More Affordable 2018 Kawasaki Ninja 300 Launched

Priced at Rs 2.98 lakh, the Kawasaki Ninja 300 is now the most affordable twin-cylinder motorcycle you can buy in India

Kawasaki India has launched the Ninja 300 at a much more affordable price of Rs 2.98 lakh. This is a drop of Rs 62,000 from its earlier price of Rs 3.6 lakh (all prices ex-showroom Delhi). Being a twin-cylinder offering, it now makes a stronger case for itself against segment heavyweights like the KTM RC 390 and the TVS Apache RR 310, both of which get single-cylinder engines.

So how has this been possible? Kawasaki used to bring in the Ninja 300 to India via CKD route from Thailand. This made it attract extra taxes and was a major reason why it was priced so high.

Now, however, Kawasaki has taken the decision to heavily localise the production of the motorcycle in India. This includes the localisation of body panels, wheels and tyres, which hs helped Kawasaki in bringing the price down. The engine and the chassis, on the other hand, comes from Thailand.

Coming to the bike itself, it’s still powered by the same 296cc, liquid-cooled, parallel-twin engine. This motor produces 39PS of power at 11,000rpm and 27Nm of torque at 10,000rpm, mated to a 6-speed gearbox. While underpinnings remain the same, Kawasaki has now replaced the existing IRC tyres with 110/70 front and 140/70 rear MRF Zappers. These are the same units as seen on the previous-gen Yamaha R3, which weren't renowned for their outright grip.

Thanks to the new pricing, the Kawasaki Ninja 300 is now the most affordable twin-cylinder motorcycle you can buy in India. As mentioned above, it rivals the KTM RC 390 (Rs 2.37 lakh), TVS Apache RR 310 (Rs 2.23 lakh) and, also the Benelli 302R (Rs 3.62 lakh) and the Yamaha YZF-R3 (Rs 3.48 lakh) (all prices, ex-showroom Delhi).