That’s ‘Kwick’ — months after showcasing the Ninja 500 at EICMA, Kawasaki has launched the new fully-faired motorcycle in India, priced at Rs 5.24 lakh, ex-showroom. The new Ninja 500 gets a larger engine compared to the Ninja 400 and is priced the same, suggesting that the 500 will replace the 400 soon.
The Kawasaki Ninja 500 is based on a trellis frame and is the newest sport-tourer from the Japanese brand, featuring a full fairing, clip-on bars, split headlight design similar to the other Ninjas and is available in a single colour option: Metallic Spark Black.
India does not get the SE version of the Ninja 500, meaning the motorcycle gets an LCD instrument console with phone connectivity instead of a TFT dash. That said, the Ninja 500 gets telescopic forks, a monoshock at the rear, 17-inch wheels, disc brakes at both ends and a dual-channel ABS amongst others.
Powering the new Ninja 500 is a 450cc, liquid-cooled parallel-twin engine that makes 45bhp and 42.6Nm of torque, mated to a six-speed gearbox. The Ninja 500 does not get a quickshifter, or other electronic aids such as cornering ABS, traction control, or launch control.
The new Ninja 500’s primary competition includes the new Aprilia RS457, KTM RC390 which will soon see an update, and the Yamaha R3. While the RC390 and the RS457 are built in India, the R3 and the Ninja 500 are sold as CBUs.
