| Until this green arrow landed a few days ago, if the most expensive motorcycle in India, the R15, wasn’t good enough for you, your next upgrade was going to cost at least a full 1000 per cent more. It is a ridiculously large gap, of course, and I am happy to report that the gap is being plugged. Too optimistic for you? Okay, now the gaping hole is smaller. Bajaj, having made us wait the customary two years, has finally launched the Kawasaki Ninja 250R in India, pegged at Rs 2.69 lakh ex-showroom. The Ninja 250R is Kawasaki’s largest selling motorcycle and it sets the stage for, among many other things, for Kawasaki’s other big bikes to filter into India in time. The 250R began life as the GPz250 in the ’80s and has continued more or less unchanged mechanically, design-wise and popularity-wise until two years ago, when Kawasaki turned out a hugely improved new Ninja 250R. Not only the was the new bike fully updated, it also cured the previous bike of a styling package that looked decidedly old. In came a ZX-6R/10R inspired set of lines, scaled down appropriately that has given Kawasaki’s smallest Ninja great street presence. Just to give you a context of why the Ninja is so important for Kawasaki and why it has remained so popular, consider the European license regs. In Europe, you get a beginner riders license that allows you to ride motorcycles up to 125cc think Honda Stunner. Then, up to the age of 25 you get an intermediate license that allows you to ride any bike, as long it makes, or is restricted to 33PS. Only after that age when it is assumed that sticking around for a quarter of a century bestows upon you a degree of maturity can you take the test and get a full motorcycle license that finally allows you to get the HonKawaYamaZuki of your dreams. This Ninja has remained at the top of the intermediate license class motorcycle for ears together. To be a good intermediate class motorcycle, certain traits are necessary and as you will see, the Ninja 250 is practically a textbook example, and in that, perhaps, a little un-Kawasaki as well. For India, Bajaj will import CKD kits from Kawasaki’s Thai operations and the kits will them be assembled at the company’s Chakan plant, near Pune. Bajaj has clarified that the motorcycle has not been ‘Indianised’ in any way save for the addition of the saree guard and a very neat one at that and the mounting for the front number plate another neat job, that. Going the CKD route means that we get the British specification of the Ninja 250R. Which is a good thing, because it means those of you who are willing to spend a bit of money, will be able to find performance parts for the Ninja 250 and make it go faster than stock. Also, CKD brings the duty penalty down to a fairly acceptable 10-12 per cent. Ah yes, you’re still smarting about the price. Well, Bajaj had announced a target price tag of Rs 2 lakh at the Auto Expo last time around for the baby Ninja. But since then, the market situation has changed, the currency markets have changed and all of it reflects in the price of the Ninja. Is the Ninja too expensive? Should it have been sub-Rs 2 lakh like the Kinetic-Hyosung Comet 250? We’ll come to that. First let us ride the green thing, shall we? The morning we were slotted to ride the Ninja at the track turned out gloomy.In my personal history of riding at the Chakan track,that is usually a great sign. All the Bajaj motorcycles that I was excited about riding generation 1 pulsar excepted have always been handed over on drippy mornings to me. When I finally rode off on to the track, it was still wet. Bajaj had warned us that they had only one Ninja available for riding, so trying too hard on lap one wasn’t on. But as I swizzed about remembering my lines, I realised that the Ninja wasn’t like any of the other Kawasakis I have ridden. I rode two ZX-9Rs, one of which gave me a fright with a huge tankslapper on a straight road and the other simply had too much power for all of the places I rode it through. The first model ZX-10R I rode was hard as a rock and the rear spun up so often that I was scared to actually open the throttle. This on a bone-dry day on newly laid clean tarmac. The 250R is nothing like that. It’s a friendly motorcycle. Power delivery is designed to encourage you to ride harder and if you are upgrading from, say, a Pulsar 180 or 200, the step up in power won’t actually feel like much until you look at the speedo that is. On the wet morning, I was thrilled to note that the IRC tyres a budget brand that has received some criticism abroad stick rather well and this was the first Ninja I was riding that wasn’t constantly trying to scare the life out of me. |
|
Tags: |
| kawasaki bajaj ninja 250r 250 250cc kawasaki ninja sport bike motorcycle |
Comment on "Fighting fit"
ADVERTISING
