[gururajrv]

Tale of a Black Ninja! - No, you will not find 'GREEN' here:



You guys might have already seen my story of growing up having desires of owning a good bike and I was fortunate enough to own one of my favorites back in the time, 2007 - Pulsar 220 FI. I’m adding a link to my ownership thread here (My 2007 Pulsar 220 FI – Tribute to a wonderful companion!)

Well, it’s been 13 years already to my 220 and was barely used for office commutes. Majority of commuting and travelling in / outside the city was pretty much commanded by my Brezza - ownership link

Why Ninja 300?

Likes:

• Overall Design - It's sharp styling and muscular stance despite being 6-7 years still gathers a lot of attention and feels fresh in the market.
• Performance - Main point of going for this was this! Engine is a gem. It is tractable like any commuter, powerful like a locomotive while also being marginally frugal & extremely smooth and screams refinement.
• Feel at home character - Bike itself made me feel so comfortable when I rode it for the first ever time - what more can I ask for?! It just makes me forget everything and enjoy the ride!

Dislikes:

• Tyres - While localisation of the product is a welcome to this bike to remain competitive in the segment, major drawback is the TYRE used on this bike - MRF Nylogrip Zapper does nothing least to being WORSE!
• Quality of wiring - Quality of wiring used is also questionable due to localisation. Reason why I say this is because, horn conked off due to sliced wire. Not sure how it got snapped.
• Stock light setup - Stock halogen reflector setup even at this age? It is bright, no doubt. But, it lacks the sharpness of a projector setup coupled with LED bulbs that I am running on right now. Kawasaki could have just used the setup from Ninja 636 as it's a direct swap. More on this later. Thanks to audioholic for helping me out to source and install this setup.
• No updates / upgrades from company - I don't think Kawasaki will be ever looking at giving this bike an upgrade except BS6 update because it still / has sold in good decent numbers compared to the competition. This is a downer, as company is way too comfortable with this bike and they know it sells even today. Not sure if BS6 is coming out but online suggests so!

I was satisfied with no complaints from either of the lads I have with me. But, one random day in May 2019, I’m not sure if an insect or a fly bit me and injected with this sudden burst of desire or intention to upgrade my bike. I am not sure why, but the desire was so strong, I could literally feel it running through my veins

Out of no where, the same teenager from 2007, started appearing again within me. He started pushing me to upgrade. All I knew at that time was to upgrade. But, I didn’t have a small hint of what would be that I’m going after in the name of upgrade.

I was having a casual conversation with my friend one day who’s an avid biker himself. This casual conversation helped me draw a paint of my desire in my head. Slowly, the upgrade I wanted started taking a shape and I rallied each cell in the brain to process things faster to give me the result I would want. While, the digital print of my desire was being prepped, I started realizing it was that long term sub-conscious intention of owning an entry level sports bike, was eventually coming to reality.

So, when I’d the clue what I was going in for after opening up the genie’s locker within my mind, my brain consequently started painting the picture at a faster pace. Points that helped me from the genie’s locker I opened after a long time:

• Fully faired bike - CHECK
• It has to be agile & quick - CHECK
• Entry level sports commands for atleast an extra cylinder, bruh! - CHECK
• It must & should be a complete upgrade over my 220 - CHECK
• Ok, I listed all this & extra cylinder is all cool too. But, what CC am I hunting in the market for? - CHECK

Last point made me go back to the drawing board myself - everything screamed just one answer, that is FINANCE! Yeah, yeah, of course mate!

Since, it all revolved around Finance, I started working towards planning it. Final conclusion post internal discussions made me comfortable with a budget.

Faineeee, I got it now. So, let’s play in or out, shall we? For the cash comfort I had in hand at the moment:

1) Fully faired (Check)
2) Agile & Fast (Check)
3) True upgrade (Check...)

Oh, come on - enough of this bruh. Cut to the chase.

Yeah, yeah - I’m there already. So, final point TWIN cylinder - bruh, are you kidding right now? Your budget is screaming 2L and you want another cylinder, whilst any 300+ single cylinders are retailing over 2L.

That’s when I realized, I went 2 steps forward but ultimately reversing back to 1 step now. So 2-1=1!

