[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by amvj

Today I brought home the Honda CB300R. After a 5 year hiatus from motorcycles, it feels great to be back. I will put detailed review sometime later.

Many congratulations amvj for bringing home the pocket rocket. The golden USD forks stand out on black color. Would you be using this for your daily commutes or weekend rides? Did you consider other options? What made you fall for this Honda machine?

[amvj]

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

Many congratulations amvj for bringing home the pocket rocket. The golden USD forks stand out on black color. Would you be using this for your daily commutes or weekend rides? Did you consider other options? What made you fall for this Honda machine?

Thanks AutoIndian. I want to use it for office commute and some occasional rides. Unfortunately for me, motorcycle seat height plays a major role in deciding. I am just 5'4" tall.

To be honest, I am not a Honda fan. I want a compact motorcycle for my height and don't want 150cc motorcycle since I already have a Pulsar 150, although it is a non runner for 5 years. The CB300R fits me perfectly. Couple with small tank, no official accessories available for the bike, the accessories from 3rd party are pretty limited at the moment, not friendly for pillion, insane asking price made the bike bit of a flop model (if I can say that). This is not a bike for 99% of the people and I belong to the 1%.

I checked the following bikes before going for CB300R:

TVS Apache RR310: I really liked Apache RR310 but it felt a bit bulky and heavy. I find it is bigger than Honda CB650R. TVS made it unnecessarily big. Another problem is, because of my short legs and the placement of foot rest on the bike, I am unable to comfortably keep my feet on the ground as the foot rest hits the legs.

Yamaha R15: Despite 815mm seat height I am able to flat foot one side due to narrow seat. However, I felt very uncomfortable and the looks not suitable for my age. The placement of the foot rest is fine, but the handlebar is placed quite far away and almost get a feeling like superman.



Yamaha FZ-S: Despite having only 790mm seat height, I find the seat is quite taller than R15 and it is comparable to KTMs. This is because the seat is quite wide.

KTM 390: Too tall for me but I love the looks of it.

Apache RTR200: Booked one and waited for 20 days, but almost no proper response from TVS dealer made me to cancel it. They used to say wait 2 more days and then we will let you know. This continued for the whole 20 days without any proper response. I got fed up and cancelled it.

Royal Enfield: RE is on a roll. I love the Interceptor, Continental GT and the new Classic. I find the first two are now very old and needs a design change. I am quite surprised that they are not updating them. Classic on the other hand looks lovely, but the size is a bit big for me and so is the weight.

Not a fan of Himalayan or Scram. I checked my colleague's Himalayan and it is a very huge bike.

BMW G310R:
Looks lovely in full black colour. It is actually cheaper than Honda but I don't have the guts to go to BMW showroom and tell them that I need to exchange my TVS Jupiter. I feel too poor for the BMW badge.

Also, some say that BMW service cost is quite high (third service they say would cost 17K) and BMW service center in my home town (not Bangalore) does not exist.

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by amvj

Thanks AutoIndian. I want to use it for office commute and some occasional rides. Unfortunately for me, motorcycle seat height plays a major role in deciding. I am just 5'4" tall.

Thanks for your quick response amvj. Now I understand the full story. You didn't just blindly plonk your money on this Honda but made an informed decision considering all other possible options. Very sad to know about TVS's apathy. I was under the impression that they were more customer centric. Anyways all that is past and your present and future is Honda CB300R. Enjoy your bike and exploit it to the fullest. Eager to hear your initial riding impressions.

[sanchari]

Originally Posted by amvj

Thanks AutoIndian. I want to use it for office commute and some occasional rides. Unfortunately for me, motorcycle seat height plays a major role in deciding. I am just 5'4" tall.

amvj, I am also 5'4" and your post was pretty helpful to me. Was there any reason you didn't try out Honda H'ness ? Also did you try out RE classic 350 and meteor? I know you mentioned its weight. How much of it was due to weight distribution and sorted riding, and how much was about handling it on a daily basis like pushing it around, putting it on center stand etc? I am more of a retro-bike guy and I was thinking of Honda H'ness 350 or RE Meteor, and in mid-40s. Am yet to test ride both of them. Would like to hear your opinion as I am of similar build like you looking at the pics

edit: Sorry, forgot to congratulate you on the beautiful bike! Congrats on a great purchase!Wishing you many happy miles on it!

