Wider rear tyre for 2017 Kawasaki Ninja 300

Kawasaki has unveiled the 2017 Ninja 300 and like every year, no mechanical changes have been made. The Ninja 300 was first introduced in 2012 and Kawasaki continues playing with the colour palette. The KRT edition has been introduced which gets new graphics and standard ABS.

The regular model sees no changes and is available in the same red and white colour options. A new Winter Test Edition has been introduced on the 2017 Kawasaki Ninja 300 which gets a wider 150 mm rear tyre against the standard model’s 140 mm. Offered in Kawasaki’s WSBK team’s winter testing racing livery, the Ninja 300 Winter Test Edition gets a matte black paint scheme with a taller windshield visor and a rear seat cowl.

Powering the Kawasaki Ninja 300 is a 296cc, parallel-twin, liquid-cooled, DOHC engine that pumps out 39 PS of power and 27 Nm of torque, matched to a 6-speed gearbox with slipper clutch (the first bike in the segment with this feature which is now available even on the Bajaj Dominar 400).

While ABS is offered as an option in certain markets, India still doesn’t get it. The Ninja 300 is priced exorbitantly in India, in spite of being assembled locally. It competes with the Yamaha R3 and KTM RC 390 while globally, it also rubs shoulders with Honda’s CBR300R and CBR500R motorcycles.