Honda CB300R Spotted In India Ahead Of Its Launch On 08 February 2019

The Honda CB300R will be launched in the Indian market on 08 February, 2019 and this is exciting news for us. The 300cc motorcycle in India is one of the fastest growing segments, with people from all walks of life hopping onto the low capacity performance motorcycle bandwagon.

There are several manufacturers selling in this segment including Honda's archrivals Yamaha and Kawasaki. Yamaha and Kawasaki have both been selling the R3 and the Ninja 300 for a long time now and recently Kawasaki upped the game with the launch of the Ninja 400.

Honda however stayed away from the competition and stuck to the age-old Honda CBR 250R. Now though, Honda is all set to launch a worthy contender in the 300cc segment. The Honda CB300R has been spotted in India, with Indian registration number plates.

The motorcycles were spotted while shooting for its video advertisement. Till now, it was unclear as to what spec the Indian market would receive. The motorcycles that were shooting for the advertisement give us a good look at what we would get.

Firstly, we can heave sigh of relief because Honda is bringing in most of the premium cycle parts into the Indian market as well. We see that the motorcycles sport the upside-down forks up front which would make it the first among the Japanese motorcycles in the segment to have it.

Up front is a retro-looking circular LED headlamp with separate high and low beams. Attention is grabbed by the chunky and muscular styling on the fuel tank. At the rear end is a simple LED tail-lamp and indicator setup. An LCD screen takes care of instrumentation duties.

International markets get petal disc brakes, and it remains to be seen if India would get them as the spy shots do not reveal the disc brakes. The Honda CB300R is powered by a liquid-cooled, 286cc, single-cylinder engine with a maximum power output of 31.4bhp and a peak torque output of 27.5Nm. A 6-speed gearbox drives the rear wheels.

At 143kg, the Honda CB300R is the lightest motorcycles in the segment, and that only means one thing - performance is brisk. The biggest visible difference between the International and Indian models are the tyres. The one in India will ride on Michelin Pilot Sporty tyres instead of the Dunlops used abroad.

The Honda CB300R will directly compete with the BMW G310R, KTM 390 Duke and Kawasaki Z250. It will indirectly compete with the Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 as it falls in almost the same price bracket.

Thoughts On Honda CB300R Spotted In India Ahead Of Launch

Honda in India has for a while now concentrated on two ends of the motorcycle segment. On one end, they had the tiny little reliable and efficient commuter motorcycles and scooters and on the other end had the mighty litre-class motorcycles like the CBR 1000RR and even biggies like the Honda Goldwing.

However, Honda was falling pretty quickly in the 250cc segment with the aging CBR 250R. Because of this, enthusiasts had to look elsewhere. The Honda CB300R would definitely change this for Honda.

Source: Rushlane