[amvj]

Originally Posted by sanchari

amvj, I am also 5'4" and your post was pretty helpful to me. Was there any reason you didn't try out Honda H'ness ? Also did you try out RE classic 350 and meteor? I know you mentioned its weight. How much of it was due to weight distribution and sorted riding, and how much was about handling it on a daily basis like pushing it around, putting it on center stand etc? I am more of a retro-bike guy and I was thinking of Honda H'ness 350 or RE Meteor, and in mid-40s.....!

I have not taken a test drive of Highness, but I sat on it and I find it is bit heavy. I can say that almost every bike above 150cc would feel heavier than CB300R.

I have not test ride any RE bikes since I don't have confidence (I have not ridden any bike for the past 5 years) and don't have the physical strength to handle a 200+KG bike. May be after CB300R I might visit RE portfolio.

The main problem I hear from owners of Highness is, the gearing is pretty tall. In the city you need to shift gears constantly. It has poor bottom end, but the engine refinement is very good. It is a good bike for highway runs, but bad for city riding since you need to change gears constantly. It can tire you out.

Here is one video from the owner of Highness reviewing CB300R. Really good video, please don't miss it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHCJiav57Bc&t=20s

If you have time please watch his part 2 as well

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xz8swLhoAH0

[7000plusrpm]

Originally Posted by amvj

Today I brought home the Honda CB300R. After a 5 year hiatus from motorcycles, it feels great to be back. I will put detailed review sometime later.

Many congratulations AMVJ. Wish you many happy miles on this.

This one is miles better than the RTR200 but the TVS 310 has better build quality. The welding spots on the CB are really an eyesore. I had to go through 3-4 motorcycles at the showroom before I realize this is the new-age Honda build.

Also, may I suggest removing the saree guard when you can, it looks ugly and also increases the weight of the motorcycle.

[amvj]

Originally Posted by 7000plusrpm

Many congratulations AMVJ. Wish you many happy miles on this.

This one is miles better than the RTR200 but the TVS 310 has better build quality...

Also, may I suggest removing the saree guard when you can, it looks ugly and also increases the weight of the motorcycle.

Thanks 7000plusrpm. I will try to remove the saree guard during the weekend.

Today morning I went for a short ride nearby and clicked some photos.

[amvj]

I am planning to do some highway runs during the weekend. What is the speed I should not cross during the run in period?

I will not perform any sudden acceleration or redlining on particular gear or even harsh braking. Honda's user manual is not clear.

[amvj]

It's raining cats and dogs here in Bangalore. So instead of going outside and getting muck thrown into the vehicle, I spent the time to do some polish and wax. The Grey CB300R has a matt paint, but I don't have any matt specific polish or wax. I used the regular stuff. I am okay if the paint turns glossy.

CB300R does not come with a center stand so bought the wheel roller. Also, I spent the time to apply rat spray on my car's engine compartment.



A few days ago I went to nearby mobile shop and pasted a scratch guard on the LCD screen. As you can see, they have done a not so good job on this one. I find the LCD screen gets scratched quite quickly and these are not gorilla glasses like on the mobile phones. So scratch guard is a must.



Size comparison between FZ and CB300R. CB300R is a tiny bit smaller when compared to FZ. Just shows how much compact the motorcycle really is. That said, tires, forks are bigger than FZ.









Tried to remove the sari guard, but the bolts are quite lot tighter. I will take it to a nearby two wheeler shop some other time.

[SVK Rider]

Originally Posted by 7000plusrpm

Now that I have clocked a few more KMs (current odo reading is just shy of 200KM), let me share some more details from a layman's perspective. I will be comparing it primarily with the FZ25 BS4 model as I had that earlier.


