Kawasaki recently unveiled the new Z500 and the Ninja 500 at EICAM and now the Japanese motorcycle maker has launched the Z500 street naked in Europe, priced at approximately Rs 5.5 lakh. Here’s a detailed look at the new Kawasaki Z500.
Starting with the design, the new Kawasaki Z500 features typical ‘Z’ styling borrowed from the larger Z900. The motorcycle gets a muscular look with a sculpted fuel tank, tank shrouds, and a small headlight setup. The rear portion of the motorcycle gets minimal bodywork, while the split seats and the side-slung exhaust finish up the overall design.
In terms of equipment, the new Z500 gets telescopic front forks, a monoshock at the rear, ally wheels at both ends, disc brakes front and rear, LED lighting, and a choice between an LCD and TFT dash depending on the variant. The higher-spec SE version gets the TFT dash with phone connectivity.
Powering the motorcycle is a new 450cc liquid-cooled parallel-twin engine that makes 45bhp and 42Nm of torque with the help of a 6-sped gearbox. Kawasaki does not offer a quickshifter with the Z500, and based on the other motorcycles in this class by Kawasaki, one can expect linear power delivery.
Taking into consideration that Kawasaki sells its global lineup in India as well, we can expect the new Z500, along with its fully-faired sibling, the Ninja 500, to make its way to India soon, probably even replacing the Ninja 400. Stay tuned for more updates on the new Kawasaki Z500 and Ninja 500.