Kawasaki Versys 650 India launch on December 24th

Kawasaki India will end 2015 on a high as it will launch the new Versys 650 on December 24th in the Indian market. The Kawasaki Versys 650 will be brought in via the CKD route to India and will be the fifth motorcycle to be locally assembled in India after the Kawasaki Ninja 300, Z250, Ninja 650 and the ER-6n. Kawasaki hasn’t announced the pricing yet but through our sources ZigWheels has found out that the bike will carry am on road price of Rs 6.75 lakh in Mumbai. This means that the Kawasaki Versys 650 will be priced at a premium in comparison to its 650cc siblings as the Kawasaki Ninja 650 carries a sticker price of Rs 6.05 lakh while the ER-6n at Rs 5.58 lakh (both prices on-road Mumbai). The reason for the steep pricing of the Kawasaki Versys 650 is the fact that it would be offered with ABS as a standard fitment which makes it the first CKD Kawasaki motorcycle to offer the above.

The styling of the Kawasaki Versys 650 is similar to its litre-class sibling with a dual headlamps and a quarter fairing while the LED tail lamp has been inspired from the Kawasaki Z1000 street bike. Powering the bike is the same 650cc motor as seen on the Ninja 650 and the ER-6n but the engine has been tuned to better suit the dual purpose nature of the Versys 650. The 649cc parallel-twin has been retuned to increase performance further up in the rev range whilst improving fuel efficiency at the same time. The twin-pot mill develops 72PS of power and 66Nm of peak torque. Power is transmitted to the rear-wheel via a 6-speed gearbox. The windscreen on the Kawasaki Ninja 650 can be manually adjusted whereas a stronger subrframe allows the use of clean-mount panniers. Aside from the inclusion of ABS, the Versys 650 will also come with adjustable suspension springs up front as well as at the back.