The Kawasaki Ninja 300 has been a popular motorcycle in India but the brand has kept it largely the same throughout the years. While that continues to be the case, Kawasaki has attempted to make it slightly more practical by converting it into a sport-naked, in the form of the Z300. Sharing many things with its faired brother in terms of underpinnings, the Z300 takes its Sugomi design cues from the bigger brother, the Z900, which was updated last year. Let’s see how it compares to its immediate rivals from India-Europe.
Kawasaki Z300 vs rivals: Engine and output
The Z300 is the least-powerful on paper
Kawasaki has based the Z300 heavily on the faired sibling, the Ninja 300 and that starts with the engine. However, the Z300 makes 1hp and 0.2Nm more than its faired brother despite the mill appearing to be left unchanged. Even with the increase, the Z300 displaces the least of the lot, so falls short in terms of peak output figures when you compare it to its rivals. That said, compared to the KTM and Royal Enfield, the Kawasaki has an extra cylinder which should aid its smoothness, a caveat powerful single-cylinders in this class do suffer from.
The Z300 makes 40hp, which is identical to what the Royal Enfield makes. However, thanks to the extra weight the latter is carrying around, the Z300 has the advantage in terms of power-to-weight ratio, and will likely be the quicker motorcycle. As things stand, the Aprilia is the overall winner in terms of outright engine output, with the highest peak power and torque numbers.
Kawasaki Z300 vs rivals: Dimensions and weight
Z300 is the most-accessible
Things start looking better for the Kawasaki when we look at the fuel tank capacity, a substantial 17 litres. Not only is that markedly larger than every other rival in the list, it’s matching that of some adventure tourers, like the Himalayan 450. Considering that and Kawasaki managing to keep the kerb weight at 175kg (tied with the Tuono 457) and keep the seat height the lowest, the Z300 makes a very good case for being a great beginner motorcycle, and possibly even a good touring option.
The Kawasaki’s lowest seat height number does come with a significant dent (for now, just on paper) on ground clearance; although we don’t expect it to be an issue in 90 percent of use cases.
Kawasaki Z300 vs rivals: Tyres, brakes and suspension
KTM offers more adjustability than everyone else
Guerrilla 450 has the widest tyres at both ends, which, on paper, should hinder agility compared to narrower tyres, but when we rode the bike, we did not face any such issues. If anything, the Apex variant’s road-biased tyres offered noticeably more grip and cornering ability than before. KTM and Aprilia both share identical tyre sizes, and the Kawasaki shares its front tyre size with them. The Z300 has one section narrower rear tyre than the European duo, and Kawasaki has only given it a rear radial tyre, offering a conventional bias-ply front tyre instead. Nevertheless, considering the Z300’s sizes offer plenty of tyre choices, this can be fixed easily.
Both Dukes (390 Duke and 390 Duke R) – which are essentially the same motorcycle except for the engine – offer more adjustability than everyone else. KTM offers compression and rebound adjustability as standard, with the rear monoshock being adjustable for preload and rebound. Aprilia follows closely with preload adjustability on both ends. Kawasaki has kept the chassis unchanged which means it shares the front and rear suspension units as-is with the Ninja 300; which also makes it look like the weakest setup on paper. Royal Enfield and Kawasaki only let you play with the preload on their respective linkage monoshocks with the forks being completely unadjustable.
KTMs are known for their strong braking setups with the Aprilia once again following them closely. Royal Enfield has a balanced front-to-rear brake rotor size that takes care of the job well. The Ninja 300 doesn’t have the sharpest brakes in its class, and since the Z300 has an identical setup, we could see that be the case with it as well. That said, we’ll reserve judgement on braking performance until we’ve properly ridden the bike.
Kawasaki Z300 vs rivals: Features
The Japanese option is the least-equipped of the lot
The title for the most equipped motorcycle on this list will go to the KTM considering it gives you a quickshifter, cornering sensitive ABS, launch control, a 5-inch TFT display, and since 2025, cruise control; all as standard. Aprilia, to its credit, follows the KTM with quickshifter and cruise control being the only two things missing on its list. You can retrofit the former as an accessory if you so wish, but the Tuono 457 cannot be equipped with a first-part cruise control system, at all.
The Japanese are no longer known for offering the most feature-laden options and that’s true in this case too. Compared to the Z300, the Guerrilla 450 offers more modern features like a 4-inch TFT display with Google Maps mirroring, smartphone connectivity, ride-by-wire and two ride modes. The only rider aid the Z300 offers is a slip-and-assist clutch which is also matched by the other four in this list.
Kawasaki Z300 vs rivals: Price
Royal Enfield offers the most value
With all the sections discussed, the Z300 quickly starts looking like a pricey option, especially against the KTM 390 Duke (350cc) and the Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450, which offer more power and features for about Rs 75,000 less, in the case of the former, and about Rs 40,000 less for the latter. The only indisputable Kawasaki advantage is the aforementioned twin-cylinder smoothness. Which makes its engine the highest-revving in this list, without vibrations spoiling the experience. One can argue that the Aprilia is also a twin and thus just as smooth, but it commands a Rs 75,000 premium towards the other side.
Hence, the Z300 is operating in a segment of its own at the moment, with its priorities very clear to prospective buyers. If you believe that could be you, get a test ride and decide if what you read on paper also translates into the riding experience in the real world.
Autocar India Team 
Vishal Venugopal
