BS6 Kawasaki Ninja 300 - Is it Worth the Wait?

There’s no denying that the Kawasaki Ninja 300 has a huge fan following in India. It didn’t do that well in our country before thanks to its high price tag. However, once Kawasaki dropped down the price, the Ninja 300 soon became one of the company’s best-selling models in the Indian market.

Kawasaki pulled the plug on the BS4 Ninja 300 more than a year ago as the newer and stricter Bharat Stage 6 emission regulations were to be enforced in India from 1 April 2020. Months passed away and various other manufacturers launched the less polluting versions of their products, however, there was no sign of the BS6 Ninja 300. This created a possibility that Kawasaki could be working on giving the baby Ninja the overhaul that it was in the need of and that’s what causing the delay. Well, now we know that wasn’t the case.

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Kawasaki has recently shared the new colours of the forthcoming BS6 Ninja 300. The pictures also revealed that the new motorcycle isn’t a lot different from the old version. The design remains more or less the same and that is quite a bummer because the Ninja 300 has been carrying the same styling for many years now. Kawasaki could have used this opportunity to give it a visual makeover and added modern bells and whistles. Well, it didn’t.

Apart from the new colours, the other change in the new Ninja 300 will be its engine. It is likely to be the same 296cc parallel-twin motor with some internal tweaks so that it complies with the stringent BS6 emission norms. Kawasaki has not released the official specs of the updated model but it is being anticipated that the output figures wouldn’t differ much when compared to those of the BS4 engine. For reference, the twin-cylinder engine used to produce 39bhp of max power at 11,000rpm and 27Nm of peak torque at 10,000rpm in its BS4 state of tune.

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We think that Kawasaki missed a good opportunity here to give the Ninja 300 a proper update. Currently, it’s the brand’s entry-level motorcycle in the Indian market and the company should have done much more than just adding a few new colour options and making the engine more eco-friendly. And if the BS6 Ninja 300 comes with a higher price tag than its BS4 iteration, which used to retail at INR 2.98 lakh*, then that might not work in its favour because motorcycles like the Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 and Continental GT 650 fall in the similar price range and offer a tempting package.

So, is the BS6 Kawasaki Ninja 300 worth the wait? We don’t think so. What’s your take on this? Let us know in the comments below.

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*Ex-showroom