Kawasaki India is enjoying a good PR these past few days. Apart from launching a made in India CKD variant of their much-liked Ninja 300, the other reason for them enjoying this good PR on social media is BMW Motorrad India and their pricing strategy of the 310 twins.
Fans and bikers have gone overboard and created a number of memes, showing their anger towards the pricing of much awaited BMW G310R and G310GS. Both bikes are made in India, just like the KTM Duke 390. But are priced higher here, than in export markets like the US. BMW G310R and G310GS are exported from India to the US, but are still priced cheaper in the US.
Joining fans and bikers is Kawasaki India dealer, in trolling BMW Motorrad India. The advertisement states ‘Why buy a single when you can buy a refined twin at the same price‘. No names are mentioned, but it is obvious that the remark is against the BMW G310R.
To take competition to another level, Kawasaki India has also reduced prices of the Ninja 300 by Rs 62,000 and it is now priced at Rs 2.98 lakhs making it cheaper than the new BMW G310R, inspite of being a twin cylinder fully faired sportsbike. Increased localization and the company’s ‘Make in India’ initiative has allowed for this lower pricing of Ninja 300. The same is also true with BMW 310, but the company probably decided to keep the prices high so as to attract a select segment of buyers, which has upset scores of enthusiasts who were eagerly waiting for the bike.
The Kawasaki advertisement goes on to regale the power and performance of Kawasaki Ninja 300 which comes in with better refinement. It is also the fact that Ninja 300 gets a parallel twin as against the 311cc single seen on BMW G310R. Now, Kawasaki Ninja 300 also gets dual channel ABS as a standard feature.
A comparison of engines on Kawasaki Ninja 300 and BMW G310R also shows that Ninja is the more powerful of the two. Kawasaki Ninja 300 is powered by a 300cc parallel twin engine offering 38 bhp power at 11,000 rpm and 27 Nm torque at 10,000 rpm. This is against the BMW G310R engine which is capable of just 34 PS power and 28 Nm torque.
The difference between the two engines ends here as both engines are liquid cooled, fuel injected and mated to 6 speed manual gearbox. Ninja 300 is found lacking in the fact that it comes in with monoshock at the rear and telescopic forks in the front unlike the BMW G310R which receives upside down front forks and monoshock at the rear. Another notable difference between the two rivals is that the Ninja 300 is fully faired unlike the BMW G310R which is a naked bike.