Your weekly dose of bike updates: Honda CB300R, Bajaj Pulsar 180F, New Triumph Daytona

While Honda hosted a big launch last week and ventured into a new segment, other companies like Bajaj also moved ahead with interesting products. In that case, here’s a quick round up of important bike stories from last week. 

Honda CB300R launch

Honda launched the CB300R in India at Rs 2.41 lakhs (ex-showroom). Brought to India via the completely knocked down (CKD) route, it sports the company’s Neo Sports Cafe design language incorporating LED lights, LCD instrument cluster and inverted front forks. The Honda CB300R is powered by a 286cc, single-cylinder motor that pumps out 30bhp and 27.5Nm while it goes up against other naked street bikes like the KTM 390 Duke and BMW G 310 R. 

Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R deliveries begin

After launching it in January, Kawasaki started deliveries of its middle-weight supersports offering, the Ninja ZX-6R, this month. Available as a completely knocked down (CKD) model, it carries the price tag of Rs 10.49 lakhs (ex-showroom). Powering the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R is a 636cc, inline four-cylinder motor that is capable of producing 126bhp and 70.8Nm of torque. Although it has no direct competition, in terms of pricing, it goes up against the Kawasaki Ninja 1000 and the Triumph Street Triple RS. 

2019 Bajaj Pulsar 180F spotted 

The Bajaj Pulsar 180F is the Chakan-based bikemaker’s newest offering which hasn’t been officially launched yet. However, the motorcycle was recently spotted at a dealership. It adorns front section and fairing similar to its elder sibling, the Pulsar 220F but remains identical to the standard Pulsar 180 in terms of engine and cycle parts. Bajaj dealers have already started accepting bookings for the bike and it has been priced at Rs 86,490 (ex-showroom, Mumbai). 

Royal Enfield price hike

Royal Enfield has increased prices of its motorcycles with 350cc and 500cc powerplants including the Classic, Bullet, Thunderbird and Thunderbird X range along with the Himalayan. The bump in price is up to Rs 1500 and for the model-wise price hike, refer our full story here. The manufacturer didn’t disclose the reason for the hike but we suspect it is owing to the increase in manufacturing costs. 

New Triumph Daytona spied

Triumph is the new supplier of motorcycle engines for Moto 2 racing championship. Besides developing the powerplant for race bikes, new spy shots suggest that the company is also readying a new street model of its Daytona supersports which will be based on a similar engine. It is a 765cc, in-line triple-cylinder motor which can generate up to 135bhp of power and is compliant with Euro 5 emission norms. The new Daytona might be showcased in concept form at this year’s EICMA motorcycle show in Milan, Italy.

2020 Honda Africa Twin in the works

Honda’s flagship adventure tourer, the Africa Twin is likely to get an update for 2020. A new render by a Japanese magazine suggests that it will boast of an updated design. Moreover, the powerplant is also likely to get a bump in its capacity as it might go up from 998cc to 1080cc, parallel-twin motor which will perhaps churn out slightly higher power at 95bhp. Meanwhile, the motorcycle is also expected to get electronic and mechanical updates. Expect the 2020 Honda Africa Twin to be unveiled at the EICMA 2019.