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3 months & 3000 km with my Honda CB300F: The experience so far

23rd August 2024, 14:09 by Ananth Iyer

The bike is very light weight and nimble, one can easily ride is easily in congested roads and peak traffic.

BHPian USM_1 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I took delivery of Honda CB300F matt grey on April 26, and it has been 3 months and 3000 kms done with my bike. It feels like proper upgrade from my previous bike (150cc commuter) in all aspects. I have written up all my observations below.

Delivery & showroom exp:

I would like to start from showroom visits for test-ride, booking, right from the beginning the show room people are not quite enthusiastic, I have to do multiple follow ups for all activities be it Insurance purchase, Vehicle registration etc., I was not impressed with them. They delivered my bike on an agreed timing, that’s good about them. The showroom did not have a dedicated full-time sales person, store manager all were a shared resource, I came to know when I had an argument with the operations team person for my refund that I paid extra for Bike registration and insurance.

Service:

I visited the same Honda Big-wing showroom at Erode (TN) for my 1st free service, it was also a bit let down from them. I had already taken the appointment and visited on time, they promptly received the bike and asked if I have any issues and asked me to wait in lounge area. I have been waiting for some time and had a chat with a fellow CB350RS owner, after 1 hour they informed us that the bikes are taken to their normal Honda showroom for a bike wash since their compressor had some trouble, and again after an hour I asked where my bike they informed me that they are servicing my bike at the other service center. I was not happy with their behavior and asked their showroom Manager what’s happening and he tells me that the actual service guy has taken an emergency leave and we are servicing with ex-Big wing service person who is available at that service center. After all these ruckuses my bike arrived without doing water wash and they were trying to clean and lube the chain without putting the bike on paddock stand and again I got anger and stopped them as they were doing it by holding the bike on side stand and the service guy told me that Cb300F can not be mounted on paddock stand because he is not trained to mount a bike on paddock. I decided that I will never take my bike to this service center.

Engine and Transmission:

The bike comes with a great 300cc oil cooled engine and 6 speed gear box with slip and assist clutch which is very light to use even in tight traffic conditions and bike is very tractable. The gearbox doesn't require frequent gear shifts, you can easily negotiate speed breakers with 3rd gear and even for stop and go traffic, The bike doesn’t heat up a lot and it is quite manageable. All the torques comes at around 5500 rpm and that’s big advantage in traffic.

Ride comfort:

The bike is very light weight and nimble, one can easily ride is easily in congested roads and peak traffic. I am 6 feet tall and the riding triangle is also good it's neither too upright nor too committed.

As per Ride quality is concerned the rear suspension was a bit hard when I started initially and I got used to it. The pillion rider won't feel comfortable for long ride as the pillion seat is also not great.

The rider seat is comfortable and I have done multiple breakfast ride of around 200kms and even a long Highway ride for more than 400kms+ a day, it was not a tiresome ride for me .

Features:

I would like to highlight the Instrument console and Bluetooth features, bike connects to mobile seamlessly and the arrow button in the left switch gear enables the mobile hands free option for navigation, messages, calls and music I use the most and the Honda Road sync mobile application is also good, I never faced any glitch but there is small con will add in cons section below.

The bike comes with almost all the electronic safety aids in this segment such as dual ABS, traction control, side stand cut-off, all LED lights.

Mileage:

The bike returns a great average , it impressed me a lot in this aspect. I always fill tank full of petrol to check the mileage and reduce the frequent petrol pump visit. Every time I fill around 11-12 L, keeping about 2L in reserve i.e when fuel indicator last line blinks. I get around 400 to 420 kms range for 12L easily.

Highway mileage: It returns close to 37-39km/l and at times the number goes more than 40.

City / Traffic mileage: I am riding the bike mostly in Chennai City - Office hours and the bike manages to give me 32.5-34km/L.

Accessories:

I have already added a few basic accessories:

Zana crash guard
Zana radiator guard
Front mud guard extender
Universal rear tire hugger
Instrument cluster protection film
Tank cover
Bobo mobile holder with charger.
HJG Liu Mini driving Fog lights

Planned mods:

Zana top rack
Zana side stand foot extender
Front windshield / visor
lever protector / knuckle guards

Cons:

Not so good pillion seat comfort
Poor Headlight illumination.
Built quality: Tank shrouds always wobbles, there are panel gaps
No one touch self-start button
No information about call / Navigation visible in instrument console.

Verdict:

Idk why this bike not so popular in this segment even after the price cut but I highly recommend this bike for a person who is looking for a 200-300 cc bike for city commutes and touring under 2.2Lakh rupees.