bikers/writers, they find the 250/300 exciting and describe them in superlatives, but are equally ho hum about the 650.

I guess its what you want from your bike and how you perceive "value" for the money you are spending.

Having ridden the 650 for a good distance,i can relate to what you just said,650 is meant for munching miles in a straight line,as tourer it is an excellent machine,but at 210kgs it is not meant for corner carving around the track,a friend owns a Ninja 650 and a CBR 250,and he finds the CBR more fun on track than the 650,and N300 should be anyday better.

At 0-100 in 4.xx seconds for 650 and 6.XX on the 300
and 210 top end for 650 and 190 for the 300,i would say 300 is no slouch,and keeping in mind that majority of Indian buyers are sucker for fully faired bikes,i think the 300 will do pretty well than the 650.

[sameer kumar]

Originally Posted by akshay4587

Having ridden the 650 for a good distance,i can relate to what you just said,650 is meant for munching miles in a straight line,as tourer it is an excellent machine,but at 210kgs it is not meant for corner carving around the track,a friend owns a Ninja 650 and a CBR 250,and he finds the CBR more fun on track than the 650,and N300 should be anyday better.

At 0-100 in 4.xx seconds for 650 and 6.XX on the 300
and 210 top end for 650 and 190 for the 300,i would say 300 is no slouch,and keeping in mind that majority of Indian buyers are sucker for fully faired bikes,i think the 300 will do pretty well than the 650.

I guess you are absolutely right. The 650 is a sports tourer, if one is looking at a 600cc plus then ninja ZX636 is the bike as that has the totally committed stance for the tracks. What Kawasaki has done with the 300 is that they have left the bike between the committed track machine and a tourer. Some call it the sports tourer. The clip-on bars are placed in such a fashion that the is not totally committed in a forward stance and long distance riding is comfortable. Also as you correctly commented that weaving through the Indian traffic is considerably easier on the lighter Ninja compared to the heavier 650.

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by dkaile

Great photos moralfibre.

Could you throw in a comparo with the Ninja 650 as the difference is just 2L, just for the sake of it?

I believe most save for Rishad Cooper from ACI revealed the truth.

The 250R/300R are scaled down Super Sport Bikes. They are meant to be hammered on track or on those canyon rides with curves or if you are a committed rider, you would love to tour the entire country on it.

Choosing between both is easy if you know what you want.

The 650R is an all rounder rolled into one. A very good Motorcycle. The other Indian launch which maybe termed better to it is the Suzuki Bandit.

I am taking the liberty in guessing that after the initial novelty of the new bike would wear out, you wouldn't take it out much (that Superb & Fortuner are in the garage as well) Something like a Harley or a Ducati would make for a better preposition I think. Not that the 650R won't fit that bill, but those bikes might suit your needs better.

I would say try taking test rides on bikes you think you like & are in the ballpark of your budget. Should help in clearing a lot.

Originally Posted by sarsh11

The only problem I have with the bike now(apart from the no abs) is the poor workmanship on the welds. There were cracked welds on the stand, and huge uneven bulges all along the frame where they were welded. The welds on my 20 year old RX100 look cleaner in comparison.
Hopefully the actual bikes come with more refined work.

6 Bikes ahead of me in the queue, so I'll have to wait a minimum of 60 days :(

Congratulations! Hope you get your bike soon.

From most reviews it appeared that the bike had very good finish. Even Deepak (pulsurge) posted pics which hint at good quality.

It was interesting to read your condensing views on it. Thanks for sharing :-) We need more like you. Very few on the forums have guts to admit that the automobile they have chosen & are about to pay for has a bit of flaw Its not worth bothering though (the flaws)

Originally Posted by sameer kumar

I quite agree with you. What makes the 300 stand out is the lines. Somehow honda bikes miss those lines and cutting features. This alone is a plus point going for the Ninja. Performance wise Ninja will always score over Honda cc per cc in whatever capacity you compare. As for the 300 though it appears an all out sports bike but the clip on handles are set up pretty high compared to other track machines. This makes city commuting and touring pretty comfortable.

