Kawasaki has shown commitment to Indian bikers by not only not hiking prices but also reducing them in spite of increase in excise duties. Only if the same commitment was seen on its locally assembled models, mainly the Ninja 300 and Z250.
Kawasaki has reduced the price of the Z800 street-fighter motorcycle in India by Rs. 55,000/- till March end. Thus the new price of Rs. 7.35 lakhs will be valid till the end of the current fiscal year. The price reduction might come across as a surprise as the whole automobile sector is busy hiking prices on the back of increase in excise duty which is 4% higher on 2-wheelers now. Kawasaki is likely to roll back the Z800’s price to the earlier Rs. 7.90 lakhs in April, passing on the higher excise duty to customers.
Kawasaki could have dispatched units of the Z800 to its existing dealers at the end of the year, thereby being charged the lower excise duty, so one will get the 2014 manufactured motorcycle. The reason for the price drop is the cost reduction done by Kawasaki Thailand in the manufacturing of the Z800, entire benefit is being given to customers. Kawasaki won’t be reducing prices of its other bikes as they come from Japan while the reduction in manufacturing costs has happened in Thailand, the same country also supplies CKD kits to Kawasaki India for the Z250, Ninja 300, ER-6n and Ninja 650.
The Kawasaki Z800 is a very powerful bike and is propelled forward by a 806cc, in-line four motor which generates 113 PS of power and 83 Nm of torque. It reaches 100 km/hr from standstill in just 3.5 seconds while top speed is in excess of 230 km/hr. Since Triumph doesn’t sell the 106 PS Street Triple (we get the 85 PS model), this Kawasaki has little competition at the moment with hefty rivalry set to commence later this year with the launch of the Benelli TNT 899 and Honda CBR650F. Meanwhile read our review of the Kawasaki Z800 HERE.
Kawasaki CBU Bike Prices For 2015 (all prices are ex-showroom, Pune) –
* Kawasaki Z800 – Rs. 7.35 lakhs
* Kawasaki Z1000 – Rs. 12.50 lakhs
* Kawasaki Ninja 1000 – Rs. 12.50 lakhs
* Kawasaki Versys 1000 – Rs. 12.90 lakhs
* Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R – Rs. 15.70 lakhs
* Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14R – Rs. 16.90 lakhs
