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My 2023 Ninja 300 comes home: Riding impressions & accessories fitted

16th August 2023, 17:07 by Ananth Iyer

It's a premium experience altogether. Nothing except the smooth parallel twin sound is heard while riding.

BHPian WalterWhite recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I bought home Akira( 2023 Kawasaki Ninja 300 Lime Green) on 30 July 23. How I zeroed on Ninja 300 is briefed here (Test Ride : Why I chose the Kawasaki Ninja 300 over the Honda CB300R)

Booking Experience:

I visited the showroom to see the 2023 Lime Green variant in the flesh on 10-Jun-2023. Looked amazing in new graphics. Now the lime green color painted parts are more compared to the older models which get the lime green color on the tank and some areas on the front only. BS4 and BS6 Ninjas used to get a lot of black color painted parts and I didn't like it. Now the black painted parts are less and the lime green dominates overall. Ninjas should be green..! The wait was well worth it as I didn't liked the BS6 graphics. Same day booked the bike with 50K. Overall experience was positive.

Pre-Delivery Experience + Accessories/Riding gear hunt:

I wanted to equip the Ninja with frame sliders and radiator guard from day 1. As per Kawasaki Cochin, they have a locally manufactured frame slider which cost 8K. The brand name was MotorSports if I remember correctly. As I was skeptical about the quality and the mounting points, I decided to go for something reliable and premium. When asked the sales guy told me about Puig Framesliders. But they don't have stock, If ordered they can ship within 5 days. The cost quoted was 15-16K. I kept this in mind. Next Saturday went to MotorQueen Kaloor (Cochin) to purchase riding gear. I bought Rev'it Airwave 3 Textile Mesh Jacket, Scala Trekker Full gauntlet gloves, SMK helmet with matching color to my Akira, a Bike cover, and Raincoat for my Jacket from there. When I checked about frame sliders, they told me Puig frame sliders can be arranged. The cost is 14K. I ordered the same. He also told me he can directly deliver it to the showroom. I said ok and paid the full amount. Called the Kawasaki sales guy to inform him about the Frame sliders and also asked him to install the radiator guard(which was readily available at Kawasaki). Bought a Bobo Mobile holder with a charger from Amazon. Then visited the showroom to give the Bobo holder for installation and also to see the bike allocated for me. Checked the bike thoroughly. All ok, except for the uneven panel gap below the headlight cluster. Immediately got this to the sales guys' attention. He told me this is a common problem in all Ninjas after localization. For those who don't know, from BS4 onwards, body panels, wiring kit, headlight cluster etc are manufactured here in India. The engine and chassis are imported from Thailand and assembled here. Hence the body panels quality took a hit. Bit thin compared to the BS3 versions. The sales guy showed me emails sent to Kawasaki with images of 1st lot Ninja 300 that have serious panel gaps. I checked the other 300s parked in the showroom. All of them had the same issue. The sales guys told me they will refit it again. But after some riding the gap will again be evident due to vibrations. So this is something to do with the quality standards of Indian manufacturing. Will talk about this in detail later. Rest visually everything was fine with the Ninja allocated for me.

Delivery Experience:

Contacted sales executive to set the delivery date to 30 July @ 2 PM. On the delivery date, we couldn't reach the showroom on time. We were 1 hour late. Just before arriving at the showroom, the sales guy called me on my mobile to inform me there was a delay in the delivery and asked me to reach the showroom after some time. But we have almost reached the showroom and didn't want to go back. So I decided to get into the showroom and wait there for some time. The bike was in the service area for accessories installation. Puig frame sliders, Radiator guard, and Bobo mobile holder. Sometime later the sales guy came back and told me Bobo mobile holder installation will take some more time as it has to be connected to the battery and wire routing needs to be done. He asked me If I can postpone this. I told him ok, this can be installed later. And then he returned the Bobo holder. After some more waiting, I and my family went outside to have some drinks. Came back to see the bike made ready for delivery inside the showroom covered in a dark candy green colored cover. Did a curtain raiser. It was a fantastic moment as my decade-old dream of owning a Ninja is finally getting fulfilled. I was very excited..

3, 2, 1, Go... Uncovered the beauty... Everyone meet Akira...

Better half joined for 'big key' handover

Changed the tyre to Appolo Alpha H1 on day one itself. Got 3.5k for the MRF from the same shop. Balancing is also done.

At Tyre Guys(Edappally) for tyre change to Apollo Alpha H1

Before tyre change

After tyre change

Puig frame sliders

Radiator guard which is bought and installed from Kawasaki Cochin itself. Also, notice the bronze-colored shiny exhaust pipes. Since BS6 the header pipes get a revised positioning.