[saikishor]

I would like to bring a small comparision regarding the CB300R.

Back in 2017, the KTM 390 Duke was launched at 2.25lacs, the Honda CB300R was launched at 2.41lacs (CKD) and the BMW G310R was priced at 2.99lacs. So till 1 April 2020, or till BS 4 norms were in place, these were the prices of the aforementioned bikes.

Come 2020, BS6 norms kicked in and the CB300R was axed. The BMW G310R received a minor cosmetic update and a major price revision. IIRC, it was launched at 2.5 lacs. The BS6 Duke 390 was launched at 2.53 lacs. This was at the beginning of 2020. Now, come 2022 and Honda launches the CB300R in BS6 avatar at a price of 2.77 lacs. The Duke is now priced at 2.87 lacs and the G310R is priced at 2.65 lacs. The bike which was earlier the cheapest of the lot is now the priciest of the lot.

Honda definitely did price the motorcycle on the higher side, but when you look at the competition, I personally feel it doesnt really command a huge premium.

Well, if at all the motorcycle is locally manufactured, a 2.5 lac ex showroom price would have been the perfect price for the bike. I would really appreciate if someone can give further clarity regarding this.

Im not a Honda fanboy, but looking at the way our soon to be 11 years Activa aged, I dont mind paying a premium for a quality product.

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by saikishor

I would like to bring a small comparision regarding the CB300R.

The KTM Duke 390 was launched in India around third or fourth quarter 2013. I did buy one and recall it was around 2.13 on road. The motorcycle selling today is better equipped. I guess that's just inflation taking the price up by almost 7k for each year, considering its been on sale for almost a decade!

This Honda does change the equation though. Had there been a CB300R, I am doubtful if I would have bought a KTM, even though it would have run circles around the Honda. I have no regrets owning a KTM. Had heaps of fun with it.

With those price stats you've shared, the CB300R is almost an eyes closed buy, if that's the kind of motorcycle you're after.

[7000plusrpm]

It seems deliveries started here at Kolkata. I've processed the loan application with my bank today and if everything goes well, will get it by next weekend.
Ah the wait, it's killing.

[amvj]

I went to the Honda Bigwing Topline showroom in Bangalore today to check the new CB300R.



The bike was put in a cover and they have planned unveiling today around 3 / 3.30PM. The guys were firm to not to remove the cover. Not sure why they are creating such unnecessary fancy ceremonies.



He asked me to check the BS4 test vehicle outside the showroom.

BS4 CB300R (old model)


Then I entered the showroom again and asked another person that I need to check the bike in person. He escorted me to the underground where they keep the bikes in stock. It was dimly lit and the phone was unable to capture it clearly.

BS6 CB300R (new model)

At the moment there are no BS6 CB300R available in the showroom to test drive. Deliveries will start from Friday. The test drive will be allowed from next weekend.













MRF tyre



Not Showa


The CB300R is incredibly compact and feels like a 150cc motorcycle. I like it. However, I find it unnecessarily tall at 801mm seat height. We only get MRF tyres and it is not Showa forks as far as I can see in the dim light. Both CB650R (810mm seat height) and CB300R (801mm seat height) felt similar height.

What caught my attention was the CB650R. It felt very light weight compared to Apache RR310 which I checked a week ago. It looks and sounds gorgeous. They don't have CBR650R in stock. CB650R is available in a week's time if we book it. Also the recent price hike is only for CBR650R (47K) while CB650R is still available at 2021 prices.

CB300R on-road price Bangalore: 3.46L
CB650R on-road price Bangalore: 10.78L
CBR650R on-road price Bangalore: 11.58L














I am planning to book CB300R after checking the reviews.
I want to buy the 650s but wife is very much against it. Let's see how it goes.

[Grimlock]

Originally Posted by amvj

The bike was put in a cover and they have planned unveiling today around 3 / 3.30PM. The guys were firm to not to remove the cover. Not sure why they are creating such unnecessary fancy ceremonies.

Nice pics. the drama was because there was a youtuber taking delivery of the 300 today, probably a part of their launch event.

[Cayman360]

With CB at 3.5 lacs, Ninja 300 at 4.25 lacs Bangalore looks like good value now

CB is pretty light and hot though!

[saikishor]

CB300R First ride review:

https://youtu.be/7OFHbm2xzVc

The bike looks sweet.
I can't wait to get a test ride!

[7000plusrpm]

Finally, the CB came home . Sharing a couple of pictures taken during the delivery for now.
Had about 6KM on the odometer when delivered. Filled her up and parked at home. Now waiting for the HSRP to arrive before I take her out again.

Total damage to the wallet is 3.3L INR including extended warranty and roadside assistance.

