Finally it’s all set and done. We had posted a news recently that Kawasaki Ninja 650R might be launched on June 8 in India. This news had no official confirmation, but still we were pretty sure about the rumour. The reason was the interview of Eric Vas, the President of Bajaj Auto in which he had mentioned that a bigger Ninja might be launched in another month or so.
Soon after that, there was a teaser video in Bajaj India website of Ninja 650R with the words ‘Coming Soon’. That’s when I started checking Bajaj site everyday and today as I was doing this scheduled task of mine, I saw this image where it states 16 more days to go. Now, we can say officially that June 8 is the date set for Ninja 650R’s launch.
The Kawasaki 650R would now take on the Korean brand Hyosung’s GT650R directly. If my guess goes wrong, this bike would be priced at around 50000 bucks more than Hyosung’s GT650R. But for this price, you certainly get value for the money you shed out from your pocket. The price has to be competitive, unlike what happened at the time of Ninja 250R’s launch. The reason for this, being the fact that buyers can choose between Hyosung and Kawasaki.
What a transition we are facing. A few years back, the trend was to manipulate the fuel economy of bikes, projecting whooping figures of 110 or 120 km for every litre of petrol filled. Now, on the contrary, the petrol price is skyrocketing but bikes with higher displacements are being launched.
What makes me happy here is that after a couple of years or so, once this 600cc segment gets saturated, then would begin the entry of 1000cc bikes making it very common to see these bikes on road. Wow, how great would that be? Just waiting for that historic day.
Kawasaki Ninja 650R India Specifications
Overall length : 82.7 in.
Overall width : 29.9 in.
Overall height : 47.2 in.
Seat height : 31.1 in.
Kerb weight : 449.8 lbs.
Engine type : Liquid-cooled, DOHC, four-valve per cylinder, parallel twin.
Displacement : 649cc.
Bore x stroke : 83.0 x 60.0mm.
Compression ratio : 11.3:1.
Cooling type : Liquid.
Fuel injection : Digital fuel injection with two 38mm Keihin throttle bodies.
Ignition : Digital CDI.
Transmission : Six speed.
Final drive : O-ring chain.
Frame : Semi-double cradle, high-tensile steel.
Wheelbase : 55.5 in.
Front suspension : 41mm hydraulic telescopic fork.
Rear suspension : Single offset laydown shock with adjustable spring preload.
Front tire : 120/70×17.
Rear tire : 160/60×17.
Front brake : Dual 300mm petal discs with two-piston callipers.
Rear brake : Single 220mm petal disc with single piston calliper.
Colours available : Candy Lime Green, Ebony and Metallic Island Blue.
Regards,
M.Naren.
Author – BikeAdvice.in
