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Just hit 100 today down the freeway

Congrats! That's good to hear...the 500R tops out at about 109ish. Not bad for a single.

 

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I don't have a CBR300 yet, but my Ninja 250 gets up to 106 mph all stock, and about 112 when it had a full exhaust and tuning done.

 

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I think the actual top speed of the Ninja 250r is just under 100 mph. Like most motorcycles, the speedo is off a little and some people measure the top speed going down hill or with a tail wind. The Ninja 300 actual top speed is about 105 mph as I recall. I haven't checked my CB300F speedo, but judging from surrounding highway traffic, the speedo is pretty accurate at 75 mph. Anyway, all these bikes work on the highway. The question comes up about how hard the engine is working at highway speeds too. I recall my Ninja 250r sounded like it was working pretty hard at 80 mph, like that wasn't a speed that was good for the engine although it was under redline. When that occurs, you have to constantly remind yourself to keep the throttle open more because the natural tendency is to back off from straining the engine and suspension. Whether it actually hurts anything to ride at high speeds on the Ninja 250r is another question. Most Ninja 250r owners would argue no. The Ninja 300 is just a much better bike for high-speed riding in terms of the bike being much better planted and not working nearly so hard. I think the Ninja 300 is still at the top of the 300s for high- speed riding. The R3 which I also owned is good too but I still like the Ninja 300 best. Let's just say having owned all these bikes, but not the CBR300R yet, the Ninja 300 is the one to beat. There are a couple of videos showing the Ninja 300 edging out the R3 for top speed too. That might be due to the fact the engine of the Ninja redlines slightly higher than the R3. The single cylinder, lower redline, smaller displacement CBR300R is not going to be as fast as the Ninja 300 or the R3 by 8-10 mph.

I agree, the Ninja 250 speedo is a little off like every other speedo. keep in mind when I mentioned 112 mph that was when my bike was a trackbike pushing 32+hp with many work done it. Maybe your Ninja 250 needed valve adjustment or carb cleaning? That's usually the case with carb owners. I don't have a problem hitting triple digits until it tops off. With the ninja 250 its sounds like your winding up the motor hard because it's a short-stroke engine. You have to wind it up for power. The power band is different from a single cylinder. There's many people on the Ninjette forum who commutes on their 250 at 80+ mph everyday no problem which you probably know.

I have seen people hit 112mph with a stock setup on a Ninja 300 GPS confirmed, but height & weight is gonna be a factor as well. Some people say they got their N300 up to 114mph but I don't know what was done to it. I agree the N300 is the better version of the Ninja 250. I use to own one for a bit and I consider it to be the best beginner bike, that slipper clutch is simply great. However, my concern is the maintenance cost, and the valve adjustments on the Ninja 300 cost more than a CBR for obvious reasons. I looked at the R3 and the claimed adjustment interval is at 26,600 miles wow!!! I have ridden all of the beginners bikes except the RC390, but for my current needs it's either a CBR300 or R3. I really like the look of the Tri-Color CBR 300, it kinda makes up for the 286cc. Who knows what will actually happen? My mind changes a lot. I believe I sold 4 bikes within a year, sometimes it's just better to rent or borrow bikes to experience a variety.