Kawasaki Ninja 300 Continues Its Run in India, What a Surprise!

Kawasaki Ninja 300 remains a fantastic motorcycle even when it's missing maximum features compared to the present-day motorcycles

The fact that the Ninja 300 still sells in India may or may not surprise you, depending on how you look at it. But since it does, the question is-

Should you really consider buying it in 2025?

The Ninja 300 was always a fine motorcycle - it has had a universal sports bike silhouette, it’s sporty but great for touring, it’s got fantastic handling and that sweet  little parallel twin engine.

And this brings us to the most important point, that the Ninja 300 is a perfect example, especially today, of why the engine is always the most important part in a motorcycle.

I wouldn’t think anything of this motorcycle if it had a single-cylinder unit. Not saying it would have been bad or anything, but its parallel twin engine makes the bike what it is, the engine gives it its personality, it is the reason why this bike is such a sweet performer under 400cc even today. The engine is everything in the Ninja 300.

Mind you, it is not “a good engine from the 80s or 90s but feels old now,” this bike was launched in 2012 and while it is today 13 odd years old, the engine continues to feel fantastic, it is really-really smooth, and there’s not a hint of it being out-dated in terms of how it feels, performs, or the way it is built.

It is not rocket science that even now no other engine up to 300cc can stand up to Ninja 300’s. It makes 39 PS of power at 11,000 RPM and 26.1 NM of torque at 10,000 RPM that many people complain is just too high of an RPM. I don’t know how many of them have properly ridden a Ninja 300 to have that opinion. Sure, that’s high and that’s why that engine is so much fun to play with. People need to realise that fun engines are not just those with strong bottom end (but that depends on their taste, of course).

Those 11,000 RPMs (the red line starts at 13,000 RPM) provide so much room to enjoy the entire rev-range. The fueling is smooth everywhere; from low down to the top end, in part due to its relatively gentle compression ratio of 10.6:1, which also prevents it from heating up crazily.

The Ninja 300 doesn’t provide an instant punch at the bottom, but the throttle response is smooth and linear, it doesn’t feel lacking. People must understand that good fueling and a smooth throttle response can effectively compensate for a weak low-end torque. Hence, practically the small Ninja doesn’t really feel weak, I would rather say that it feels gentle at lower revs. To me, that’s how it is.

I have ridden the Ninja 300 in the city and I have never found myself cursing its supposed weak low end torque. The bike revs fast and high, its short 49mm stroke allows the engine to spin very quickly indeed. But no, you do not have to wring it to the ceiling in traffic, not unless you want to do it on purpose. And no, the low-rev performance doesn’t feel terrible by any stretch of imagination. In fact, the bike is calm and encourages similar riding behaviour, because even though the max torque arrives at 10,000 RPM, the uninterrupted fueling and throttle-feel keep the bike moving forward smoothly.

On top of that, the feel of rush at higher RPMs is still unmatched by anything else up to 400cc. Yes, there’s the Yamaha R3 which also has a parallel twin engine but, technically speaking, it is 321cc. And Yamaha’s marketing strategy in India is so nonsensical that R3’s presence here is virtually irrelevant (I called one of the Yamaha “Blue Square” showrooms in Delhi, the person on the phone smugly told me that R3/MT03 are not available on display or for a test ride, the bikes only arrive when someone books it).

I just fail to comprehend what Yamaha’s strategy is for India. Ours is such a competitive market in this segment but Yamaha’s marketing genius is beyond my understanding at the moment! No wonder the R3 is nowhere to be seen while Kawasaki is happily selling the Ninja 300 (you can go to a Kawasaki showroom, see the bike, touch it, sit on it, and get a test ride if your day is lucky enough). I genuinely feel the R3 and the MT03 are great bikes but I have no idea how they really are. All thanks to the smug Yamaha India!

Coming back to the engine, the Ninja 300 screams beautifully at higher revs. For a street motorcycle, it sounds racy and gets racier as the RPM needle moves beyond the halfway mark. For me, I really feel that this mini Ninja is one of those true “break the routine” kind of a motorcycle.

A small engine like this one, of 296cc, I think Kawasaki took a brilliant decision to make it so high revving. You would notice that the Ninja 400 and the 500 are not made this revvy, both these bikes have an opposite personality - they have a strong bottom end and have a very good top end without needing to rev as high as the Ninja 300.

But being smaller, the high-revving nature of the Ninja 300 is what makes it so much fun.

I also enjoy the bike’s handling. Like its engine, the handling is smooth and flowy, yet, quick and responsive. The Ninja 300 is a fantastic road motorcycle for all these reasons. Its chassis is largely responsible for its confidence inspiring handling. It is not a fancy trellis or a perimeter frame that’s become so common on small motorcycles today, but it’s not a simple down-tube structure and actually goes around the engine from both sides (like a perimeter frame). It is rigid enough but the tube structure gives it good flex.

The suspension is very basic on paper - there are non-adjustable telescopic forks at the front and a bottom-link uni-track shock absorber at the back which has 5-steps for preload adjustability. Very basic on paper but it’s tuned well for spirited on-road riding.

I also love that the Ninja 300 has a low seat height of just 780mm - that’s the same as the R3 and unheard of on any other sports bike in this category. I find the seating comfortable and confident on a bike like this. And a sports bike that’s low to the ground feels positively different than the others while going fast.

The Ninja 300 is not a fancy motorcycle, especially by today’s standards. There is no LED lighting, no radially-mounted brake calipers, no upside-down forks, no ride by wire, and definitely no switchable riding electronics. Even the display is the oldschool analog with a small digital screen. Moreover, the motorcycle has been succeeded by two motorcycles now - first by the Ninja 400 which was then upgraded to the Ninja 500 (which is also sold here).

So why is Kawasaki still selling the Ninja 300 in India

This only Kawasaki knows! But I would like to believe that localising the Ninja 300 has allowed them to price the Ninja 300 competitively and I guess Kawasaki has been happy with the results so far.

And this is where I say what I said in the beginning of this article - you may or may not be surprised that the Ninja 300 is still on sale in India. It all depends on how you see it. I mean I would really like Kawasaki to localise the Ninja 500 and bring its cost down considerably so that it actually looks like a more interesting option (look at the new Aprilia RS 457, it’s a lakh cheaper than the Ninja 500 because it’s made here).

But it seems Kawasaki feels that turning the Ninja 300 into their bread and butter is a better proposition than choosing to do the same thing with the Ninja 500.

But for all the things I’ve said here, the Ninja 300 remains a fantastic motorcycle to ride and to keep. It is a living proof that building a motorcycle with a brilliant engine from the start can make it live longer than expected. And in a price sensitive market like ours, it is serving Kawasaki quite well. Maybe that’s why I also feel that Kawasaki understands the Indian customers quite well.