That 1 step now was all about scoping through the available options:

1) Dominar 400 -

Certainly not a fully faired bike. Straight forward reject.



2) RC390 -

It's sharp, bulky, fully faired. Dude, you are looking at an option that was in the head for over 6 years but never tickled my taste for some reason - it's old to be your new! It was nimble and fast, lacked an extra cylinder. So gave it a pass!



3) New D390 -

Loved the mental acceleration. But, again not fully faired. Had to let it go. Buh-bye!



4) RR310 -

Never got a chance to test ride it. I liked the looks but never gave it a serious thought despite getting referrals from my avid biker friend.



It would have been difficult to convince myself to chose one of the 300cc+ bikes listed above because a true upgrade buzzing in my head firmly wanted 1+ cylinders! This left me with no choice to accept but to move onto used market route to see if something satisfies my requirements. Well, at this point I realized there were 2 Japanese machines that I’d not even thought of for a long long time.

1) Yamaha R3



2) Kawasaki Ninja 300



I don’t really have to describe these 2 chaps here for sure. Enough said on the forum by nkrishnap & Xaos636’s R3 and audioholic’s Ninja 300.

These 2 machines literally satisfied all my requirements listed. Only thing was the price they demanded on-road that was twice the budget I had in mind. Thus, the pre-owned route.

Trust me finalizing one among these two is going to be a challenging task. Both are extremely competitive and offer supreme experience in 300CC segment. However, it is purely subjective as to which machine tickles your heart / your mind.

Pre-Owned route experience:

Went through a lot of OLX / Quickr ads and contacted few sellers and found a lot of R3’s in the initial days of my hunt itself and quickly took my friend for a test ride on one of the potential purchase I had zeroed in on, by looking at the ad.

It was around 8 PM on a Saturday, seller asked me to meet. I was at his apartment, located South of Bangalore at sharp 8. We met and exchanged few words about the bike and then I head out with the owner on this example of Black R3 from 2016, if I recall it correctly. Won’t get into the specifics but the overall ride didn’t really impress me much although the bike seemed to have well maintained at first glance.

But, post riding it for nearly 3-4 kms, I noticed a slight wobble from the rear swing arm that made me feel like the bike was siding to the left. I asked the owner and he said it’s because of the tyre that was upsized. I didn’t find the answer to be convincing. So, with a dual mind I left that night with a lot of confusion around that strange sliding behavior in my mind. I contemplated for 2 straight days and then heavily let it go as I was told by owner it was sold already.

With that chapter of first ride being not so pleasant or convincing, the hunt continued. I found very few legit samples of Ninja 300. So, I continued with R3 search. I found another in the meantime and met up with the owner. Coincidentally, he was a friend of the first owner I met previously. As usual I exchanged discussions about the bike and took it for a test ride alone and didn’t find any issues with it as it was maintained well. However, during the conversation owner mentioned it was also being used in the track days. Well, that made my friend check the radiator (which I wasn’t sure of) and he found few fins to be damaged during the pressure wash the bike used to go through periodically. A blow to the radiator means 40k+ of repairs would’ve come my way.

With that note, I thought of giving it a serious consideration before letting it go off. While doing so, the owner casually struck a conversation of the previous R3 I had checked and later told me that was his friends which was up for sale or rather sold at that time. He mentioned to me that bike had suffered a damage to the chassis in a fall it took. I thanked my stars for somehow noticing that singularity while riding. Else, I’m usually an impulse decision maker. I’d have locked the deal and would’ve the bike only to know later of this horrendous truth.

With all this conversation, I quickly wrapped up and started discussing with my friend about this. Well, during the conversation I kind of opened up to him and told him R3 isn’t really impressing me much with the ride experience. He said then take a pause and look out for Ninja 300 which was not available in good numbers but whatever were there on sale were mostly transferred between hands to hands. So, it was a risk that I was supposed to be readying myself up.

Few days passed by with no good samples present online and I was growing a bit impatient too. While one of the searches presented me with a sample from my hometown Mysore, but the bike was already registered to 2nd owner. Ninja 300 green from 2013. I could call it first batch of Ninja’s through Bajaj’s showrooms back then as Kawasaki didn’t have its independent presence yet (atleast what I know).

