India Kawasaki Motor (IKM) surprised everyone with its stellar pricing on the locally assembled Ninja 1000 introduced last year. Following a similar route for its litre-class supersport motorcycle, Kawasaki will soon introduce the Ninja ZX-10R in the country that will be assembled at its facility in Chakan. Carandbike can confirm that the bike maker has started bringing the next batch of the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R as a Semi-Knocked Down (SKD) model, which puts the bike under a lower tax bracket and will make way for a juicy price cut on the bike in India. Bookings for the Ninja ZX-10R have begun for a token amount of Rs. 3 lakh, while the overall reduction in prices is expected to be around Rs. 3-4 lakh.
Reports suggest that the next batch of the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R will get the "Assembled in India" sticker, even as the bike in its entirety will be same as the international spec models. Prices for the Ninja ZX-10R are expected to start at around Rs. 15 lakh from the current price of Rs. 18.80 lakh (all prices, ex-showroom India), which should bring it on par with the Honda CBR1000RR, which is currently the most affordable litre-class supersport offering. While The CBR1000RR Fireblade received a price cut, thanks to the change in import duties, Kawasaki has opted for SKD assembly to bring the prices down further. That said, Kawasaki India has no plans to localise the ZX-10R in India to further reduce prices.
The Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R is one of the most manic superbikes that you can get your hands on and is a result of the bike maker's learnings from the World Superbike Championship. In fact, the machine has won the WSBK championship for the last three years. The track-spec Ninja ZX-10RR that boasts of better performance is also expected to see a price cut in this process.
Powering the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R is a 998 cc, in-line, four-cylinder, liquid-cooled engine tuned to produce 198 PS at 13,000 rpm and 113.5 Nm of peak torque at 11,500 rpm. The engine comes paired to a 6-speed gearbox. The bike comes with Showa Balance Free forks and brakes from Brembo with 330mm dual disc with four-piston callipers at the front and single 220mm semi-floating petal disc at the rear. The bike has a kerb weight of just 206 kg.
In addition, the Kawasaki ZX-10R comes with a host of rider management tech onboard including Kawasaki Engine Braking Control (KEBC), Kawasaki Launch Control Model (KLCM), Kawasaki Intelligent Braking System (KIBS), 5-mode traction control system, corner management function and Kawasaki's Quick Shifter (KQS).
