Honda CBR250R v Kawasaki Ninja 300

Name: Honda CBR250R v Kawasaki Ninja 300
Brand: Kawasaki

It was just a matter of time – a major update to the venerable entry-level Ninja. But has it got the goods to knock the CBR250R off its perch?

Settle in for a battle royal. While this skirmish won’t have the same testosterone level as ZX-14R versus Hayabusa, or the go-anywhere bragging rights of R 1200 GS versus Explorer, there is one lofty status at stake between the Honda CBR250R and all-new Kawasaki Ninja 300 – the prestige of being the nation’s biggest selling motorcycle. Now, that’s a big picture contest.

The previous version of the Ninja, the 250R (itself a freshened up ZZ-R250), dominated the local scene since its introduction in 2008, but that all came undone when the Thai-built CBR250R was released in the first quarter of 2011.

The Honda was an instant hit and rocketed straight to the top of the charts, but the dated Ninja 250R still dug in its heels as the small-bore entry-level sports market continued on an expansionary path – remarkable considering that the class was something of a wasteland about six or seven years ago. Hyosung’s sporty GT250R kickstarted a groundswell of re-connection with a lost land, and inevitably the opposition joined the party, with Kawasaki and Honda the most active of the Japanese manufacturers, joined by the likes of Megelli and Daelim.

HUGE MAKEOVER

And now we reset the bar again, thanks to Kawasaki. With the realisation that its Ninja 250R was just too long in the tooth – it was still fed by carbies and the analogue instrumentation had well and truly run its course, to cite two clear examples – Kawasaki knew that it had to make a quantum technological leap just to draw level pegging with the CBR250R (the winner of our 250cc comparo in 2011), let alone overtake its rival as the preferred entry-level sports bike of choice.

The Ninja 300 is the end result, a vast overhaul which is as much about mechanical smarts as aesthetics: in one fell swoop it has become the best looking bike in class with features like aggressive ‘large volume’ bodywork, new multi-reflector dual headlights and 10-spoke, ZX-14R-like wheels. And it still falls under the Learner Approved Motorcycle Scheme.

The Ninja 300’s 296cc fuel-injected engine has a 7.8mm longer stroke compared to the Ninja 250R. Kawasaki claims 39hp (29Kw) at 11,000rpm and 27Nm at 10,000rpm from the parallel twin, which also has wider intake ports; bigger intake valves (up by 0.5mm); lighter pistons; a new cylinder head; new crankcases with a larger oil pan; shorter conrods and a sleeveless, aluminium diecast cylinder – straight from the ZX-6R and ZX-10R handbook.

The Ninja 300R also has dual throttle valves like its big brothers, and the clutch has two types of cams: one to assist in a lighter clutch pull, and the other to act as a back-torque limiter ie a slipper clutch.

COUNTRY CHARMS

The Ninja 300 is now on sale for $6199 – only weeks after it was officially unveiled by Kawasaki -- with only the non-ABS version available at the moment. The ABS model will retail for $6699 when it goes on sale in a few months. In comparison, the CBR250R retails for $5490 in standard trim, rising to $5990 for the ABS jobbie.

For our comparo, we procured non-ABS version of both the Ninja 300 and CBR250R, ahead of a route that took in urban fringes followed by a jaunt through the countryside.

Conditions were ordinary for the start of the ride, with rain and gusty winds prevailing. On wet roads, recalcitrant bikes quickly make their presence felt – but we didn’t have to worry. On the contrary, both are entirely predictable in that you know how they’ll brake, handle and accelerate so the only nasty surprises come from those variables you can’t control – and I’ve seen plenty of felled trees across roads in recent weeks!

But it didn’t take long to realise the Ninja 300 makes full use of its capacity advantage – the power delivery is smoother and more responsive than the CBR250R’s, and that was confirmed by roll-on tests across a number of different speeds and gears. And the Ninja 300 has about 3000rpm extra to play with at the top end, so it continues to hold the ascendancy when the throttles are pinned.

To make use of the Ninja 300’s broader power delivery, Kawasaki has made sixth gear taller, with 100km/h in top equating to about 7000rpm --- 850rpm less than the Ninja 250R. The CBR250R sits on about 6000rpm in top at the same speed, which is the zone where the little single really begins to gather a full head of steam. Kawasaki has also shortened first gear on the Ninja 300, but not to the extent that the bike becomes edgy during slow-speed city crawling.

While the Kawasaki's engine definitely has the upperhand, the Honda is no slouch, producing 26.4hp (18.7kW) at 8500rpm, and peak torque of 22.9Nm at 7000rpm. My riding colleague, who is new to this genre, was instantly taken by the CBR's easy-to-ride persona and preferred it over the Kawasaki. For an entry-level bike you can't ask for much more than that.

