2015 new Honda CBR500R vs Kawasaki Ninja 300
2015 new Honda CBR500R vs Kawasaki Ninja 300
They’re both competent, sporty all-rounders, good for getting to work or getting a moderate shift on. They're both built to high-quality, Japanese standards. They're both great looking. Only £200 separates them in price. So which should you buy? Our Versus guides are here to give you a quick helping-hand through the trickiest buying choices, starting with: CBR500R vs Ninja 300
They’re both competent, sporty all-rounders, good for getting to work or getting a moderate shift on. They're both built to high-quality, Japanese standards. They're both great looking. Only £200 separates them in price. So which should you buy? Our Versus guides are here to give you a quick helping-hand through the trickiest buying choices, starting with: CBR500R vs Ninja 300
Reasons to buy CBR500R
- At 47bhp, it’s bang on the power limit for A2 licence holders
- At £5,099 on the road, it’s one of the cheapest middle-weight bikes you can buy
- Being a Honda, you can hope for a high level of reliability, build-quality and after-sales service
- It’s comfortable, with fairing and a fairly upright riding position
- It’s well-proportioned and pretty
- It handles well and can be pushed hard, with decent brakes and suspension. ABS is standard.
- There’s a pleasing, torquey response from the parallel twin engine
- It’s the official bike of the European Junior Cup championship for 14-to-19-year-olds
Price: £5,099 OTR
Capacity: 471cc
Power: 47bhp
Weight: 194kg
Seat height: 790mm
Reason to buy Ninja 300
- At £4,891 on the road, it’s only £542 more than a Yamaha YZF-R125
- It looks great. With no ‘300’ stickers, it could be mistaken for a ZX-6R
- The riding position is sporty but comfortable
- The parallel twin engine loves to rev. There’s useable torque from 3,000rpm and it really comes alive from 8,000rpm.
- It’s a capable handler, making for composed and precise cornering
Price: £4891 OTR (£5,291 with ABS)
Capacity: 296cc
Power: 38bhp
Weight: 172kg kerb (£174kg ABS)
Seat height: 786mm
Our choice: Honda CBR500R
The Ninja is great fun but essentially the hangover of a disappearing market. Its predecessor, the Ninja 250R, catered perfectly for newly-qualified riders restricted to 33bhp. In January this year that restriction rose to 47bhp. The heavily-revised Ninja 300 is Kawasaki’s response, offering 38bhp. But if you can have 47bhp, surely that’s how many you want. In which case a £200 saving seems the remaining argument for the Kawasaki. That's without factoring in ABS, which is standard on the Honda. Much as we like the Ninja, it loses this battle.
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