I quickly drove to Mysore to meet this gentleman and had a good chat. In fact he gave me the bike to ride for 15-20 mins straight. Bike had an Akrapovic slip on exhaust. It didn’t sound great and I wasn’t expecting it to sound like an in-line-4. But, it masked the smoothness of the engine. The first start of the bike, the feel had fulfilled my desire completely already and kept telling me - THIS IS IT - 220’S UPGRADE! ALAS, YOU FOUND IT!

Owner was ready to come along to Kawasaki service center in Bangalore but the price seemed a bit too steep for my budget again.

While I was convinced that mostly green Ninja would come to me, I still was having a dual mind yet again for this pre-owned route I’d considered. This was mostly because of the current man fighting with yesteryear's teenager who was extremely impulsive with decisions and wasn’t really worried much in blowing up money. So, I sat down with my family and kept contemplating the route I’d chosen to satisfy the itch that had grown onto become a big desire mountain.

So, after multiple round of discussions, confusions, wife, mother and my uncle reassured me that it’s better to go in for new as it’s one time purchase instead of preowned route that exposed me to a greater risks. They did get a shocker to realize the actual on road price of N300. However, they said just to go ahead with new bike route considering the fact - we were all out of the most challenging phase of our life to say the least and I wanted a way out of those thoughts. Hence, wife, mom and uncle just encouraged me with the new bike purchase decision, which they were sure would restore that smile in me.

Just a word of advise to everyone who goes for a pre-owned route for bikes or cars - please note to keep in mind bikes such as these especially are rev friendly machines and anyone would have enjoyed redlining it. Whilst only few owners take good care of machines despite redlining it here & there, there are few who would have abused the bike for fun purpose and then sell it in the used market. Please take extra care and caution before finalizing a purchase. Take a known personnel to analyse the bike or a good friend to tag along to take a second opinion. Discuss in detail and weight the pros and cons before finalizing a used vehicle.

End of the road for pre-owned search!

New bike - Purchase Saga!

With all the requisites in place and final image from my brain completely processed and painted - it was decided Ninja 300 was going to be my partner on 2 wheels aside Pulsar 220 FI.

I went to enquire on this to showroom and got a quote of 3,93,000/- on road inclusive of standard third party 5 year insurance. But, gawd the colors available on Ninja 300 weren’t eye pleasing at all - I mean the blue and green with a lot of decals made the bike look too busy. It certainly wasn't upto my taste. However, if that’d be it, so be it is what I thought and got back onto finance planning and I finalized the best possible route through my bank and finalized the deal with RideVentur Kawasaki Bangalore.

During ongoing dialogues with Dipank, there came a pleasing news from Kawasaki stating to have released 2019 edition of Grey Black color on Ninja 300. Without thinking much, I rang up to my sales contact Dipank, who confirmed the bike would reach showroom in a week time. So, that’s it I went in and paid the booking amount of 25,000/-

During the decision making process, my avid biker friend & 2 of the bhpians (Xaos636 & Audioholic) helped me immensely by connecting with me throughout and making me comfortable with my decision. Well, this phase was between migrating from pre-owned route to buying a new Ninja 300. What better way to feel comfortable than hearing from the owners themselves, isn’t it? Since I’d already ridden the Ninja 300, I didn’t take much time in booking it. It was merely quick.

All this happened in span of 30-35 days and Xaos636 kept sending me new pics of Grey / black Ninja 300 from one of the dealerships in Goa. Green attracted attention everywhere it went. I wanted something subtle and black (/grey) kind of sealed the deal firmly for me. It was just about darn time Kawasaki kind of did eavesdropping while I was praying for some nice color to be launched & they did!

THE WAIT BEGINS - hardest of times for an enthusiast’s dream to be realized is the phase between booking the vehicle and taking delivery of it.

Continued...

Thanks,

RV.

PS:
Pictures seen on this post are sourced from web - Dominar, Duke, RC, RR310, R3, Ninja 300 Green.

[gururajrv]

Fast forward to "How I Met My Bike"

27 Jun 2019:





I met the dream before my eyes, which was silently brewing all these years in my sub-conscious mind!

