A really well done and balanced review of a great starter bike! Nicely shot and well edited too. I think your honesty about your riding ability, confidence and experience will help many people feel good about this bike. Our egos can get in the way of making good decisions and I feel your video is very pragmatic in discussing many of those issues. Well done!
Thank you so much for your kind words. I still have the bike and love it to death. I think for me something of this size and weight is perfect going forward even with more experience. Luckily there's a bike out there for everybody!
The power on the cb300f made it a perfect candidate for an adv bike for me. Swapped the suspension for taller more trail friendly travel, added some knobbies. The single cylinder longish stroke short gearing is great for hitting the trails. Oh and more cushion in the seat.
Good perspective. My first bike was a 2017 CB300F-ABS in the USA. Acceleration is about on par with a Toyota Corolla which means you learn to carry speed and not overextend yourself. Buzzy as hell over 7000rpm (65mph in 6th?). I moved up to a Tiger 800, bypassing the 650 classes, but kept the CB300F as it is "enough" for around town and non-freeway use. I love that I regularly exceed 70mpg (US) less than $5 in gas to get to work all week makes me laugh. Your chain looked well cleaned and maintained. Kudos!
@@LadybugAdventures It was very intimidating. My wife pushed me into it. I Iooked at the usual suspects. CB500X felt underwhelming and not enough of a move up. The best contender initially was the VSTrom 650. A very competent bike. The rev-assist feature was a bit weird at first, but no biggie. While it was certainly highway capable, it was a bit "meh". My wife pushed me to try the Tiger 800XRt at a local dealer, and after the test ride, I had a Cheshire-cat-like grin on my face. Hardly surprising given that the TIger is 95HP vs the 30hp of the 300F. It's like moving from a Corolla to a Macan Turbo. 0-60 is fast. Like 4 second fast, and it will pull inexorably up to 120mph without difficulty. I do have to be mindful of speed though when moving from one to the other. Of course, the Tiger is heavier (about 500lb wet) and you notice that in both good ways (on the freeway and when moving at a decent pace) and bad (not so easy to catch it when you screw up). The seat is higher, so I have to be more mindful of where I stop if it's sloped. I could have gotten the lower ride height Tiger 800, but with the seat in the "low" position, it's not too bad, and every time I ride it, it gets a little bit smaller to me. It's an amazingly accomplished motorcycle and I find it super-smooth with that triple and throttle-by-wire. You can ride it quite sedately, though models before 2018 had a higher geared first that some found frustrating for slow speed or stop-and-go traffic in first gear. I can easily do 4mph slow-race in first on the CB300F, but 5 to 6mph is my current comfort level with the Tiger, and the clutch is much heavier. Heated seats (both rider and pillion) and grips are a "nice to have" but I've not found a real use for them living in Oregon. The cruise control on the other hand is perfect. It's electronic, so it actually holds a constant speed, which for long distances is very appealing indeed. The rider modes (especially rain mode) when I got it, really helped ease me in. It's more motorcycle than I really needed or wanted at the time, but what the hell, you only live once, and wifey was supportive, so it's hard to say no. I"m now experienced enough and old enough to not be an idiot on it. I suspect most people moving to their "next" bike would likely sensibly pick a 650, but the leap to an 800 isn't too mad if you are sensible. One last word of warning. The 12,000 mile valve adjustment is about 8 hours of labor at the dealership, so budget for it, whether or not you do a lot of miles each year...
@@stuartclubb4302 Thanks for all the help on that! I am definitely way more sensible than most of the riders that I know. The hp was the thing that was appealing but also the scariest. I'm still happy with the 300f for what I enjoy. Not interested in highway cruises but rather having fun on the smaller secondary roads and even taking it on the gravel and packed dirt roads. Still undecided for now but soaking it all in until I make up my mind at some point. Enjoy the Tiger! Who knows, I might be joining you at some point.
