The 2014 Honda CBR300R was unveiled at the 2013 China International Motorcycle Trade in October, last year. It was speculated that the CBR300R was going to be unveiled at the Delhi Auto Expo, but the bike never made it to our shores. Now, reports suggest that Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India, the Indian subsidiary of the Japanese manufacturer, will launch the bike in India by November.
Honda had announced a few months ago that the production of the CBR300R had been pushed ahead due to some technical problems, but now it seems like the motorcycle is ready. A report from MotorBeam says that Honda has started testing the bike for Indian road conditions. Unlike its rival, the Kawasaki Ninja 300, the CBR300R will be locally manufactured and hence, Honda needs to work out details like sourcing of parts for the motorcycle among others.
The biggest change in the CBR300R is the new bigger capacity engine. The bike is powered by a tweaked version of the old fuel injected single-cylinder engine, which now displaces 286cc. The increase in displacement has upgraded the power to 30bhp and 27Nm of torque, though surprisingly, Honda has managed to shave 7kgs off the bike. This means the CBR300R will have a better power-to-weight ratio which will translate into better performance.
Besides the engine, the design of the bike has also been given a major overhaul. With the new cowl and split headlamps, the CBR300R has been styled along the lines of the bigger CBR1000R Fireblade. The instrument cluster and handle have been retained from the previous bike.
Being powered by a single-cylinder engine, the Honda CBR250R has always been less powerful than the Ninja 250 and the Ninja 300, which meant that it was a good bike for a beginner. The CBR250R is a lot cheaper than the Ninja because of the local assembly and lower R&D costs. For the CBR300R, we expect a hike in the price but still, it will be a lot cheaper than the Ninja 300 and the Hyosung GT250R.
