- Likely to replace the Ninja 400 in India
- New 451cc, twin-cylinder engine makes 45.4bhp and 42.6Nm
- Could be launched in two variants
Kawasaki India is expected to launch the new Ninja 500 by around March-April 2024. The Ninja 500 was unveiled last year at the EICMA and is expected to replace the Ninja 400 in India.
The big talking point about the Ninja 500 is its new, 451cc, parallel-twin engine. It develops 45.4bhp at 9,000rpm and 42.6Nm at 6,000rpm. The engine is paired with a six-speed gearbox and has an assist and slip clutch. Kawasaki says that the new mill has been tuned to offer a better, more usable torque spread than the Ninja 400’s engine.
Besides the new engine, Kawasaki has also come up with a fresh, more aggressive design for the Ninja 500. The twin-LED headlights, for instance, are sleeker than the Ninja 400’s while the fairing has a layered design. The tail section is typically narrow and rises upwards from the mid-section. The Ninja 500 certainly looks good and should catch a lot of attention on our roads, especially in the Kawasaki Racing Team (KRT) colours.
As for the chassis, the bike employs a steel trellis frame, with a conventional telescopic fork at one end and a monoshock at the other. The bike rides on 17-inch wheels shod with Dunlop Sportmax tyres. Braking duties, meanwhile, are taken care of by a single disc at the front and the rear, with dual-channel ABS as standard.
The bike gets a decent number of features as well, such as all-LED lights and an instrument cluster with phone connectivity using a dedicated app. However, the standard Ninja 500 gets an LCD display, while the SE variant gets a colour TFT display.
Kawasaki is expected to price the Ninja 500 at around the Rs. 5.2 lakh to Rs 5.4 lakh mark, if it chooses to bring the bike to India via the CBU route. However, if they choose the CKD route, which we hope they do, expect the bike to sport a significantly lower price tag.