Wow. I feel like we must be twins. Your first review helped me make the choice to get a 300f as my first bike and I fully agree with everything you have said in this review. I've been riding now for about 4 months. I'm am also looking at the 500x for my next bike as my brother has one and loves it.
I will share with you my last 4yr journey. So I bought the CB500x as my first real bike. I loved it but I wanted to do more off-road riding (the CBX was the reason I started thinking about it) so I traded it in for a WR250R. which I love. I've converted my WR into a more sport touring bike and have done two cross country tours with it. About 6 mos ago I bought a 2012 Super Tenere, mostly for long distance trips and two up riding. I love that bike as well and the WR. Looking back I probably would have just kept the CBX, its perfect for a personal tourer and "mild" off-road. Now I am looking at a used CB300f to purchase for my GF to start riding, also, the specs says it only weighs 348lbs, which means I can load it on a tow hitch carrier and take it on trips with me. I guess my recommendation is this, don't sell your bike, go find a used cheap CB500x and let that be your long distance tourer.
Great advice. That really makes sense. 300f is just so good at what I use it for right now which is commuting to work and country roads. I'll take it on a longer trip and see how I like touring on a motorcyle. The 500x just ticks off all the boxes as a good overall bike. I have researched and found some good used ones for 4-5000 cdn. I'm open to other reliable bikes so I always appreciate others experiences. Again, thanks for the help!
So, in Thailand I had a 70,000Km 2015 ABS variant and in Cayman I currently have a 2016 non ABS version with only 7,000km. I have had ZERO concerns regarding the brakes on either model - you just need to keep up with your brake maintenance. The standard Roadwinner tyres aren't great as many riders have described. I now have Michelin Street Pilots on mine and it improved handling and braking dramatically! Both of mine have Yoshimura exhaust systems which provide a bit of extra pantomime with the snapping and popping whilst also exaggerating the engine braking. However, the reason I have this pipe is she sounds like a dump truck when you throttle back which means all the texting cagers look up and see me instead of blindly driving into me. It is a great bike all round and the smaller engine is only exposed on highways when you try and keep up with 500s and 600s. Through the bends the 300 holds its own nicely. The low maintenance costs are where the bike comes into its own. I perform all maintenance myself as it is super easy and obscenely cheaper. Seriously, air filter, spark plug, oil filter and oil comes to less than 100us. A new chain and sprocket set is about 200us. You can rebuild the forks for about 200us. A set of tyres is about 230us. Brake pads about 100us all round. If you schedule your maintenance sensibly and perform the work yourself you won't spend more than 300us a year on this bike.
Dude thanks so much for your videos! I am getting ready to purchase my first bike and found a good deal on a 2018 CB 300F. I’ve been a bit hesitant because of the “lack” of power, but this video totally gave me a new perspective (it seems we would have very similar riding styles/needs). I think I’ll go for it.
Forgot to say, the one I found is not ABS...would this really make a big difference for a noob? I’m not planing to be a daredevil on it if it helps haha
Thanks for that message. I really hope you enjoy the bike. I still do. And it's not at all intimidating. I personally look for ABS. I haven't engaged it during normal riding. I ride some of the secondary roads that are hard packed gravel and my rear wheel ABS has engaged with light braking. I don't ride in wet weather because I'm made of cotton candy. I guess what I'm saying is, The ABS is not essential but I like knowing I have it.
I am in the same boat as he is, first bike found a GREAT deal on a 300 F (and an MT-03) but not sure if it would be powerful enough. Thoroughly enjoyed your review, and enjoyed the cotton candy comment equally as much. 🤙
Same I used to ride faster bikes. The lightness of this bike is amazing. It’s rumored that a CBR400RR with an I-4 is coming out in a year or two. So let’s keep our hopes up, if you’re into the I-4s and nimbleness, that could be up your alley. the zx25 is available overseas, (non US bike)
Yes I ride a CB300F. Its perfect for commute. Its preferred environment is in the 0-80kph range and performs well in busu traffic where it is plenty zippy. I often pass bigger bikes that get bogged in traffic as they too big to split through narrow gaps. I havent taken it on twisties but sure it would be great there where maneuverabilty is more NB then speed. Not the best highway bike
I'm getting the new cb500x this week! I'm moving from Sportster 883, and I think I'm gonna love it. I also thought about new cb300r, but your video helped me realize that 500cc might be a better idea after all! Thanks!