It just gels well in the surroundings and people hardly notice it. I spoke to Dipank in the showroom to quickly setup the delivery date and I wanted it before the weekend for several reasons including the auspicious time suggested by mom & wife. So, the delivery date was finalized for 29 Jun 2019. Transferred the balance amount on the same day after quickly checking the bike accordingly.

29 Jun 2019:

Dipank had told me the bike would be ready on the evening of 29 Jun 2019 and I confirmed I would drop into showroom between 5-6 PM. We made arrangements accordingly at home and I decided I would take mom along as wifey was busy with my newborn and didn't want to inconvenience my son as it would certainly be a time consuming process. So, me, mom and my nephew started to showroom to collect the delivery. We took a cab and headed to Rideventur and reached there around 5.30 PM due to heavy traffic on Friday evening - Bengalureans know how it is to wade through thick traffic on a Monday / Friday evening!! I wouldn't deviate on the topic much.

Once reached, Dipank and his staff made me and mom comfortable by offering a seat and a hot cup of coffee. Whilst mom enjoyed sipping the coffee and having a good chat with sales advisor Nandini, who was pretty helpful & humble in making mom feel at home whenever she came to showroom with me alongside Dipank in the entire purchase process - I must admit the buying experience was absolutely good. Never felt any discomfort in the entire process. I rate RideVentur 9 on 10! 1 point deducted because Kawasaki had not fueled the bike and I had to head out for refueling which demanded a detour to the nearest pump.

I was pre-occupied with the sight of big bikes around. I told mom that we might again drop in sometime in future and sent a pic to my wife as to how heaven for bikers actually looked like! Neither mom nor wife are too much into vehicles, so the excitement of mine falls flat usually when I speak to them about cars or bikes I hope others also might have experienced this as much as I have, for sure! Enough with the rant already!

I quickly signed all the related documents and got back to Dipank and asked him to line up the bike. He quickly got the bike and parked it in the delivery bay inside the showroom floor for a quick pic. You can see it in the below pics how I'm grinning ear-to-ear.

I was floored:


First crank by Mommy accompanied by my nephew:


Grin! That moment when you hold that dream in your hands:


Let me remind you guys, this version of Ninja 300 is localized in many ways except the engine and few electrical components. Localisation is evidently felt with panels and how they feel Vs the panel strength experienced with those that came before mine - I compared the panel quality with audioholic's Ninja and it was clear Kawasaki had gone on trimming the quality of panels as mine has a tendency to flex with slightest pressure but did a good job in trying to be competitive by opting for lighter panels that is mostly manufactured in India itself. I also understand, few of the wiring components are localized and how did I know of this? Well, just a minor niggle which is explained in the later post. None of these points make the ride experience or overall experience get affected anyway - because, it's Ninja 300 afterall.

Now, let's get the specifications out of the way, shall we? Not a pro, but tried to gather whatever I could think of:



Now that we are past the decision making & purchase process, let's move quickly further on how this bike feels to ride and has it really lived upto the expectations I had set for myself based on the experience I had with my Pulsar 220 FI for 13 years. For sure, they both are extremely distinct in what they offer. However, Pulsar 220 FI did set a great benchmark for me in terms of performance and durability. When I talk about holding it for over 13 years now, you know how comfortable it has made me to stick to it without having to think of an upgrade during it's life-time, as usually any biker would get bored after 5 years riding the same bike almost everyday. But, I never for a single day felt that riding my steed 220 FI. Okay, enough said about it on my ownership thread stored in this forum already.

Now, with my Ninja 300, at the time of writing this thread here, it has barely completed 2,800 kilometers on the odo in 13 months! Yes, you read it right - just 2,800 kms. Ok, I will try to not rant about it. I will blame myself for being a bit biased towards using the car more often.

Okay, back to Ninja 300;

How does it feel?

I rejuvenated myself and resumed biking after a long time. The minute mom cranked up the engine, I could instantly feel how smooth and silent this engine was! Damn, I could hardly hear a beat from the front whilst at the rear, a smooth exhaust note made it sound heavenly. For sure, I had ridden a Ninja 300 already. But, that new bike first crank sound is something I'm sure many of you can relate with me, how heavenly it feels to hear your own bike idling at the start for the first ever time. It just felt like hearing to my son's first cry

How does it ride?

ONE WORD - STELLAR!

