Kawasaki to launch Z250 and ER-6N on October 16

Kawasaki India has announced that it would launch two new offering for our market on October 16th. The two new motorcycles in question are the Kawasaki Z250 and the Kawasaki ER-6N. The news doesn’t come as surprise as Kawasaki has been displaying the ER-6N in its dealerships across the country to gauge feedback and generate curiosity among consumers. While ZigWheels had reported in May 2014 that the Kawasaki Z250 has landed on our shores for homologation and testing (Kawasaki Z250 undergoing homologation).

The Kawasaki Z250 is a quarter-litre streetbike with its styling being influenced by the Z800. The design of the bike is that of a typical naked bike with minimal body panels, also the edgy and brash styling should appeal to two-wheeler enthusiasts. The Kawasaki Z250 employs a part-analogue-part-digital instrument cluster with a large tachometer and digital display for speedometer, odometer, fuel gauge etc. Part sharing with the Ninja 300 is quite evident as the Z250 borrows the tail section, exhaust, instrument cluster, Y-spoke alloy among the others from the faired motorcycle.

Powering the new Kawasaki Z250 is a 249cc; liquid-cooled, parallel-twin engine developing max power of 32PS at 11,000rpm and peak torque of 21Nm at 9,000rpm. Power is transmitted to the rear-wheel via a six-speed gearbox. The chassis is a diamond type steel frame as seen on the first Kawasaki offering for our market, the Ninja 250R. The motorcycle uses 37mm telescopic forks upfront and a monoshock at the rear to handle suspension duties. Braking is done by a single 290mm petal disc at the front and 220mm petal disc at rear, while ABS isn’t available even as an option. The Kawasaki Z250 will be brought in to our shores via the CKD route. We expect Kawasaki to price the Z250 around the Rs 3 lakh mark and it will compete against the Suzuki Inazuma and KTM 390 Duke with respect to our two-wheeler market. 

The Kawasaki ER-6n is basically the striped down, streetbike version of the Kawasaki Ninja 650 sports-tourer motorcycle which has been on sale in our country for the past few years. Since it is a naked version of the Ninja 650 part sharing between both the bikes is clearly visible with respect to fuel tank, tail section, seats and fenders. Major visual differences are the stubby headlight, fuel tank extensions and exposed radiator. Also the riding posture of t the Kawasaki ER-6n has been altered to better suit its streetbike dynamics.

Powering the Kawasaki ER-6n is a 649cc, liquid-cooled motor similar to the Ninja 650 generating 72PS at 8,500rpm and torque figure stands at 64Nm at 7,000rpm. Power is transmitted to the rear-wheel via a six-speed transmission. The bike employs a tubular diamond type frame which is supported by 41mm telescopic forks at front and preload adjustable mono-shock setup at rear. Braking duties is taken care of by dual semi-floating, petal disc brakes at front and single 220mm petal disc brakes at rear. The Kawasaki ER-6n will make its way to our shores through the CKD route from Kawasaki’s Thailand facility like the Ninja 650. As for pricing, expect it to be cheaper than the Kawasaki Ninja 650 by around Rs 30 to 40,000.