Kind of strange that Honda cheaped out on the OEM tires for the north american market, down here the CB250F Twister (our equivalent model to the CB300F) comes from the factory with grippy Pirelli Diablo Rosso 2 radial tires, 110/70R17 front and 140/70R17 back.
Okay. So I highly recomend moving up to the Honda nc700x. Its possibly the best kept secret Honda makes. I just bought a brand new 2015 old stock for$4300. OTD $5000. It's so much fun with plenty of power. I'm 6ft3 195 lbs and it fits me great. The only negative is the seat. It's like concrete. And the frunk is huge. I'm getting 70mpg. They're tons of NOS on cycle trader. By new for half the cost of a used bike.
Nice review. I like and own small slow bikes along with all kinds of bikes (except big heavy cruisers and touring bikes). I like street legal singles and have owned many including several 650's. I have a 2016 KTM Duke 690 at the moment which is the living end of street singles. Fun bike, but I got it to scratch a curiosity itch, a twin is the way to go for a street bike I have some advice from 50 years riding - life is too short and precious to have junk tires on your bike. Don't try to get the life out of them, just change them to something quality. The tires were marginal when new, and will get worse with age and wear. Changing to a good (real?) tire will give you traction headroom (ABS or not) for hard braking, and you develop your cornering confidence.
Thanks for your review. Even though you and I are as about different as night and day. I will probably never buy a new bike again, there is just so much more value in used. I started riding at age 6 and am now 58 so yes I have a lot of experience riding. I am not tall 5'6" and at this point in my life about 200 lbs. I also suffer from a lot physical problems now, that came on relatively quickly over the last ten years. Because of that I have went from a 90% off road rider 10% street to about a 99% street rider and almost never off road rider and I can tell you that it's been a difficult thing to except. I even had a few years here and there where I quit riding all together. But it never did last very long before I found myself with wanting to get back on a bike so bad, it's all I thought about and it was driving me crazy. So I decided to try street riding only, even though off road was my passion. I don't know why I'm sharing all this so I guess I should try to get to the point. I came to the realization that life is too short and I am happiest when I ride. So I sold my home and nearly everything I owned to pursue my passion of riding. I now own and ride 8 bikes and basically live on a bike or in my pickup fulltime and I haven't been this happy in probably 30 years. So I found one of these cb300f with less than 4k miles on it looks like brand new for $2,600 OBO and thought it might be fun to get one and put scrambler tires on it so I could possibly do some short off road exploring from time to time. The hard part is I can buy much bigger bikes in very good condition for not much more money and they seem like a much better value until I already own several now and yes I do maintain and ride all of them. So variety is the great advantage of having so many bikes, so getting one of these little bikes has been on my mind a lot lately.
It depends on your physical issues but at 5 ft 6 in this bike has a nice low seat height. If you're able to I would just test ride it. For an experienced rider like yourself I'm not sure what you think of the gearing and power. Scrambler tires on this is something that I've been thinking about as I take a lot of secondary roads that are hard packed gravel. Thought about the CRF250L as it has more suspension travel than the 300F. The used market is definitely more worth it but as to value for money that's going to be subjective. We do sound quite different but what we can agree on I think is that riding something is better than nothing.
@@LadybugAdventures oh absolutely, I love all bikes and I wouldn't be embarrass or make fun of anyone for riding a small bike. I own and ride a 2006 Yamaha Vino 125 and I love that thing. I also ride a 600 sportbike, 650 adventure bike, 805cc cruiser, 1000cc sport touring, 1000cc supersport (just bought it a month ago), 1200cc touring and a 1441cc ZX14R nearly 200 HP and I love them all. Variety is a spice of life. I hope you have many miles of smiles and memories you'll never forget.
