Keeway India recently launched its first supersport offering, the K300R. It goes against the Kawasaki Ninja 300, KTM RC 390, TVS Apache RR 310, and more. We tested it briefly and here’s our review of the K300R through these detailed images.
Starting with the looks, the Keeway K300R gets quite sharp and distinctive styling. It features a split LED headlight with LED DRLs, The fascia of this bike is reminiscent of the Honda CBR65R.
Moreover, the headlight setup provides ample illumination upfront with impressive depth, spread, and reach. The overall styling is quite youthful and the muscular side panels give the K300R a big bike look. This bike has a consistent paint finish, weld quality, and panel gaps.
Keeway has powered the K300R with a 292.4cc single-cylinder liquid-cooled motor. It dishes out 27.5bhp and 25Nm and comes with a six-speed gearbox. The engine is quite refined and has healthy torque in the mid-range.
The bike accelerates linearly up to 10,000 rpm and shows the bare minimum signs of struggle. However, post the 7,000-8,000 rpm mark, the torque flattens. Highway riding for the Keeway K300R can be done comfortably at speeds of 80-105kmph in sixth gear.
The throttle operates fairly smoothly and the gearbox too is quite responsive. Overall, the engine is decently tractable and can communicate well even when the bike is ridden in a gear higher with the revs between 3,000-4,000rpm.
Given its nature, the Keeway K300R looks and feels quite compact. It even gets a low seat height of 780mm and easily lets you flat foot. That said, the rider footpegs are a little too rear-set and could feel cramped over long hours. But the seat is long enough, allowing the rider to slide back and get comfortable. The handlebar is also reachable and so are the brake and clutch levers. That said, the clutch is light enough to be operated with just two fingers.
The K300R tips the scale at 165kg and is not lightweight. However, moving it around isn’t a task, be it a parking spot or filtering through tight traffic. Even when ridden in corners, the Keeway supersport feels quite stable and holds the line.
It rides on USD front forks and a monoshock. Both the front and rear springs feel plush and absorb bad patches, undulations, and bridge joints without sending jolts to your back. Meanwhile, the 292mm front disc brake setup needs more bite and even the ABS is a little too intrusive.
On the feature front, the Keeway K300R gets LED illumination, an LCD, and ABS. The instrumentation is quite basic and packs the speedometer, odometer, tachometer, gear position indicator, engine temperature readout, fuel level gauge, and more. That said, the K300R’s rivals that cost less get TFT and smartphone connectivity as well.
With an asking price of Rs 3,10,000 (ex-showroom Delhi), does the Keeway K300R make for a worthy purchase? Read our first ride review to get your answer.
