A New Budget Kawasaki Ninja Is Coming To Lure First-Time American Riders

Imagine you’re a new motorcycle rider who is a Kawasaki fan and wants to enter the world of sports bikes. There’s a high chance you’ll have to look at some other brand because the smallest Ninja at your disposal today is the Ninja 500. And we all know that isn’t exactly suitable for a first-time rider. After all, 51 horsepower is no joke if you don’t have some sort of prior sports bike experience. Lucky for you, though, it appears Kawasaki wants to change that in 2026 by introducing a smaller Ninja to sit below the 500. Here’s what we know.

Kawasaki Certifies The Ninja 300 For The United States Of America

The news comes straight from the California Air Resources Board. It includes Kawasaki’s 2026 filings, which have a new EX300GT model in addition to the usual suspects. Looking back at Team Green’s usual model codes, we can confirm this is the Ninja 300. For example, the Ninja 500 is EX500 and the Ninja 650 is EX650.

This isn’t an all-new sports bike, though, since Kawasaki already sold the Ninja 300 here till 2017 (with the model code EX300). It’s a move that might leave some of you perplexed, but as we mentioned, the smallest Ninja right now is the 500. So a 300 would sit nicely in the lineup and broaden Kawasaki’s customer base. It’ll be interesting to see how the brand prices the bike, though, since the Ninja 500 is already quite competitively priced at $5,299.

The Kawasaki Ninja 300 Will Employ A 296cc Parallel-Twin Engine

Other than this, the filing also reveals the Ninja 300 will feature a 296cc, parallel-twin engine. This is identical to the 2017 model, so you can expect the same 38 horsepower and 19 pound-feet. That would make it one of the most powerful 300cc sports bikes on the market today. New for 2026, though, is a new three-way catalytic converter. That’s two more than the Versys 300, which uses the same p-twin engine.

What about underpinnings, you ask? We expect them to be identical to the Ninja 300 sold in India. A tubular steel chassis holds everything together, while being suspended on telescopic forks and a monoshock. 17-inch wheels, each with a single-petal rotor, complete the package. Let’s hope Kawasaki tweaks the feature list, though. We say so because the Ninja 300 lock horns with the CFMoto 300SS, which spoils you with a TFT, slipper clutch, dual-channel ABS, LED lights, and smartphone connectivity.

2025 Kawasaki Ninja 300 Key Specifications