Nice set up with the cases, handgaurds, etc. A great small adventure touring bike. I am a small guy and had a V Strom 650.... Loved the bike but the size always limited my adventures and these limitations always seemed to dominate my rides, in my mind if not physically speaking (lol). I ride a Yamaha R3 and I love how confident I feel on it but miss the ability to venture down some dirt roads every now and again. A set up like this, plus some dual purpose tires would be perfect for me. Great video!
I put a bit over 6600Km on mine. I think you pretty much nailed it (except I find the seat a real pain after about an hour and a half). I recently listed it on Kijiji and and seriously looking at the CB500X, Yamaha Mt07, and the Kawasaki Z650. We'll see what happens. I will be counting the days until Spring. Its a super easy bike to ride (my last motorcycle was 40 years ago!)
Thanks. I painted them black. It looks a lot better now. Quite useful, especially to carry some stuff when I go to work. I wish they were a little bit bigger but maybe that's for another project. They've lasted now for 2,000 km over pretty rough city terrain.
I agree with everything as well my rear tire does slip i want a new rear. I also want the windshield and hand covers looks nice. With the offroad tires it looks so good even though I got it because I wanted a street looking bike not adventure bike. When you see it with mods its alot cooler
That's why I like motorcycles so much. Pretty easy too modify them to suit each individual need. I didn't know how this one would turn out but I'm pleased with it so far. Thanks for watching!
Check put the new BMW XR 900 or triumph tiger 900. Can’t wait to check them out at the bike show in February. I am hoping one of them will be my next bike. The CB 500F isn’t comfortable on long road trips, in my opinion.
Both nice bikes. Being the king of cheap, those are out of my price range. I might go for the used cb500x or lately been looking at used triumph street twins. Honestly, I'll end up keeping this bike forever because I'm too cheap or can't make up my mind.
Thanks a lot really appreciate it. Here's the link to the other video I made about the saddlebags. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-yniKKvf-Kno.html
I too live in Ontario, Im getting m1/m2 in May with a family friend at our local college, your reviews have been great and it has been about 35 yrs since I was last on two wheels, I am looking at the Z650 or Mt07. Hope to see on the road if you make your way to the Kawarthas
@@ToxicShark9 That's a good idea. I'm too busy to set up a ride though. I had promised another guy in the Durham region to go for a ride early last year!
Liked the video! What do you think of slightly higher displacement motorcycles, such as Yamaha MT-03, Kawasaki Z-400 or KTM Duke 390? Maybe they could do a more comfortable steady state 120-130km/h on the highway (here in the Netherlands the limit is 130 for some pieces)? Also for me lack of experience and fear of accidents apply. So I'm curious how much displacement (cc) is needed for a comfortable general riding but without being too much of a bike for a beginner. Comparing to cars, something like a VW polo instead of a Ferrari
All replies will be somewhat subjective. The 400cc bikes might be a little better but to keep rpms down and higher cc bike might handle it a little better. I tried a Bmw 750 ish bike and really the power wasn't the problem but the weight of the bike that made me a little tentative. As a new rider a light bike won't be as intimidating. Unfortunately here in Canada we cannot rent or test ride unless there is a special event so I cannot go out and get more experience on heavier more powerful bikes.
Yes they'll be better on the highway, although for small bikes, getting a sprocket changed does wonders. I've owned 3 Ninja 250's (88-07 models) all of them i put a bigger sprocket on the front and it makes the gears much taller and more useable. I have done probably 10,000+ miles of highway riding on those bikes, never had an issue. And if you buy an older Ninja 250, you can ride it for those few thousand miles and not lose any money when you sell it. I now ride a Ninja 300 with the same mod, cruises great at 70mph, where as stock it was a little more than was comfortable.
