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New Models
BIKES: 2013 Kawasaki Ninja 300 First Ride
Kawasaki responds to its entry-level sportbike challenge from Honda and Motorcycle USA takes the new Ninja 300 for a first ride evaluation.
The Ninja 300 retains the quick-handling chops of its predecessor, but feels less buzzy and more stable. (Photo: MotorcycleUSA.com)
Bouncing off its 13K redline, my little green sportbike screams down the road. Bang up and down the gears, toss and turn through the corners, keep it pinned while giving chase to the rider ahead... Fun stuff to be sure, and a familiar experience. Four and a half years ago I tested a then brand spankin’ new and fully redesigned 2008 Ninja 250R, our riding group of jaded motojournalists having an absolute blast on the entry-level mount. This time around I’m flogging the 250’s replacement, the Ninja 300, and the ride is smoother, engine stronger and my stupid grin just as wide.
A lot has happened in those years since the 2008 250R broke cover. For starters (and brace yourself in case you haven’t heard), the economy has, uh, struggled. The motorcycle market has bottomed out too, now a little over a third of its annual sales before the crash. The other big development since 2008, at least as far as the Ninja 250 was concerned, was Honda finally deigned to aim its R&D effort at the entry-level sportbike market here in the US – developing the 2011 CBR250R. No longer the only game in town for the small-displacement sportbike market, Team Green answers the CBR challenge with its Ninja 300.
Kawasaki counters its rival with a simple solution – make the little Ninja a little bigger. A 47cc displacement boost and its corresponding performance gains merit name-changing prominence, but the Ninja 300 features several important updates. Fuel injection, slipper clutch and optional ABS all make their way onto the new bike, and a revised chassis complements the bigger engine. The Ninja also gets a styling makeover, further blurring the line between the underclassman and its bigger siblings. Not all news is good, however, as the 300 sports a much-higher MSRP, but more on that later…
There’s no replacement for displacement, as a gearhead mantra goes, and Kawasaki has never been shy about trumping its rivals with a couple extra cc. The most blatant example was the 636cc ZX-6 supersport (which returns fully redesigned as a 2013 model), but there’s also the 1043cc Z1000/Ninja 1000, as well as the ZX-14, which holds a 101cc advantage over its hypersport rival, the Suzuki Hayabusa. Now Kawasaki takes the extra cc tack in the entry-level market. And as counter-intuitive as an entry-level displacement war sounds, that’s what’s happening.
Tiered licensing laws, which impose displacement restrictions based off rider age and experience, ensure the 250R remains in the Kawasaki arsenal for key global markets. But unhindered by such restrictions in the US, the Ninja 300 replaces the long-serving 250R. (The Ninja 400 that made a lot of noise after being revealed in EPA documentation, is itself a result of tiered licensing, a smaller version of the Ninja 650 sold in Canada).
Instead of starting from scratch, engineers stroked out the existing 250 engine to create the Ninja 300 Parallel Twin. Stretching the cylinder from 41.2mm to 49mm accounts for the new 296cc displacement, but altering that internal dimension mandated a cascade of changes, and Kawasaki claims about 45% of the new engine’s parts are redesigned. The larger stroke demanded a revised intake, so ports widen by 1mm, with intake valve diameter increased to match (23.5mm from 22.5mm). New connecting rods are shorter, but retain their weight by being thicker. The internal architecture changes impose slight modifications to the crankshaft and engine balancer as well.
New aluminum cylinders shed weight, as do more compact pistons. The latter are 7.5mm shorter, with the piston rings 5mm shorter as well. The lighter piston design reduces mass, allowing the Ninja to keep its high-revving character and 13,000 rpm redline. The lightweight components and increased displacement improve torque production throughout the powerband. Low and mid-range power gets help from a redesigned exhaust too, featuring longer, curved header pipes.
For the rest of this artcle including specs and more photos visit MotorcycleUSA.com
A lot has happened in those years since the 2008 250R broke cover. For starters (and brace yourself in case you haven’t heard), the economy has, uh, struggled. The motorcycle market has bottomed out too, now a little over a third of its annual sales before the crash. The other big development since 2008, at least as far as the Ninja 250 was concerned, was Honda finally deigned to aim its R&D effort at the entry-level sportbike market here in the US – developing the 2011 CBR250R. No longer the only game in town for the small-displacement sportbike market, Team Green answers the CBR challenge with its Ninja 300.
Kawasaki counters its rival with a simple solution – make the little Ninja a little bigger. A 47cc displacement boost and its corresponding performance gains merit name-changing prominence, but the Ninja 300 features several important updates. Fuel injection, slipper clutch and optional ABS all make their way onto the new bike, and a revised chassis complements the bigger engine. The Ninja also gets a styling makeover, further blurring the line between the underclassman and its bigger siblings. Not all news is good, however, as the 300 sports a much-higher MSRP, but more on that later…
There’s no replacement for displacement, as a gearhead mantra goes, and Kawasaki has never been shy about trumping its rivals with a couple extra cc. The most blatant example was the 636cc ZX-6 supersport (which returns fully redesigned as a 2013 model), but there’s also the 1043cc Z1000/Ninja 1000, as well as the ZX-14, which holds a 101cc advantage over its hypersport rival, the Suzuki Hayabusa. Now Kawasaki takes the extra cc tack in the entry-level market. And as counter-intuitive as an entry-level displacement war sounds, that’s what’s happening.
Tiered licensing laws, which impose displacement restrictions based off rider age and experience, ensure the 250R remains in the Kawasaki arsenal for key global markets. But unhindered by such restrictions in the US, the Ninja 300 replaces the long-serving 250R. (The Ninja 400 that made a lot of noise after being revealed in EPA documentation, is itself a result of tiered licensing, a smaller version of the Ninja 650 sold in Canada).
Instead of starting from scratch, engineers stroked out the existing 250 engine to create the Ninja 300 Parallel Twin. Stretching the cylinder from 41.2mm to 49mm accounts for the new 296cc displacement, but altering that internal dimension mandated a cascade of changes, and Kawasaki claims about 45% of the new engine’s parts are redesigned. The larger stroke demanded a revised intake, so ports widen by 1mm, with intake valve diameter increased to match (23.5mm from 22.5mm). New connecting rods are shorter, but retain their weight by being thicker. The internal architecture changes impose slight modifications to the crankshaft and engine balancer as well.
New aluminum cylinders shed weight, as do more compact pistons. The latter are 7.5mm shorter, with the piston rings 5mm shorter as well. The lighter piston design reduces mass, allowing the Ninja to keep its high-revving character and 13,000 rpm redline. The lightweight components and increased displacement improve torque production throughout the powerband. Low and mid-range power gets help from a redesigned exhaust too, featuring longer, curved header pipes.
For the rest of this artcle including specs and more photos visit MotorcycleUSA.com
2013 Kawasaki ZX-6
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