Look Who’s Here – Naked Kawasaki Z300; Unveiled at EICMA

Barely a few days back, Kawasaki has launched the naked Z250 in India and the company has also unveiled its elder brother Z300 at EICMA. The Z250 is a naked version of the Ninja 250 (not sold in India anymore) and the Z300 is the naked fighter based on the Ninja 300.

New-Kawasaki-Z300-Pics-green-front

Both the Ninja 300 and Z300 features the same 296 cc parallel twin, liquid cooled engine, producing 39 PS of maximum power at 11,000 rpm and 27 Nm of peak torque at 10,000 rpm. The lack of fairing though allows for some weight reduction. The bike now weighs 168 kg wet, (170 with optional ABS). There has also been considerable improvement in terms of ground clearance, with the Z300 scoring 145 mm as compared to the 125 mm in Ninja 300.

At 750 mm width, the Z300 gains 35 mm while the overall height of 1,025 mm sees a reduction of 85 mm from the baby Ninja. The length and wheelbase remains the same at 2,015 mm and 1,405 mm respectively.

New-Kawasaki-Z300-Pics (16)

The wheels, brakes and suspension components remains the same as that of the Ninja while the clip-on handle bar is replaced by a straight handlebar to allow for a much more relaxed riding position. The looks have been kept in tandem with the rest of the Z family lineage. The dual throttle valve aims to give strong power and torque output at all revs while the slipper clutch, present usually only in high end motorcycles, will help in reducing the shift times while making the process smoother.

The Z300 has been designed to be an entry level model in Europe and as a more powerful alternative to the Z250 in Thailand. India? Well, since the Z250 is already here, we do not see this naked 300 coming to us, at least for now…