The launch of the 2012 Kawasaki Ninja 650R has been confirmed for the 9th of August 2012. Bajaj Auto has sent out invites for the launch event, which will take place in Pune. Present on the occasion would be Mr. Amit Nandi (Vice President, Probiking) and Mr. Rajiv Bajaj (Managing Director, Bajaj Auto). The 2012 Kawasaki Ninja 650R has been a long time coming but was delayed due to the high demand in overseas markets. More over, due to the difficultly in attaching a saree guard, the launch was further delayed by a few weeks time. Dealers on their part are taking bookings already.
Kawasaki recently unveiled the 2013 Ninja 650R, which gets new colors and ABS (as an option). However this model is not being launched in India currently. Currently Bajaj Auto locally assembles the Ninja 650R through CKD kits imported from Thailand. The Japanese automaker has allocated more quantity of the Ninja 650R for the Indian market this time around and hence bookings are not expected to close anytime soon. Bajaj Auto doesn’t plan to locally manufacture the Ninja 650R anytime soon as the company doesn’t find enough volumes to justify local production.
The 2012 Kawasaki Ninja 650R has minor improvements, which make the motorcycle slightly better than its predecessor. While the power and torque output remain the same at 72 BHP and 65 Nm, the parallel twin motor is got minor tweaks to improve the power delivery at low and mid-range of the power band. A stiffer frame also debuts on the Ninja 650R which improves the handling of this middle-weight motorcycle. The company has also incorporated a eco-mode to boost mileage. Expect a small price hike on the Ninja 650R as the depreciating Rupee will reflect in the import costs of the bike.
