After the CBR250R, Honda didn바카라™t have anything in the budget performance segment, up until now. To be honest, us enthusiasts were almost losing hope in the brand, but just in time, Honda gave us one shocker of a news: the imminent arrival of the CB300R in India! Now, this segment is already populated with two really capable motorcycles, the manic KTM 390 Duke and the mellow, yet capable BMW G 310 R. Obviously, we바카라™re all keen to know how Honda바카라™s 300cc naked contender performs against these two bikes on paper, and here바카라™s how it stacks up.
Design & Features:
The Honda CB300R바카라™s design is a fresh departure from the Austrian hooligan and the baby Beemer. With the Neo Sports Cafe theme, the Japanese brand has elegantly exploited the whole retro-modern design philosophy. The CB1000R first received this makeover, followed by smaller bikes, including this one. You get a round headlamp complementing the muscular fuel tank, rounded off by a single-piece seat sitting on a short tail section. The overall dimensions of the bike are quite compact, and there are a lot of modern elements like full-LED lighting, liquid-cooled engine, fully digital multifunction instrument cluster and the likes.
The KTM 390 Duke, on the other hand, incorporates styling cues from its larger sibling, the 1290 Super Duke R. Compared to the Honda, the KTM바카라™s design is quite aggressive and has lots of angular elements. The exposed trellis frame painted in orange further brings out the sporty demeanour of the motorcycle. It also gets a TFT screen that바카라™s smart enough to let you pair your phone for calls and music!
The BMW G 310 R has the most sober styling of the lot. Even though it바카라™s an entry-level BMW, the German marque hasn바카라™t cheaped out on quality. You get very premium-looking gold-finished forks, a chiselled fuel tank, fully digital instrument cluster and a single-piece seat. However, this bike misses out on full-LED lighting and makes do with a halogen headlamp and bulb type indicators. The tail lamp is LED, though. The bike바카라™s design will appeal to a more mature audience, and so will its price tag of Rs 2.99 lakh (ex-showroom). But we바카라™ll come to that later.
Powertrain:
Going by sheer numbers, the KTM is clearly the winner here, thanks to the much bigger engine and performance-biased tuning. Interestingly, despite having the smallest motor among the three, the CB300R바카라™s output figures aren바카라™t that far behind the G 310 R바카라™s. Like the international-spec bike, expect the India-spec model to get a hydraulic clutch, which is intended to make the clutch action lighter and more newbie-friendly. The KTM, on the other hand, features a slipper clutch which facilitates aggressive downshifting without locking up the rear wheel, but this feature isn바카라™t present on either the BMW or the Honda.
Younger riders will definitely appreciate the relatively frantic nature of the 390 Duke바카라™s engine. The Beemer바카라™s motor is slightly laidback compared to the Duke, but is livelier than its twin from TVS, the Apache RR 310. So, you get a good mid-range, re throttle response and enough grunt to propel you to triple-digit speeds quickly. However, the vibey character of the engine plays spoilsport, and the bike feels most refined doing about 90kmph on the highway. We바카라™re yet to ride the CB300R, but we바카라™re pretty sure it would carry the trademark Honda refinement. Also, going by the highway-friendly character of the CBR250R바카라™s engine, we believe the CB300R will take it up a notch, at least on paper.
Underpinnings:
All the three motorcycles feature premium inverted forks and a preload-adjustable monoshock. The G 310 R offers a brilliant balance of good ride quality over bad roads and confidence-inspiring composure on highways as well. The damping characteristics of KTM바카라™s suspension is good enough to be comparable to more sophisticated setups in big bikes. They are communicative and egg you to corner more, just like the Beemer. We바카라™ll get a better idea about CB300R바카라™s suspension once we do a proper review.
When it comes to brakes, the Honda바카라™s disc size might be small, but its ABS unit is the most sophisticated, working in conjunction with an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU). The IMU takes into consideration factors like roll, pitch and yaw of the motorcycle and distributes the ABS action precisely between the front and rear. The KTM and BMW, on the other hand, come with traditional dual-channel ABS.
Dimensions & others:
The CB300R has the shortest wheelbase and is also the lightest. This should result in commendable low-speed dynamics and city rideability. Its lighter weight should also result in better acceleration figures.
In our tests, the KTM 390 Duke returned 25.7kmpl in the city and 28.5kmpl on highways, which is pretty reasonable for a performance bike of its category. The Beemer, on the other hand, is surprisingly efficient with 31.86kmpl on the highways and 37kmpl in the city! The Honda returns 30.2kmpl as per WMTC (World Motorcycle Test Cycle).
Verdict:
Even though the CB300R is entering our shores via CKD route, Honda has confirmed that the bike will cost less than Rs 2.5 lakh (ex-showroom)! Considering the number of features this motorcycle offers, it should prove to be a value-for-money motorcycle, that offers enough performance to keep most riders, and even quite a few enthusiasts happy. The G 310 R is quite premium and having just the brand value alone doesn바카라™t exactly justify its 2.99 lakh-rupee price tag. Though the 390 Duke is slightly more expensive than the CB300R, it offers staggering value for money, with the highest performance your moolah can buy in this segment.
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