Kawasaki Ninja ZX-25R priced higher than the Ninja 650

• The bike will cost 15,990 New Zealand dollars (approximately Rs 7.9 lakh), ex-showroom 

• Will be more expensive than the Ninja 400 and Ninja 650

• Gets premium, supersport inspired components 

The Kawasaki Ninja ZX-25R is one of the most hyped motorcycles from the Japanese company in recent times. The excitement of a 250cc four-cylinder screamer's return after a gap of over two decades, along with cleverly drip-fed social media teases has everyone excited about this bike.

So far, we've seen what it looks like, heard what it sounds like with a flame-throwing aftermarket exhaust at 17,000rpm and even watched five-time WSBK champion Jonathan Rea ride it on track. However, there were two rather important things we still don’t know about this bike – the power and price. Kawasaki New Zealand has now revealed the answer to one of those questions as they announced that pre-bookings have been opened in the country. 

How much will it cost?

The initial post on the website has now been taken down, but the social media post is still live on the Kawasaki New Zealand Facebook page. This post quotes that the bike will be priced at NZ $15,990 (without registration charges), which works out to Rs 7.9 lakh at the exchange rates, as of writing this. As we expected, this bike is expensive and it has been positioned well above the Kawasaki Ninja 400, and even the Ninja 650, which costs about NZ $1,500 less. 

So why is the ZX-25R so expensive? Well, Kawasaki NZ says the bike has been designed with performance in mind, not price and that it gets serious kit including adjustable suspension with a Showa SFF Big Piston fork, power modes, traction control and a quickshifter. The single-disc front brake setup also gets a monobloc caliper but strangely uses just two pistons, unlike the four piston unit you’d expect at this level of power and price. The ZX-25R is wrapped around a new steel frame inspired by the H2, and then of course there’s the fact that it gets a four cylinder engine, which alone will drive the cost up significantly. 

In the website post that has now been removed, Kawasaki New Zealand mentioned that the ZX-25R was primarily developed for markets like Indonesia and Japan. That raises the question as to whether it will also be developed to meet Euro 5/BS6 emissions norms, something necessary for sale in Europe and India. However, beyond just local demand in the aforementioned Asian markets, it's quite probable that Kawasaki has also built this bike to rule in the 250cc category at the Asian Road Racing Championship (ARRC). As of today, the highly popular ARRC is dominated by the parallel-twin-powered Yamaha R25 and Honda CBR250RR, both bikes which are largely sold only in the Asian region. 

Will it come to India?

Kawasaki New Zealand says that deliveries will begin in December 2020 and that the bike will only be available on order. A few months ago, the New Zealand subsidiary opened up to feedback from its customers as to whether they should bring the bike there at all, given how expensive it was expected to be. Positive feedback led to the company opening pre-bookings for the region. 

If the bike does indeed meet the required emissions standards, and whether Kawasaki India comes to a similar conclusion as Kawasaki NZ is unclear at the moment. All we know for certain is that there are no plans to launch this bike in India this year. If Kawasaki does bring it to India, it could be priced between Rs 7.5 lakh to 8.5 lakh, if, like the ZX-6R and ZX-10R, it comes as an SKD (semi-knocked down unit).

The ZX-25R will undoubtedly make for a thrilling ride at our race tracks like the MMRT, but do you think you’d spend that kind of money on a bike that is expected to make between 45-55hp? Let us know below.