Back in April 2018, leaked patent images of Haojue’s HJ300 had surfaced. Now, pictures of the production-ready bike have leaked from what looks to be the assembly plant. The bike, as expected, features DR300 badging which will most likely be replaced by GSX-S300 ones for the international market.
The motorcycle is rumoured to be equipped with a 299cc, liquid-cooled, parallel-twin engine with output figures of around 30hp and 25Nm of peak torque while using a 6-speed transmission. The new images also reveal the same aggressive design language seen in the patent images as well as an upside-down fork, petal disc and aluminium swingarm. ABS equipment is also evident in the leaked images.
The new Suzuki GSX-S300 is likely to make its global debut at the 2018 INTERMOT fair in Germany or at EICMA in Italy, later this year. That being said, it is unlikely that this 300cc Suzuki will make it to our market. Instead, Suzuki is working on a more-affordable, single-cylinder 250cc bike to rival the Yamaha FZ25. Even though the 250 will be completely different mechanically, we expect that it will share similarities in terms of design.
Suzuki could go with a new nomenclature system for the 250 and call it a GSX, but the Gixxer brand is now a strong and recognisable name in India, so we expect the new 250 to carry it forward.
Azaman Chothia
Vishal Venugopal
