As I never tire of pointing out, the TNT 300 is one of the best-sounding motorcycles I’ve ridden yet, displacement no bar. Revving the TNT to its redline is the best way to ride it. The TNT’s howling music is even more impressive when you hear the other two bikes go whirring and screaming about their business. It makes you wonder why the Japs couldn’t make their parallel twins sound as nice as the Chinese… erm, Italian one’s. Holding third and fourth gear through fast twisties on the Benelli has the soul and speed to make any motorcyclist’s day. So what if you can’t corner too hard on the right because of the underslung exhaust.
However, if you look closely and ride it enough, you cannot escape the fact that quality levels are not quite up to the mark of the Japanese duo. It’s all acceptable, though, given that it’s the cheapest of the lot by far. Oh, and it won’t present you with a big bill for plastics if you drop it.
However, the faired bikes don’t let the naked one interrupt their fight. On a twisty road, these two bang fairings, while the TNT watches from the best seat in the house – firmly behind them. The Ninja and the R3 are motorcycles with sporty ambitions – and the abilities with which to back up those ambitions. The Ninja looks the sharpest, a miniature ZX-10R with the apt family colours. The R3, despite being striking enough on its own, manages to look a couple of generations older. Not that it matters one bit.
The Yamaha has the most power, the lightest weight and the shortest wheelbase of the trio, so you’d expect it to simply run away – and it does. However, numbers don’t give you confidence in a corner, do they? The Ninja has always been a sweet-handling bike. It’s a bit stiffer than the Yamaha, so you feel more of the road through the motorcycle. The bike holds its composure under hard acceleration, harder braking and through corners, too. The slipper clutch, something the other two bikes don’t have, helps to keep the rear wheel in check when going hard into a corner, and on the way out the smooth twin revs freely to its redline. It’s also the most flexible motor around; the Ninja can drop to 35 kph in top gear and still pull away cleanly. It’s good to know that the Kawasaki is still as accomplished and impeccable as ever. Its problem is that the R3 is even better.
Even with the stock MRF tyres holding it back, the R3 delivers handling so easy, it’s stunning. The extra power and lesser weight help the Yamaha trounce the Kawasaki, yes, but the sheer sweetness of the R3 is what seals it. I mean, even the riding position and ride quality on the R3 is great. It feels like a sports-tourer, but more ‘sports’ than ‘tourer’. Its motor clearly has more power everywhere than the other two, which makes for more thrills on the throttle. It brakes hard and clean, settling into extreme lean angles as effortlessly as a feather. A pretty fast feather that flicks from side to side without seemingly any real effort. It’s amazing how much confidence the Yamaha gives you, given the level of motorcycle it is. I think it’ll remind everyone who rides it of the first-gen R15. Finally, a real upgrade.
