When I was studying in my 10th grade, there was a green color bike standing next to my tuition center, it looked absolutely gorgeous, I went close to see its name, it said Kawasaki Ninja 250, I didn't have great knowledge about bikes then, but then took up interests to learn a lot about them. Since then I fell in love with that motorcycle just for the way it looked. Slowly I started learning how to ride a motorcycle, well yeah I did fall down once. My older brother had joined his college then and he got the bike he had wished for the Honda CBR-250R, well I had to wait like him because my dad promised me he will get me the Ninja when I join college, but then the Ninja 250 was stopped and the 300 was launched, the 300 made me fall in love more with it.
Finally the day came when dad agreed to get me the motorcycle, so finally, the bike was booked at a dealership in Chennai, man I couldn't wait for it to come, the wait got closer and closer day by day. One day finally the bike arrived, man the Ninja 300 looked fabulous and things got better when the engine was cranked and I started riding the motorcycle. The first day I just rode it back home, because it was brand new and I didn't want to ride it much, as the days went by, the rides started getting better.
What I love about it:
The engine refinement, that's the one word that can define this motorcycle, the engine feels buttery smooth. I do take it for a lot of long rides, I hardly feel any strain on the engine, cruising at 120kmph is the sweet spot for this machine. The seating position is very very comfortable on this machine, I can hardly feel any body ache on long rides or even city rides. The maintenance to is low for my motorcycle, I must mention that.I have hardly replaced anything, almost every time it's just the general service that is done. The exhaust note feels awesome whenever I take the motorcycle out for a spin. The build quality of the motorcycle is really good. But the plastics used in some places are really flimsy. The motorcycle looks like a snake waiting to hunt it's pray, burst open the throttle and man you can feel awesome power delivery from the two cylinder engine.
I love the way the indicators are integrated to the side fairing, it's a good move by Kawasaki. Kawasaki has made sure that they use premium components in the motorcycles internal components. The wind blast protection is really good on the motorcycle. There is hardly any heating even when I ride it inside the city traffic. I have clocked about 17,000 km in under 2 years and man I must say, the days passed by so fast. I haven't modified the bike, nothing has been changed, everything is stock, the only additional feature I got is the ceramic coating, to protect the paint.
Things I don't like:
Lack of ABS- this is actually a major issue, but still, I preferred to buy it because I loved the motorcycle for what it is. The brakes are very poor and tend to skid pretty often. The front brakes are pretty good, but the rear ones lock up so easily. After I got the stock set of tires replaced, the road grip feels a lot better. I still wonder why Kawasaki went with the box type swing, whereas the rivals get a cast alloy swing arm. It's the same case with the front suspension too, the get the conventional telescopic model. The spares are a bit really expensive when compared to its rivals. I once dropped the motorcycle down, had a few damages on the left fairing, the gear lever was bent and the rear section also had damages. I was charged about Rs 18,000 to get everything replaced and it took a lot of time for me to get the motorcycle back from the service center. The fuel economy too is a bit poor, I get an average of about 23kmpl and about 20kmpl under aggressive riding conditions.
At the end of the day, ignoring all the cons, the Ninja is still my love no matter how many other motorcycles I ride or come across.
By: Nikkins