Heart of the matter is indeed, the HEART:


This bike just let's you be who you are and it represents itself the way you want it to! By the way, best thing about this bike, it's got it's riding modes. Surprised?

Yeah, this bike oozes a lot of it. How? Read ahead below;

Tractable: City / Eco mode

Once out of the showroom, I headed directly to the nearby pump to refuel to the brim because the warning lamp for refuel was on already & then headed straight to Koramangala Ganapathi Temple to get the bike blessed. While riding through busy Friday evening traffic, bike made me feel at home, just like my 220. Why I say that? I was extremely surprised to see how tractable the bike was to ride in city traffic. I mean, it just keeps going at 30kmph at 6th gear!! You get that? From a bike like this, I had expected it to ask for repetitive gear shifts based on my experience once with a CBR250R. But, that certainly wasn't the case here. Bike just let's you hover around in a cool & composed manner. Just be in any gear you want, it just marches on without any complaints.

Handler: Comfort / Track mode

It just glides over anything in its path as the suspension is tuned extremely well i.e. for ride, comfort & handling. I have done a short circuit trip of around 250 kms with my friends after the lockdown was lifted recently. I must say I never felt any fatigue / pain during or after returning from the trip. This bike keeps you engaged with its nimble, agile trait on the road and you really wish you'd access to track somewhere nearby to experience the bike in full. It's a lovely track machine too with a better set of rubbers slapped on.

Juggernaut: Sport / Race Mode

Why I say this? Remember, I told you how tractable it was in city, right? Now, I have ridden a CBR650F of my friend and I know how mean it gets with a twist in your wrist. I was a jockey that day trying to keep those 80 horses in control to avoid any untoward incident from happening.

I am certainly not comparing those 80 horses with half of what my bike has - nearly 40 horses in it. But, trust me, Ninja 300 is smooth and the way it pulls to triple digit speeds is absolutely stunning and it screams past 6000 rpms and races ahead like a locomotive. I have felt that adrenaline rush after a long-long time and I enjoyed it to the bits and even forgot the break-in period when I took it on the nice road the next day of the purchase. Damn, it made me smile and scream inside my helmet like a teenager again. It absolutely cuts the air like a hot knife slicing through the butter! You feel that? There are few things that makes us immensely satisfied and this is one of those moments. It marches on and masks the speed with its smoothness absolutely.

Anchorage:

About that, Brake setup is from Endurance on the localised Ninja 300's. It's got good bite, both at front and as well as at rear. A good speed machine also requires good set of anchors to curb it when required. Ninja 300 does a good job in this department as well. No complaints, whatsoever! You want to stop, just eye at the target and pump those levers, within no time, you are standing where you should be and you will not overshoot the marker. ABS is standard on this model at both front & rear. Safety reassured!

Front:


Rear:


Lights:

It comes with a halogen setup. No LED lights at all on this model. I am not a fan of halogen bulbs. I don't know why. I always had the liking towards Xenon / LED setups. Whilst LEDs isn't functional on a halogen reflector setup, I felt a bit disappointed. Whilst living with it, audioholic as you know him, is an explorer when it comes to DIYs and experiments. He'd once told me he would be going in for a projector swap and how well he executed it as you all know on his thread with Ninja 636 projector setup, was nothing but brilliant!

Got the details from him as to how he sourced it and I took the same route and got the projector setup and plonked in LED's along with it. Now, the bike looks complete and lights do light up the road ahead pretty well! Few pics of the DIY from audioholic & the headlight setup on my bike below:

Headlight assembly of Ninja 636:


Bike stripped for the headlight assembly swap:




It's a complicated process of removing multiple screws, fairing, and so many other parts to access the headlight assembly - a BIG THANKS to audioholic aka Sankalp for helping me out throughout in many ways. He also not only did this swap for me at his house, he also applied a coat of scratch resistant film on my tank. I literally forgot the name of the material! Dayaaam!!

Once installed, it was lit up to do a check - this moment I was waiting for a long time to happen:




Blue eyes hypnotize teri kardi ai menu (song from Honey Singh):


I was waiting for the nightfall:


Sharp cut off lines - remember the assembly was imported and hence cut off is of RHS:


Will get a better click when I head out at night for sharp cut off from the projectors.

