While in India, the demand for full-faired bikes is soaring, the world over it’s quite the opposite, everyone wants a street-fighter machine. Full faired bikes do look good but aren’t as practical as the seating position is usually more sporty and the tank range is compromised. That is the reason why in more mature markets, naked bikes are seeing an increase in demand. Last year, Ducati launched the Monster 1200, BMW unveiled the S1000R and Kawasaki updated the Z1000 with drop-dead gorgeous styling giving it a futuristic appeal. Now Honda plans to bring a naked version of its CBR300R.
Honda announced the CBR300R only recently, a motorcycle which will compete with the likes of the Kawasaki Ninja 300. Even Yamaha is planning to launch a 300cc bike in the form of the YZF-R3. While both Kawasaki and Yamaha are shying away from a 300cc naked bike, Honda wants to take the lead and has already started working on bringing the CB300 to the market. The company already offers a semi-faired version of the CBR500R called the CB500F. The CB300 could help Honda win quite a few buyers as the pricing will be aggressive owing to the reduced use of body parts.
Powering the Honda CB300 would be the same engine which does duty on the CBR300R. This 286cc, single-cylinder motor outputs 30.4 HP of power and 27 Nm of torque. The CB300 will be lighter than the CBR300R and thus we can expect slightly better performance. Honda is unlikely to bring the CB300 to India as the company has solid plans of replacing the CBR250R with the CBR300R later this year. This strategy of Honda is very much like KTM, who too is offering multiple versions of the same bike. A 300cc adventure might also be developed.
