Kawasaki India Confirms It Has No Plans to Start CKD Operations for Z800

The Kawasaki Z800 is one of the more popular offerings in the premium motorcycle segment, not to forget also the more value for money ones if you go by the power to price ratio. A consistent seller for the manufacturer, rumours emerged online suggesting that the Japanese manufacturer is looking to locally assemble the Z800 that will help boost the sales of this street-fighter. Currently brought to India as a CBU, the middleweight motorcycle is priced at Rs. 7.67 lakh (ex-showroom, Pune), and the CKD operations would have shaved a good Rs. 1-1.5 lakh off the asking price.

Had it been the case, Kawasaki India would've certainly seen a hefty increase in the number of footfalls at its dealerships. That said, the lowered price could end up cannibalising sales of its other offerings- the Ninja 650 and ER-6n- both of which are locally assembled at it's Pune facility.

The Kawasaki Z800 is powered by an 806cc in-line four-cylinder, liquid-cooled engine that is tuned to produce 111bhp at 10,200rpm and 83Nm of torque at 8000rpm. The motor is paired to a 6-speed gearbox. Suspension duties are handled by 41mm inverted front forks while the rear gets a Bottom-Link Uni-Trak monoshock setup. Braking performance comes from dual semi-floating 310mm petal discs with four piston calipers with a single 250mm petal disc with a single piston caliper. Being a CBU, the Z800 gets dual-channel ABS as a standard feature, which is missed out on the other locally assembled offerings.