And finally with the man himself - audioholic:


He has all the tools a service center would have at his apartment's basement itself - except the service bay lift. Meticulous planner!

Maintaining the DARK NINJA

As for maintenance of the bike - It doesn't really ask for anything apart from fuel top up. But, Kawasaki demands you to get the bike serviced once in 6 months. I have completed 2 services in just 2.8k kms. Each time I have got it serviced, service center folks recommends changing the engine oil irrespective of the usage in consideration. I would say, save Rs 1,000/- every month from your pocket to maintain the bike aside fuel expenses. Other than that, bike itself won't demand anything else. You fill it, shut it and REV IT!

During the first service:


IMPORTANT TOPIC - YESHTAMMA MILEAGE / Kitna Deti Hai Bhai / Economy bro?

It's got 17L fuel tank which is as good as my 220 has! My 220 used to return around 30-35 KMPL irrespective of my riding behaviour.

As for Ninja, it returns 27 KMPL on highways and 23-25 KMPL in city riding conditions. I believe this is absolutely frugal figures considering it's got 2 cylinders to keep the show going on!

Issues or niggles faced: Already spoken about it on the dislike section, however, will provide a brief summary of it.

• Due to localisation of the bike, TYRES catches my attention in the wrong way. MRF used on this model is a bit of a disappointment to keep the price in check. MRF doesn't really help in keeping glued to the tarmac. Slips a lot and matters gets worse when the road is wet and if you deviate your attention, rear or even the front can slide and slip in a blink of an eye. It just doesn't inspire you with that confidence to march forward. Rather, you have to drop a gear and keep the speed in check. Luckily, ABS in hand keeps things in control. To address this, I will be going in for a swap as recommended by my friends and fellow D-bhpian audioholic.

• Another small niggle I faced was when the horn conked off without any warning. Check on it revealed a wire had snapped. So mechanic told me this is another issue with wires getting sliced or snapping in one or the other bike with horns alone and no where else.

Aside these 2 niggles, I have no complaints at all. That's nitpicking I would call because Kawasaki has tried their best to keep the prices in check and competitive.

Finally, have I done the right thing and am I really satisfied?

Well, to answer that question - it's a BIGGGG YESSS!!! I just can't recollect that minute where I for a second felt I've made a mistake. Because, this UPGRADE is a genuine one which plasters a big smile on my face whenever I look at my bike or whenever I ride it - I absolutely have a healthy relationship with it.

That moment when you regret your decision, it clearly is an indication you've entered a wrong side of the deal, which isn't the case here at all. Ninja has certainly proven what it's worthy of!

Bike's like these are meant to be ridden almost everyday - but, the challenge with current scenario the entire world is facing has put kind of deviated the plans for a short-period of time.

Now that I believe to have covered almost whatever was on my mind, it is time to end my writing and introduce my bike through pictures. Don't mean to abruptly close this as I have penned down almost everything and will try my best to keep this thread alive. I am aware that I haven't spoken too technical of the bike, because I don't have full knowledge on technical front. So, I have tried myself to keep details in layman terms. I believe these are basic details one would want - if you are looking for an expert guide, please refer to audioholic's ownership thread on DIY's / technical details on the bike.

Lastly, everyone in the current challenging scenario are dealing with a lot of stress. But, it shouldn't let affect our desires or passion we have for a particular liking in our life - Our family, our work, our cars, our bikes, our desires and passions. Don't let anything affect them. In order to keep it going, a pill like this would recharge you to a great extent - so take that break and understand what really makes you smile.

Few pics of my bike with my wife, sonny and random rides in / out of the city

At temple for customary pooja:


Ah, that tank, how beautifully sculpted - Am I allowed to ride this yet, please?!:


Rear quarter looks hot IMHO:



Highway ride:


First 100 KMS - Digital + Analog screen:


Bike looks absolutely proportionate from all the angles - Kawasaki has scored home run with the design:



Remember, it doesn't really matter how old you get - what really matters is that element in your life that influences you to be who you were back in your teenage times! (Teenage Crime, brother!)

On that note, signing off - Stay safe, keep riding, keep driving!