That's all I had to share for now. Please feel free to reach out if you have any specific queries.

Thanks!

Wow, that's a lovely review. CB300R looks really compact and does have lots of character borrowed from CBR250R. For example you have mentioned that Fan gets activated in day to day traffic conditions; which was very normal for CBR250R. The 300 is really a hooligan to ride, superfine engine, very very nimble and lightweight. I was just blown away with the performance and fun to ride factor. Wish Honda brings out the faired version of this one.
Wish you many happy miles with the CB300R

Originally Posted by amvj

Today I brought home the Honda CB300R. After a 5 year hiatus from motorcycles, it feels great to be back. I will put detailed review sometime later.

Overall, it is a nice compact motorcycle.

Congratulations on your newest addition. This is an awesome choice. Wish you many happy miles with your machine.
One thing I would like to mention about the CB350 you have mentioned, that in city it feels the lack of low end performance, however I never faced the same anytime in any riding conditions till now. The gearing is tall and I do find myself in 2nd or 3rd gear maximum time in the city.

Attaching some of the pictures I took during my test ride of CB300R.



The tyres actually doesn't do justice to the motorcycle.


Happy Riding.

[rohitoasis]

Gents i would like to check with you on your interaction with the big wing guys. I had asked them to call me once they get news on any of the CB300 accessories like the sump guard and the radiator guard. But looks like these are nowhere to be seen as i never got a call back from them.

Have you guys planned any of these accessories? Are they readily available at your big wings respectively?

[amvj]

Originally Posted by rohitoasis

Gents i would like to check with you on your interaction with the big wing guys. I had asked them to call me once they get news on any of the CB300 accessories like the sump guard and the radiator guard. But looks like these are nowhere to be seen as i never got a call back from them.

Have you guys planned any of these accessories? Are they readily available at your big wings respectively?

Honda accessories for CB300R are not available at the moment. No idea when it will come. However, radiator guard, frame sliders, engine guards, windshield, etc. are available with bikenbiker and similar stores. I went to the Bikenbiker store in Bangalore and they mentioned that they are waiting for Zana and other manufacturers to bring up accessories for CB300R in the coming months.

https://www.bikenbiker.com/collections/cb300r

[arjunsatheesh]

I went to a BigWing dealership for a test drive of the CB 300R and they were not letting me go alone. They wanted personnel from the dealership as a pillion. Is this the case everywhere? They only allowed me to ride around the dealership building alone.
Got a bit pissed off as every YouTuber gets extensive test rides while a potential customer is treated like this. This is the second time Honda has shown attitude when it comes to test rides. I once went to test the CBR 150R back in 2010 when it was released and they told me a booking is needed if I wanted a test ride.

[amvj]

Originally Posted by arjunsatheesh

I went to a BigWing dealership for a test drive of the CB 300R and they were not letting me go alone. They wanted personnel from the dealership as a pillion. Is this the case everywhere? They only allowed me to ride around the dealership building alone. ....

My advisor at VFM Honda actually forced me to do a test ride before booking the vehicle. I test rode the bike alone.
Initially, I was not that confident to do it. Since it was a 5 year break from motorcycles and I have never ridden a conventional gear motorcycle (1 down and 5 or 6 up).

I have also seen Bigwing Lavalle road showroom in Bangalore gives long test drives. So this might be one off scenario I think. Please check with other showrooms.

[arjunsatheesh]

Originally Posted by amvj

My advisor at VFM Honda actually forced me to do a test ride before booking the vehicle. I test rode the bike alone.
Initially, I was not that confident to do it. Since it was a 5 year break from motorcycles and I have never ridden a conventional gear motorcycle (1 down and 5 or 6 up).

I have also seen Bigwing Lavalle road showroom in Bangalore gives long test drives. So this might be one off scenario I think. Please check with other showrooms.

I will definitely check with other dealerships then.
From the brief ride I was given, the bike felt very easy to ride.
What really put me off was the quality of the welds.