It’s official. Kawasaki will launch a superbike in India on the 4th of September 2013. The company hasn’t mentioned which motorcycle is being launched but a formal invite has been sent. There are only two bikes which Kawasaki could launch next month, either the Ninja ZX-10R or the Ninja ZX-14R. Kawasaki will launch both bikes in India one by one and we expect the launch next week to be of the ZX-10R. Both these bikes will be brought in via the CBU route and hence the pricing will be upwards of Rs. 15 lakhs.
The Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R is powered by a 998cc, in-line four engine which belts out an impressive 194 BHP of power and 112 Nm of torque. 0-100 km/hr takes a mere 2.8 seconds while top speed is limited to 300 km/hr. The Ninja ZX-10R competes with the BMW S1000RR, Suzuki GSX-1000R, Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade and Yamaha R1. The launch of this high performance Ninja comes at a time when the Rupee is seeing its weakest run, thus it’s a brave move by the Japanese firm to bring its litre-class offering to our shores.
The Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R will undercut its rivals on pricing but that doesn’t matter much because it also betters them on the performance front. The motorcycle comes with ABS and traction control system as standard. It is often referred to as the best litre class Japanese motorcycle. Kawasaki currently sells the Ninja 300 and Ninja 650 in the Indian market, both of them being locally assembled via CKD kits brought in from Thailand. Let the fast times roll as the higher capacity Ninja is sure to do a lot of positive word for Kawasaki. The Ninja ZX-10R will share showroom space with the KTM RC8, which is only on display and not on sale.