Save for the 250 where there is no competition between a CBR-250R and a Ninja 250R, I can't think of any other Honda Motorcycle which is slower than a Kawasaki. This year's 636 sure has an advantage over other regular 600's, but would you call a difference of .0001 fast over competition?

Originally Posted by akshay4587

Having ridden the 650 for a good distance,i can relate to what you just said,650 is meant for munching miles in a straight line,as tourer it is an excellent machine,but at 210kgs it is not meant for corner carving around the track,a friend owns a Ninja 650 and a CBR 250,and he finds the CBR more fun on track than the 650,and N300 should be anyday better.

At 0-100 in 4.xx seconds for 650 and 6.XX on the 300
and 210 top end for 650 and 190 for the 300,i would say 300 is no slouch,and keeping in mind that majority of Indian buyers are sucker for fully faired bikes,i think the 300 will do pretty well than the 650.

+1.

[sameer kumar]

Hey guys are there no 300 new owners there yet. No reviews no ownership reports or experiences. this thread has been at a stalemate since quiet some time.

[n_aditya]

I was at Indranagar this past weekend for lunch with a cousin of mine and post lunch, I dropped in at the KTM / Kawasaki Store a few blocks away.

The Ninja 300 costs Rs. 4.12 Lacs on road in Blore.

Here are some pics:













The KTM RC-8 on display at the store:





The Ninja 300 was shod with 140 wide tire (IRC) at the rear. The outgoing 250R had 130 profile tire from the factory.

I loved the instrument console and the alloy wheels.

[BigBrad]

Originally Posted by dkaile

I would put in the extra 1.5L and buy the 650. Assurance of the same peace of mind, country wide service and continuity of Bajaj. All the things that are missing in my other favorite, the Harley. Plus it won't hit every pothole. And I get 72 PS of horsepower instead of the 39. And 64NM of torque instead of the 27.

It's just double the bike and double the fun... for just a little more.

Guys, I sort of agree with dkaile's views.

For 5.5lacs if you buy the 650, you are getting the same quality levels, workmanship, refinement and all that one could ask for from an international manufacturer of quality products. Keep in mind that we are comparing products from the same manufacturer. I don't think there are any compromises made on Ninja 650 with regards(and hence the relatively VFM pricing) to these and so it feels way more VFM compared to the 300. IMHO, such things would be slightly better as its a class above the 250cc starters. I'm not comparing these bikes in terms of their capabilities. Of course, these two are meant for different purposes and I understand that. If someone is looking to buy a track attack tool, then its the 300 eyes closed;A super comfortable tourer, 650 it is.

Also, from a long term perspective, if you wish to keep the bike for a long long time, 650 makes even more sense.

Just my opinion. I had my eyes set on Ninja since the 250R was launched, but looks like I may never buy one in near future coz of 300's pricing.

[dkaile]

Had a look at the 300 in flesh -



Ex-showroom price here in Meerut is 3,56,500/- + RTO 25,460/- + Insurance 8,900/- = Rs. 3,90,860/- on road.

Nice growl to the engine. Rest my opinion regarding this and the 650 remains unchanged.

[sarsh11]

Got a call from KTM Adyar, my bikes en-route from the factory and they said it'll take a minimum of 3 days and a maximum of 7 to reach the showroom.

Mixed emotions because of the fact that I have my exams from this Tuesday and would be unable to go and get the bike personally and also my plans to get a few parts from the US now needs to be changed.

[sameer kumar]

Does any body know what is happening at the Kawasaki plant, because now its now close to one and a half month post their launching the 300 and close to 2 months since a lot of bookings but they still have not been able to send one single bike to any tier 2 or 3 city till date for delivery to customers ( though only the display bikes have reached at some places). Its only the lucky few at the tier 1 cities who have got delivery. Even in the metros the delivery has been very sluggish. I guess the bubble of all the fanfare with which they launched the bike is almost bust now. Even the managers at the probiking showrooms have no clue as to when they can start recieving the bikes. Their excuse every time is that there is some problem in Pune hence the delay. I wonder what marketing strategy Bajaj is adopting for the Ninja, because at this rate i wonder how can they reach out to their customers.

