The good folks at MCN are having a field day with Kawasaki’s surprise left hook, the Ninja 300. Kawasaki’s strategy seems to be to lure customers away from other 250s with the promise that a 300 will offer that little extra something. Adam Child, MCN says “It feels much more like a big bike than the previous model, not just in terms of the size, but the build quality, which is far better than the 250.” The 250 in the previous statement is probably in reference to the outgoing model.
The current Ninja 250R sold in India has staked claim to top speeds varying anywhere between a genuine 152kph to an indicated 170kph+ elsewhere. The Ninja 300 with its 296cc engine, dual throttle valves making 29.0 kW (39 PS) at 11,000 rpm and a maximum torque of 27.0 Nm at 10,000 rpm seems to have the potential to hit an indicated 190kph.
“It’s very much like the rest of the family and emulates the ZX-6R and ZX-10R to such an extent that everybody will want to know how fast it goes. The answer is that it indicated 112mph on an unrestricted German autobahn but it felt like there’s potential for more – possibly 120mph?” adds MCN.
The Ninja 300 usurps its younger siblings with an Assist and Slipper Clutch that performs dual functions of helping reduce effort required to operate the clutch and prevent wheel hop, loss of traction that occurs when downshifting rapidly. “The clutch is one-finger-light round town and the gear box is smooth.” says Adam.