Awesome review . I have the same bike . Kinda want a ninja 650 now. But like you said for what I use the cb300 for , it's all the bike I need for now. I do want an exhaust and the windscreen . How much u paid for the wind shield ?
I have a similar bike that was crashed 2 years ago and so far I have not been able to repair it. I live in Miami Florida and I want to know if you can help me because I have been told that from the blow the chassis has something twisted. I'm Diego
i have the same bike and same power drop with the throttle. makes riding in parking lots kind of a chore and with a passenger makes me seem like a less smooth rider. what do you have for tips in the way of mitigating this??
2nd gear in the lots but you have to take more care not to stall and keep the rpms up a little higher which still makes you look like a noob. Other than that, feathering the clutch in and out in first but that is a pain.
Great review sir and editing but thinking of getting a Ducati? Ewwwww, I hope you didn't pull the trigger on a Ducati (Sorry, I have a thing with Ducati..... can't stand em'). :P
Thank you! Don't worry I haven't pulled the trigger and gotten anything. Yeah I'm not looking at Ducati anymore. I started looking at triumph and the street twin or even the tiger 800. Basically I'm undecided. For what I do on this bike it's still perfect for me and who knows I may never change. What is it about Ducati that you hate so much?
Here is the video of the boxes and mounting. There is a picture of what I used. Also, I've seen some black Plano brand boxes at Bass Pro shops. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-yniKKvf-Kno.html
Only 11,000km or 6800mi. Original tires still have a good amount of tread. What are you thinking of getting some new tires? Eventually I want to get some tires with better grip. Slips with the stock tires.
@@LadybugAdventures yeah I got over 9000 miles on mine and the rear is getting pretty squared off. Just seeing what tires ppl with this bike are getting. I'm looking into a sport touring tire. Small bike, big rides haha.
@@21broadway ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-duwIOAFexIw.html This is a recent video from Fortnine about tires. I think he was saying the roads sport 2 is really good.
@@LadybugAdventures Hey dude, just replaced the rubber this weekend. (First time taking wheels off a motorcycle) Got the Dunlop Sportmax GPR 300. Plus the 90 degree valve stems 👍👍 $270 at Cycle Gear, and I picked my wheels up the next day.
I believe eBay. RevZilla had it but they didn't ship to Canada. There was another company in Europe as well. Here is a link to my video about that. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-f34ouAwVCQ0.html
fortnine.ca/en/barkbusters-storm-handguards-single-point-bar-end-mount Really not sure if they would fit the 2019 model. You'd have to do a bit more research on that.
Hey Ladybug on your freeway ride video it looked like it was topping out around 110kph. Is that truly the top end of the bike? I really want to get one but that's about how fast my dirtbiked tops out at so idk. Thanks
I’m planning on getting a license when I graduate high school... is the insurance expensive??... I don’t wanna be paying a lot for insurance since I also drive a car and motorcycle isn’t very convenient for the winter...
Depends on where you are. In Ontario. Yes for someone around 18 you'll be paying possibly a couple thousand for the year or more. Up north it's a luxury item rather than a sensible affordable transportation option. Asking for a quote can be hard as they want some specific info.
Ladybug Adventures I live in St Catharines and I’m probably getting just a normal bike like yours and not a sport bike for my first couple of years so I don’t have to pay lots for insurance but also enjoy riding
No it's a good question. Each gear is limited by the RPMs. At some point in each gear, the RPMs Will reach the rev limiter which won't allow the engine to spin any faster. That's when you need to change the gears to allow you to progress your speed. Now you don't have to go all the way to the rev limiter every time. I often shift at around 5 to 6,000 RPMs.
Hey man, for the sciatic look up the 'reverse hyper'. It's pricey but if you're familiar with a welder and a drill than you can make one. Either way, combine that with yoga (downward dog's not as dirty as it sounds) and your swimming - cheers ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-i9tU7_w7rvw.html
I made the mounts and boxes. They are ammo boxes. You can check out how I made them in this video ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-yniKKvf-Kno.html