[Bazinga]

4L OTR for a 300CC Bike (without a ABS) is too much to ask for.
I am not getting into any debates about putting in 1.5L more and getting 650 coz I m cash strapped for 300 already

I had a budget of about 3L ready to go for this one. Given the fact that 250R was overpriced (yes it was) I thought there would be good sense from Bajaj to launch this at the same price or at about 20-30K premium (max) & not at 1L premium.

The pricing is horribly wrong. Why not localization for this ride (going the KTM way) for parts to bring the price down? It looks a distant dream now and a ride for the rich boys here.

The regular motorcycle enthusiasts are deprived of an opportunity to own this awesome machine.

[volkman10]

New Kawasaki Ninja 300 being recalled.

Earlier Kawasaki Ninja 300 was recalled in international markets due to ABS-related issues. Now, it has emerged that some of the new N300 bikes will be recalled due to issues with the ECU.

While the first recall didn’t affect the India spec model, it isn’t yet known if the latest recall drive will cover the Indian N300s.

http://www.motoroids.com/news/alert-...-with-its-ecu/

[supremeBaleno]

So, what is the current story on the Ninja 300 ? Is it being sold ? The probiking website has the 300 and 650 listed, but not much info - most links on the webpage for both bikes have a "Coming soon" note to it.

sarsh11, did you get your bike ?

[blore_boy]

Hello all,

Yesterday I booked a Ninja 300, here in Bangalore. Before I booked the bike, I rode the test bike present in the showroom and I happened to notice that while decelerating the engine shuts off, the moment I pressed the clutch in order to downshift. This happened twice or thrice and I din't pay much attention to it as it was a test bike and I am sure it has taken a lot of abuse and wouldn't have even been maintained properly. Even when I asked the sales person, he said the same and I completely pushed it out of my mind.

But, today morning, as I was looking the bike up on the internet(for accessories), I came across multiple sites that cited the same issue with the Ninja 300, to the extent wherein all 2013 Ninja 300 were recalled in the US for ECU replacement. The issue everyone faced seemed to be the same as what I experienced. This recall occurred towards the end of 2013, so I am surprised to face the same issue at this point in time. Is Kawasaki India pushing off the faulty ECUs in India!!??

What about the bike I will be receiving? Will it have the same issue?
Are there any BHPians who bought the N300 in the recent past? If so, have you faced this issue??

I would like to cancel the booking before it is too late.... So, please, anyone with info, I request you to reply.

Thx....

[sarsh11]

There is nothing wrong with the Ninja 300, the bike was probably shutting off because the idle RPM was set too low. It should be set between 1200-1400 RPM.

Also the ECU recall was because of cold start issues, and the same recall procedures were also carried out in India. So no, Kawi is not selling faulty bikes here.

I have a Ninja 300 (White, 3k on the odo) and I haven't had any problems with the bike whatsoever. There are a few complaints regarding the exhaust rusting but that can be replaced under warranty if it happens to you.

Next time when you take a test ride, let the engine warm up and check the idle RPM; if its lesser than the figures I mentioned then ask the mechanic to adjust it(just a twist of a knob).

[sriku]

Agree with sarsh11.
There are a few friends with 300's who have toured on them and clocked upwards of 5k kms already.

Once your 300 is delivered, ensure chain slack is adjusted for your weight, this will keep jerks on gear engagement to a minimum, and keep you from stalling. The demo bike could have had slack in the chain, bad fuel and a host of other issues that caused the stalling you observed. A well maintained motorcycle requires disciplined preventive maintenance measures, which, if you do not already know of, I recommend visiting Auto Service, Banashankari Bangalore. The crew there are experts and pay attention to detail during service checks.

Sriku