Honda has silently delisted the CB300R from its website, and the dealers we spoke to said that no unsold stock remains and no further bookings are being taken. The CB300R was first brought to India in 2019 in a fully CKD (completely knocked down) form before being discontinued within a year with the onset of the BS6 era in 2020. The little CB then returned to our shores in early 2022 – this time it even had localised components – before once again being pulled off sale very recently.
- At 146kg, CB300R was the lightest bike in its class
- Last recorded price was Rs 2.19 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi)
- Honda likely to bring Rebel 300 to India
Will the Honda CB300R return to India?
The CB300R was last priced at Rs 2.19 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi)
The CB300R was powered by a 286cc single-cylinder liquid-cooled engine making 31.1hp at 9,000rpm and 27.5Nm of torque at 7,500rpm. This engine was based on the same architecture as the popular CBR250R’s 249cc motor but with significant revisions. While the CB300R was never the most powerful nor the most tech-laden offering in its segment, its USP was its petite size. Weighing just 146kg fully fuelled, the CB’s performance was brisk, and its handling sharp, without feeling hard-edged like that of a similarly priced KTM alternative.
Coming to why the CB300R has been discontinued, there are a couple of different possibilities. One is that Honda could be making way in its portfolio for the long-awaited Rebel 300, and having two bikes with the same engine at similar price points could cause some cannibalisation. The Rebel 300 and CB300R both share the same engine and, as such, comply with the latest emission norms, so its discontinuation is unlikely to have happened for that reason.
Honda hasn’t specified any reason for the removal of the CB300R from its website, and it remains to be seen if this model will return to India sometime in the future. In recent times, the CB300R’s pricing was actually rather competitive, especially so post GST 2.0, and last recorded at Rs 2.19 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). However, after years of high prices, the CB unfortunately never found much success, even after Honda eventually lowered it to a more reasonable extent.
Azaman Chothia
Vishal Venugopal