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by 7000plusrpm

Finally, the CB came home . Sharing a couple of pictures taken during the delivery for now.
Had about 6KM on the odometer when delivered. Filled her up and parked at home. Now waiting for the HSRP to arrive before I take her out again.

Total damage to the wallet is 3.3L INR including extended warranty and roadside assistance.

Attachment 2270031

Attachment 2270032

Many congratulations 7000plusrpm for being one of the first ones at least in this forum to lay your hands on the CB300R. What are your initial feelings after riding this bike?

[7000plusrpm]

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

Many congratulations 7000plusrpm for being one of the first ones at least in this forum to lay your hands on the CB300R. What are your initial feelings after riding this bike?

I just rode her once on the day of delivery for about 30KM. Below are my initial impressions-

1. Riding posture is comfortable for me, the footpegs are rear set compared to my FZ25. The wide handlebar helps in maneuvering
2. The seat is comfortable for me, after 45 mins on my FZ, bums used to hurt a little
3. The clutch is lighter compared to the FZ, riding in the city should be less painful
4. The engine settles at 1500 rpm when idle, pulls cleanly from 2500 rpm. The acceleration is linear and I feel the FZ pulls better till 5000 rpm
5. Max speed I have done is about 65, in 6th gear, the engine was doing about 4000rpm
6. I would have liked adjustable levers and better horns. The vertically swapped switches for horn and indicator are painful to get used to after so many years

[amvj]

Originally Posted by 7000plusrpm

I just rode her once on the day of delivery for about 30KM.

Congrats please post some photos.

[Cayman360]

Test rode the CB today. Had a very pleasant experience at the showroom, after the okayish one at Kawasaki earlier in the day where I rode the Ninja 300. Honda BigWing showrooms feel like car showrooms. They had a huge lineup of bikes displayed, and the enthusiastic young exec even took me to their basement parking to see the black shade, where all the other elder siblings were parked.

Upon starting off with the ride, first thing I noticed was how awesomely perky the engine felt instantly, compared to the Ninja which woke up at 4k rpm. The CB engine most importantly sounded awesome too, with a deep bassy growl, again something I had missed in the ninja at low revs. The bike as promised felt light and lithe, however I somehow didn't like the very wide handlebars, which made my arms feel as if they were pulled in diff directions. Hopefully I'll get used to it, or will find a after-market handlebar more to my liking. The Ninja in comparison had felt very heavy and cumbersome to ride in the city, and I guess will feel nice only on open roads.

The major issue I had with the bike was the totally unacceptable dash, feels totally out of place on a 3 lac bike. I wanted to tear it off and throw it away while I was riding! I couldn't read anything on it either while riding. My 2010 R15 had a much nicer dash.

I didn't get too long a ride, or even get to stretch its engine much, so don't know how it'll feel above 100kph, but the overall Honda experience sold it to me, even though I wasn't totally blown away by the first ride, and I hope to book one in the next couple of months. Perfect city bike, with enough power for the odd highway rides, very nice styling, with the promise of the Honda ownership experience.

[bf1983]

Took a test ride of the CB300R. First off the showroom staff at the Nerul Big Wing in Navi Mumbai were very nice. I had told them upfront that I am not a customer and I wanted to just test ride the bike anyways. They happily answered my queries and told me to go wherever I wanted. While I didn't do a long test ride since I did not wish to take undue advantage when I am not benefitting them in any way I did take it on an open road where I could really stretch the bikes legs as well as in city traffic.

After a satisfying test ride I noticed a few prominent pros and cons

Pros -

- Very tractable motor. After riding the KTM Duke 390 for some time I found the CB300R to pull pretty easily and you don't need to work the gears to extract power from the engine. The Duke 390 engine was notorious for protesting if you tried to accelerate in the wrong gear which always drove me nuts.

- Excellent handling. With a very light kerb weight the bike was immensely flickable and I found it so easy to filter through traffic and dodge potholes. Very easy to make quick direction changes.

- Out on the highway you can open up the throttle and the engine wakes up and sounds very eager to reach triple digit speeds. The silencer gives a nice throaty growl when pushing the bike and I found the bike very engaging to ride. I test rode the Hness and that bike felt a bit boring in comparison. However for mile munching the Hness far outshines the CB300R as you can effortlessly cruise on the Hness at 80-90 kph all day without the engine being stressed while the CB300R seems to egg you to go a bit faster when riding at 80-90 kph.

- The clutch was delightfully light to work with. Riding the bike in the city is an absolute breeze. You can easily filter through traffic as the bike is small, light and agile. Only negative was the rather wide handlebar that could come in the way of moving between vehicles. However with my height of 6 ft it was pretty comfortable to ride. I would assume shorter riders will face a slight issue.