Yours Truly,

RV

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[Added_flavor]

Beautiful review RV! What a looker this bike is! I have always loved the way the 300 looks and I have ridden a few friends' bikes to understand your words on the lovely power delivery from this motor! I absolutely love the new color too! The older white and this grey/black are my personal preferences too for this bike! Those pictures with the little one are very adorable.

And yes, I must mention that man audioholic! Both of our bikes have been to his basement and have been worked upon by him! Truly a DIY expert!

Here's wishing you many many more happy miles! Hopefully we have better days to come and you get to clock more miles than you did in the previous year!

[amods]

Congratulations for the new acquisition and UPGRADE! Indeed it is.

Bike looks great and 2 cyl is definitely the ask for an upgrade nowadays. Economy is great for a double cylinder bike. Wish you many happy miles on this one.

How does the new visor compare to the original one? And what was the cost of the headlight assembly upgrade?

[AtheK]

Congratulations mate, always a treat to see a fellow biker get hold of his/her dream steed. The bike looks great, and yes Ninja 300 still is the pick of the lot, specially with ABS as standard now. The light upgrade is fantastic and adds quite a bit of character to the bike.

Wish you many miles of happy and safe riding.

[aabhimanyu04]

Fantastic choice buddy, many congratulations!

With localisation of parts, the newer 300s are much easier on the pocket.
Hope to bump into you some day on western ghats

[Xaos636]

Finally you found time to open the thread

Many congratulations once again on the wonderful steed. The Ninja 300 is one of the most polished Japanese motorcycles this side of 600cc and things hardly go wrong with it.

Just a tip to be mindful of the low ground clearance when riding 2 up. The oil pan is what hits first.

The headlight from the 636 has made the bike absolutely lovely to look at. Great mod there. Wishing you a million miles on the baby Ninja.

[raghu.bramha]

Lovely post @gururajrv, you are really brave to have listened to what your heart says. A lot of people write off Ninja 300 as an old bike, that it is too expensive etc etc blah blah blah without truly understanding what that bike is capable of.

In international markets it was decently priced, and well revered as excellent beginner's bike. Only in India, Kawasaki made a hash of it, but pricing apart it is hard to fault the bike in any department.

Congratulations and many a miles of happy riding.

[PratikPatel]

Nice! Been a long time since I have seen a ownership review of N300. You may want to consider the following upgrades:

1. Steel braided break lines. E.g., HEL or Spiegler.
2. Sintered breakpads. E.g., EBC or Brembo.

The combination of the above will improve breaking & feedback by multitudes.

[Zinda]

Hey congratulations RV on your purchase. Good choice of color too - green on Kawasaki, though its signature, is getting too stereotyped now.

for the headlight upgrade. Must needed IMHO, and what better than a plug and play part from elder sibling. Infact single channel ABS and Halogen lamps is something Kawasaki must plan to upgrade as bikes half the price have them sorted now.

Enjoy your ride and keep the thread updated with pics

[nitinkbhaskar]

Many congratulations Gururajrv !!
Nice to see the Ninja with the elder sibling's mod. The black bring out the stealth mode of this machine. Wish you miles of fun on her

[gururajrv]

Originally Posted by Added_flavor

Beautiful review RV! I absolutely love the new color too! The older white and this grey/black are my personal preferences too for this bike! Those pictures with the little one are very adorable.

Thanks a ton, Added_Flavor! Yes, audioholic helped a lot in DIY's on my bike. Generous bhpian

Hope to clock miles soon!

Originally Posted by amods

Congratulations for the new acquisition and UPGRADE! Indeed it is.
How does the new visor compare to the original one? And what was the cost of the headlight assembly upgrade?

Thanks amods - yes, the new bubble windshield is far better as it deflates or diverts the direct windblast. A worthy upgrade over stock windshield.
As for the headlight assembly, I paid 12K in total on Aliexpress.

Originally Posted by AtheK

Congratulations mate, always a treat to see a fellow biker get hold of his/her dream steed. The bike looks great, and yes Ninja 300 still is the pick of the lot, specially with ABS as standard now. The light upgrade is fantastic and adds quite a bit of character to the bike.
Wish you many miles of happy and safe riding.

Thanks AtheK. Indeed the headlight swap has made it look even more handsome in person and at night, the lights are a treat to watch and LEDs give that added advantage of a flash thats so instant and I enjoy it a lot when I get response from the opposite side too.

