Japanese bike giant Kawasaki is planning to launch the Z250SL in India by the end of this year while the regular twin-cylinder Z250 will continue to be on sale.
Kawasaki has always known to launch all of its products in the Indian market. Currently, the two cheapest models from the Japanese company are the Z250 and Ninja 300 but this is soon going to change. Kawasaki is gearing up to launch its first single-cylinder bike in India, the Z250SL. Unlike the Z250 which is powered by a 249cc, parallel-twin, liquid-cooled engine that produces 31.5 HP of power and 27 Nm of torque, the newer Z250SL produces around 27 HP of power and 23 Nm as it has one cylinder less.
Compared to the Z250, the Z250SL is also 20 kgs lighter because it comes with high tensile steel for its trellis frame. The ABS-equipped variant weighs around 150 kgs while the non-ABS trim weighs 2 kgs less. Bajaj Auto will be incorporating a lot of localisation for the bike to keep costs in control and hence parts like handlebars, clutch plates, switches, front and rear suspensions, tyres, wheels, headlights, tail lamps, radiator fans and other such components will be sourced from local vendors while bigger parts like the engine will be completely imported from Thailand.
Bajaj Auto is aiming to make the Z250SL by far the cheapest Kawasaki bike to be offered in India and it will be priced around Rs. 2 lakhs. Kawasaki will also launch the Ninja 250RR Mono in India, the full-faired version of the Z250SL. The entry-level performance bike segment is witnessing a huge surge in sales over the past 2-3 years and companies are launching more and more products in this range. Competition is getting tougher and players like KTM, Bajaj, Yamaha, Honda and now Kawasaki have a lot to fight out. The Kawasaki Z250SL will compete with bikes like the KTM Duke 200 and 390 and the Honda CBR250R. The more powerful Z250 will not be discontinued and it will remain on sale although with limited appeal due to its high price (only 7 units were sold last month).
Source – AutocarIndia.com