- Excellent brakes. I am used to the heavy engine braking of my current Z650 so when I dropped and gear and realized rather alarmingly that the bike was barely slowing down I had to grab the front brake and the bike stopped without any fuss.

- The seat was pretty comfy. It was firm but I felt for short rides its perfectly useable. The low seat height was nice and even my tall frame never felt cramped and I could grip the tank with my legs pretty easily. The sitting posture is very upright and I found the bike very comfortable to ride. Far more comfortable than my Z650. In fact the moment I sat on my Z650 after the ride I reached for the handlebars and realized I needed to lean further in order to reach them.

However there were a few negatives.

Cons

- The bike looks tiny. Now for most people that's a plus point but it just doesn't feel like a 3.3l bike. The Ninja 300 is a heavily outdated bike but at least its got a ton of road presence. This just looks tiny.

- The dash is simply an eyesore. Worse its placed so low down that I have to actually lower my head to read it. It looks fine for a 1 lakh bike but completely out of place when bikes like the TVS Apache and Duke 390 in its segment have such feature filled and attractive dashes.

- Unless the pillion is slim I can't imagine anyone else will be happy to sit behind on this bike !

- The mirrors were downright horrible. They have a weird distortion effect around the edges which is downright disturbing. Thankfully changing mirrors is not an expensive or difficult proposition.

- I have never used the horn more than I have on this bike as the horn is placed where the turn signals are usually placed and other drivers must be confused as to why I was honking at them :P Anyone should get used to that I suppose but I just hated the placement of the turn indicators as I use them so often and the huge horn button gets in the way.

Not sure if the tyre pressure was maintained but I took a sharp turn and the tyres protested and threatened to slip. Didn't have much confidence while cornering. But as I said not sure if the tyres were not filled properly.

All in all the Honda CB300R is a very competent bike and one of my friend has already booked one and should get delivery soon. He was also very happy with the experience at the dealer.

Got this quote from the dealer -

Ex showroom - 277000
Insurance - 14316
RTO - 33147
Hypothecation - 500
RSA - 1499
Extended warranty - 4698

Total 331160

[saikishor]

Went to the Bigwing Banjara Hills showroom to check out the CB300R. Salesguy didnt really seem to be interested in briefing about the bike, maybe because we(me and my buddy had gone to look at the bike) looked too young for him to deal with. Me and my buddy had lunch and thought why not have a look at the bike since the showroom was nearby from the place we had lunch at. I was wearing a shirt, jeans and chappal, I assume it was because of this the salesguy had no interest in dealing with us. Nevermind.

Coming to the bike, I had huge hopes but I was kinda disappointed after I saw the bike in person. I loved the matt black and hated the red in pictures, but when I saw the bike in person it was the opposite. When I hopped on the bike, it gave me those premium commuter vibes for some reason. The footpegs hit your ankles/legs when you try to reverse( those who have ridden Interceptor will understand this). This characteristic was also there to some extent on the Dominar.

I feel quality is not the best on this one. I had seen a H'ness and had ridden a CB350RS previously, and the quality on those bikes was something else. The CB300R did'nt exactly have this quality.

Quality on the BMW G310R and the Apache RR310 is in a different league altogether.
By quality, I mean the build and overall fit and finish of the motorcycle.

MRF zappers on a bike that costs 3.3 lacs.

The rear tyre looked skinny. Duke 390's rear tyre looks really wide in comparision.

There was this rubber near the clutch lever. It was a protective sort of a rubber on top of the screw that holds the clutch lever. This rubber felt like it was lifted from a hero splendor.

Saree guard looks ugly. I assume it is a straight lift from the Hornet 2.0

Though I wasn't in a mood for a testride( I didn't get my helmet and was wearing chappal), casually asked the salesguy for a testride to which he refused, saying as this is a new bike it went to some demo. God knows what demo that is. Asked if he had a brochure, he replied no sir every thing is online and it can be viewed online. Thanked him, he replied with a big fake smile. Left with a little bit of disappointment.

I dont think I will visit a bigwing showroom again. I lost all interest.

Also, clutch is light, but not H'ness one finger light.


Saikishor

[proton]

Family member upgraded from Unicorn. His verdict: front inclined, sporty stance. Almost same weight and seat height. He could still flatfoot, but slightly not so easily. Not fussy in heavy traffic like Duke 390, but is most comfortable on freeway. Engine sound will make you fall in love with it. Everyone in the family took turns. We concur with his brief impressions.

Sales guy says 5 per month against H'ness 50, possibly because the old guys have the money! This figure will soon change, when people discover the fun factor, I think.