Originally Posted by aabhimanyu04

Fantastic choice buddy, many congratulations!

With localisation of parts, the newer 300s are much easier on the pocket.
Hope to bump into you some day on western ghats

Thank you aabhimanyu04. Let's surely catch up for a ride - I'd love to explore routes towards western ghats! I hear the sight is lovely with mountains surrounded throughout. Bike will surely feel home if there are twisties!

Originally Posted by Xaos636

Finally you found time to open the thread
Just a tip to be mindful of the low ground clearance when riding 2 up. The oil pan is what hits first.The headlight from the 636 has made the bike absolutely lovely to look at. Great mod there. Wishing you a million miles on the baby Ninja.

Ha ha thanks buddy and I can't forget those days when you kept tempting me of the new colors when I told you of my ideas on going ahead with new purchase. We should ride soon which we had planned for a long time now. Hope you're safe and well man!
And yeah, headlight swap, you should take a look at it in person. Worthy upgrade and very much functional.

Originally Posted by raghu.bramha

Lovely post @gururajrv, you are really brave to have listened to what your heart says. A lot of people write off Ninja 300 as an old bike, that it is too expensive etc etc blah blah blah without truly understanding what that bike is capable of. Congratulations and many a miles of happy riding.

Thanks raghu.bramha - you bet, sir! Gladly, I have not regretted with any of my bike or car that I have with me. Heart and mind are in sync with each other. Heart & Mind are like husband and wife. If they both are in sync, then its a happy marriage. Else, we all know how bad and dirty the relationship gets

Originally Posted by PratikPatel

Nice! Been a long time since I have seen a ownership review of N300. You may want to consider the following upgrades:

1. Steel braided break lines. E.g., HEL or Spiegler.
2. Sintered breakpads. E.g., EBC or Brembo.

The combination of the above will improve breaking & feedback by multitudes.

Thanks, PratikPatel! I will consider this and will add to my cart shortly. Next upgrade planned is for immediate TYRE swap and a BMC air filter.

Originally Posted by Zinda

Hey congratulations RV on your purchase. Good choice of color too - green on Kawasaki, though its signature, is getting too stereotyped now. for the headlight upgrade. Must needed IMHO, and what better than a plug and play part from elder sibling. Infact single channel ABS and Halogen lamps is something Kawasaki must plan to upgrade as bikes half the price have them sorted now. Enjoy your ride and keep the thread updated with pics

Many thanks Zinda - I will surely keep the thread updated as I clock miles. Yes, I agree with your point, Kawasaki should plan on giving substantial list of upgrades to Ninja 300 and I'm sure it will gather good numbers for them. They have had a good run with all their bikes in the market and should consider upgrading Ninja 300 as it's the entry level.

Thanks,

RV.

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by gururajrv

Fast forward to "How I Met My Bike"
...Remember, it doesn't really matter how old you get - what really matters is that element in your life that influences you to be who you were back in your teenage times! (Teenage Crime, brother!)...

What a fantastic closing line. I was so unsure of my first long ride on the bike (supposedly a 1000+ km ride split into 3 days or so and enough warnings about not doing a solo ride. The CBR has been kind and took care - I was super confident after the first day of ride. I am on the bigger side of 30 and it simply doesnt stop you from riding long distances. Its never old to start riding !

Nice review - thanks for taking time to write it. You said well about a pre-owned bike. You need extra pairs of eyes to find the right bike. And in my opinion, the first wring of accelerator will tell you if its indeed your bike.

Colors are a personal preference and I somehow seem to like the signature shades of manufacturers. A Ninja has to be green, an R3 has to be Blue and a CBR has to be red.

Keep the thread going and wish you miles of safe rides.

[PratikPatel]

Originally Posted by gururajrv

Thanks, PratikPatel! I will consider this and will add to my cart shortly. Next upgrade planned is for immediate TYRE swap and a BMC air filter.

RV.

You may want consider a Pipercross airfliter instead of BMC. While BMC is a reputed brand, its filter is based on cotton membrane which requires frequent cleaning @ 2,500 to 3,000 kms. Pipercross’s foam based filter is a more compatible replacement for the OEM filter. It will require cleaning @ 5,000 kms.