Kawasaki Z250 heading to India
K awasaki has turned serious towards the Indian Market with 6 models on the offering. ZX-10R, ZX-14R, Ninja 1000, Z1000, Ninja 650 & 300...
Kawasaki has turned serious towards the Indian Market with 6 models on the offering. ZX-10R, ZX-14R, Ninja 1000, Z1000, Ninja 650 & 300. Kawasaki has just announced that there next offering for the Indian market will be Z250 making it the second bike from the Z series in India.
The Z250 is a naked street fighter which looks very similar to its elder sibling Z800 which is a very good thing. It looks big but has a very compact feeling from the saddle.
The Z250 borrows its plant from the Ninja 250 featuring a 4 stroke liquid cooled parallel twin with 8 valves and DOHC. It produces similar power & Torque figures as the Ninja 250, 32PS@11000 RPM and 21Nm@10000 RPM. It also comes with Dual Throttle Valves for better Efficiency and a Linear throttle Response. The low end and mid range torque has been increased for better rideability in the city for which it is aimed at. Kawasaki has added 3 more teeth at the rear sprocket to give it a higher gear ratio than the Ninja 250 for better city performance and hence it doesn't feel sluggish. It also features a sleeveless die cast aluminium cylinder for better heat dissipation which will increase the engine efficiency.
Talking about the physical attributes, the bike has a very distinct and beastly headlamp assembly which is an instant attention grabber. It hosts a 55/60 watt Head lamp, though there are no led lamps anywhere on the bike. It comes with a 110/70-17 front tyres and 140/70-17 rear tyres from IRC, the same which is doing its duty on the Ninja 300. The seat of the bike is hard but the seating position is comfortable as well as sporty with a wide handlebar making it a nimble handler for the size and a 1400 mm wheelbase help in achieving the same. Kawasaki calls the seating position the "Forward crouching stance". The seat height is a comfortable 785 mm with a 145 mm ground clearance which is good enough for Indian Roads. The bike weighs 4 kilos less as compared to the Ninja 300 at 168 kilos with oil and fuel. The fuel tank is large with a capacity of 17 liters and is well designed giving a very good Knee Recess. The Exhaust is the same as the Ninja 300's with a stainless steel heat shield. The dashboard is also similar to the Ninja 300's except for the amber backlit digital display instead of white and it gives a more aggressive feeling.
Braking Duties are handled by a 290 mm petal disc brakes with a twin pot caliper at the front and 220 mm petal disc brakes with twin pot calipers at the rear which provide sufficient stopping power.
As far as the performance and handling goes, the Z250's acceleration should be anywhere around 7 secs for 0-100 and a true top speed of at least 158 km/h showing around 167 km/h on the speedo while some people have also clocked as much as 187 km/h on the speedo. Practically speaking, 150 km/h comes up in no time with the rider feeling very less wind resistance however anything more than that makes it difficult to handle owing to the naked character and design of the motorcycle. Handling is nimble and you don't really feel that you are maneuvering a 1400 mm long wheelbase bike in traffic and the increased low and mid range torque does help too. The bike lets you attack corners as high speeds and inspires a lot of confidence.
Exhaust note is a bit disappointing though, kind of silent and smooth for a beast of a machine it portrays to be. A more throaty exhaust note would have done justice to this beast. We recommend an after market exhaust to fix that.
Kawasaki has indicated that the ex-showroom price would be around 3.00 lac INR. Stay tuned for the official confirmation from the manufacturer and watch the space for more updates. The launch is expected to be in June 2014. It's just a matter of time that Kawasaki goes totally solo in the Indian Market breaking ties from Bajaj.
- Ride Safe
Technical Specifications
Engine :
Type: 4-stroke, liquid-cooled Parallel Twin
Maximum Power: 23.5 kW {32 PS} / 11.000 rpm
Maximum Torque: 21.0 Nm {2.1} kgf.m / 10.000 rpm
Bore x Stroke: 62.0 x 41.2 mm
Cylinder Volume: 249 cm
Valve System: DOHC, 8 valves
Fuel System: Fuel Injection (ѳ28 mm x 2) with dual throttle valves
Ignition system: Digital
Cooling System: Liquid-cooled
Compression Ratio: 11.3: 1
Frame :
Suspension Front: 37 mm telescopic fork
Rear Suspension: Bottom-Link Uni-Trak with gas-charged shock and 5-way adjustable preload
Brakes Front: Single 290 mm petal disc with dual-piston caliper
Brakes Rear: Single 220 mm petal disc with dual-piston caliper
Tires Front: 110/70-17 M / C (54s)
Rear tire: 140/70-17 M / C (66S)
Length x Width x Height: 2.010 x 750 x 1.025 mm
Axis Wheels distance: 1,400 mm
Distance to Land: 145
Weight: 168 kg
Fuel capacity: 17 liters
Trail: 26/82 mm
Drivetrain :
Total Transmission: 6-speed, return
Primary Reduction Ratio: 3.087 (71/23)
Gear 1: 2.600 (39/15)
Gear 2: 1789 (34/19)
Gear 3: 1409 (31/22)
Gear 4: 1160 (29/25)
Gear 5: 1.000 (27/27)
Gear 6: 0.893 (25/28)
Final Reduction Ratio: 3.286 (46/14)
Type System Final Drive: Drive chain
Overall Drive Ratio: 9.056
Coolant Capacity: 1.5
Clutch: Wet, multi plate.
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