Vibration isn’t an issue, and Kawasaki’s confidence is obvious: there’s Supersport-style aluminium footpegs, while Honda, also dealing with an engine configuration which is also prone to the odd tremble, has rubber footpegs on the CBR250R.

The Ninja 300 has the pick of the gearboxes, but both were mightily impressive considering their low mileage figures when we rode them – especially the Honda, which was basically brand new. I prefer the clutch on the CBR250R. It just has a more natural feel, compared to the slightly ‘digital’ actuation of the Ninja 300’s. But both are incredibly light and well up to the start-stop nature of city riding, so no problems there. There’s no adjustment for clutch (or brake) span on either bike, but the levers are mounted that close to the handlebars it’s not really a concern.

We rode the two bikes without fuel consumption being a primary consideration, but they still recorded some extremely healthy figures – 4.46lt/100km for the Honda, and 4.68km/lt for the Kawasaki. Both are economy kings! The CBR’s tank is only small at 13 litres, but a working range of around 300km begs forgiveness. The Ninja’s fuel capacity is an extremely healthy 17 litres.

LIGHT AND NIMBLE

A few long spells in the saddle revealed that Kawasaki’s flatter screen directs a lot more buffeting onto the chest and shoulders than the Honda, but its ‘big-bike’ fairing directs a lot of air flow away from the legs – something that the slimmer CBR250R cannot achieve.

There’s plenty of room in the cockpit on both bikes, but the Bikesales Network tape measure revealed that the CBR250R is in fact roomier. The distance between the footpegs and seat on the CBR250R is 500mm, compared to 470mm for the Ninja 300. And there’s also less distance between the seat and pegs on the Honda than Kawasaki, confirming the Ninja 300’s racier outlook.

But it’s only a slight forward lean with minimal pressure on the wrists, and the Kawasaki, like the Honda, accommodates a wide variety of shapes and sizes. And that includes the seats, which are expansive on both accounts.

They are both great steerers, and you just can’t underestimate just how wonderfully dexterous they are – winding, open roads really aren’t a chore at all on the 161kg (Honda) and 172kg (Kawasaki) machines, matched to short wheelbases. No wonder they are so nimble, which I first discovered a long time ago when I rode the CBR250R around a race track at the world launch in Thailand!

In fact, even allowing for the fact that the chassis and suspension packages are quite basic, it was through some twisty roads north of Melbourne that I really forged a closer relationship with both bikes – especially the Kawasaki with its stronger engine. You just can’t help but become engaged in what’s happening. But just don’t try and look behind you on the Kawasaki to see what’s happening, as the mirrors are pretty ordinary compared to the CBR’s.

Kawasaki has now fitted a 140-section rear tyre on the Ninja 300, the same size as the CBR250’s, while both have the same suspension set-ups: 37mm fork and monoshock rear, the latter with five-way preload adjustment. The only real difference is the longer travel on the Honda.

Considering the budget hardware, the fork on the Honda is a beauty. It really does a brilliant job of ironing out most road wrinkles, while the suspension on the Kawasaki is definitely harder -- but not to the point where high-compression hits become a pain – literally – in the backside.

The brakes on both bikes don’t really feel underdone, nor are they terror-inducing, monobloc-like in any way. So, perfect for entry-level riders really, and there’s always the option of ABS, which comes at a $500 premium for both marques – while only adding a couple of kilograms to overall weight.

CRACKERJACKS

There’s no doubt the snappy bodywork on the Kawasaki is a winner – it’s angular and sharp, and the fitment is first-class. Nice touches abound, like the built-in front turn signals and the fin design on the fairing – not to mention plenty of other snappy styling cues. Even the plastic infills between the tank and fairing aren’t a shoddy-looking after thought, which is a blight on so many sports bikes.

Finally, the Ninja has 300 has reached the modern age, with the instrumentation packing a contemporary punch with the digital speedo, clock, fuel gauge, trip meters, odometer and Economical Riding Indicator, which appears on the left-hand side of the digital inset to “indicate favourable fuel consumption”. It’s a scrawny little icon too… The tachometer remains analogue, but is now much smarter.

The CBR250R has the same style instrumentation, although its unit is much smaller – but seemingly not at the expense of visibility, especially at night. Both units are well enough backlit to make sure that doesn’t happen.

The Ninja 300 and CBR250R are both crackerjack little motorcycles, and Kawasaki’s rejuvenation of an ageing bike is a job extremely well done.

There really isn’t much to separate the two across a number of key metrics, and both are so refined that the pros and cons of both tend to cancel out each other. But it’s hard not to be swayed by the Kawasaki’s beauty and performance, or Honda’s ball-tearing price and superb value for money.

Personally, I’d opt for the Ninja 300 because of its sporting prowess, but that’s based on more of an emotional connection. But I can see plenty of prospective buyers sticking with the world’s largest manufacturer, as the CBR250R remains a gem of a motorcycle and more than a match for its Japanese counterpart.