New Kawasaki Ninja 1000 launched at Rs 9.98 lakh

The litre-class Kawasaki Ninja 1000 has arrived on Indian shores and carries a sticker of Rs 9.98 lakh (ex-showroom).

So what does that near 10 lakh price tag get you? First off, you get a bike that looks stunning. There’s no denying that the 2017 Ninja 1000 is quite the looker, especially with the fresh design including those swanky LED headlamps and a split fairing among other things. On top of that you get that sweet 1,043-cc in-line four which was present in the previous model, and produces 142 PS @ 10,000 rpm and 111 Nm or torque peaking a 7,300 rpm. That explosive engine is mated to a six-speed gear box.

Suspension-wise, the 2017 Ninja 1000 sports 41mm inverted cartridge forks with stepless compression and rebound damping and adjustable preload up front, and a horizontal monoshock also with stepless compression and rebound damping, and remotely adjustable spring preload doing duty at the back. Braking power is brought to you by dual 300-mm petal-type discs with 4-piston monobloc calipers at the front wheel, and a single piston 250-mm petal disc at the back. Of course ABS comes as standard, and in this new model, so does traction control, wheelie control and cornering ABS, thanks to an intelligent IMU unit.

The new Ninja 1000 is available in two colour options – black and green, and only 20 units will be sold here in India initially. Along with the Ninja’s launch, Kawasaki also announced the price of the street naked Z900, which carries a sticker of Rs 7.68 lakh (ex-showroom). Both bikes are assembled as Semi Knock Down (SKD) units in Kawsaki’s new Chakan facility, which is the reason behind the competitive pricing on offer.

With Kawasaki seceding from Bajaj here in India and breaking out on their own, these are interesting times for the Japanese brand, and products such as the Ninja 1000 and Z900 will play a pivotal role in deciding the brand’s future within our country.