Kawasaki launches 2017 Ninja 1000 at an insane ₹9.98 lac

Kawasaki launches 2017 Ninja 1000 at an insane ₹9.98 lac

This is the world’s fastest saree guard

This is the Kawasaki Ninja 1000. It costs ₹9.98 lac ex-showroom and you get that saree guard free. Best deal in motorcycling!

For those who aren’t familiar, the saree guard is that giant, ugly metal lattice covering the rear wheel. This is a legal requirement for any two-passenger motorcycle made or assembled in India, ostensibly to prevent flowing ladies garments from getting caught in the wheel or chain.

If you and your saree-wearing partner are going places on the Ninja 1000, please send us proof. We’ll send you a free USB drive from the automobile brand of your choice.

More good news: it’s partially assembled in India, so you skip the 20% Maharashtra tax. That means it’s under ₹12 lac on-road, in Mumbai! And you get a heck of a lot of bike for the money. This should give pause to anyone in the market for a big bike. There isn’t much available that can match this package right now.

For starters, it looks a lot more like its sportier brethren the ZX10R and H2. Dual, aggressive-looking LED headights are standard. It runs a 1043cc inline-4 motor, slipper clutch, adjustable front and rear suspension, Kawasaki’s own cornering ABS, a 6-axis IMU, traction control, rider modes.

What all this means is that the motorcycle always knows where it is in time and space, even if you don’t. As motorcycles get increasingly powerful and capable of speeds that are illegal almost everywhere on the planet, it’s nice — nay essentiall — to have electronic nannies to rein everything in. Everzealous racer-wannabes crash their bikes every Sunday. You just don’t hear about it on WhatsApp, because shame.

All these features are available in a sport-touring format — a bit more upright than bent-over — so you don’t break your back or wrists on a single coffee run. This also means you’ll be able to buy fitted panniers to store luggage while on longer trips.

The downside: there are only 20 allocated for India right now, so run! (more will be made available later)

Also, the stripped-down Z900

There always seems to be an also-ran with Kawasaki launches. This time, it’s the Z900, which was launched back in March. That bike remains essentially unchanged, but loses the accessories that bumped its introductory price upto uncomfortable levels.

We still get the 900cc smooth inline-4 motor making 125hp/100Nm — quite a bump above the Z800 that it replaces. It’s also lighter and has better suspension than the old Z800. The only problem was the previous ₹9,00,000 price, which is now down to ₹7,68,000 ex-showroom (losing the free tank bag, tank pad, crash bungs, seat cowl, engine protection, 12v DC socket).