Kawasaki’s new teaser image on its official India website clearly lets us know of the company’s plans to enter the Indian cruiser segment with the Vulcan S. This parallel-twin-engine cruiser will go head-on against Harley-Davidson’s Street 750/Street Rod and Royal Enfield’s upcoming 650cc Interceptor; but the Enfield will be priced considerably lower. The Vulcan S should be priced between the Ninja 650 and Versys 650 at around 6.5 lakh (ex-showroom).
The Vulcan S is powered by the 649cc, twin-cylinder, DOHC, liquid-cooled engine which is mated to the six-speed gearbox equipped with a positive neutral finder. The engine is tuned to make 61hp at 7,500rpm and 63Nm of torque at 6,600rpm. These different figures are due to the cruiser-oriented tuning tweaks in the form of revised cam profiles, a modified intake tract, exhaust, and ECU.
One of the biggest features of this upcoming cruiser is what Kawasaki call, ‘ERGO-FIT’ – a three-way adjustment position of the seat, footpegs and handlebar to suit riders of different heights. The motorcycle is equipped with a single 300mm disc with the twin-piston caliper on the front and there’s a single 250mm disc with a single-piston caliper at the back. The bike will also come with a dual-channel ABS system.
The Vulcan S is expected to be locally-assembled alongside rest of the 650 family at the Chakan plant. The 6.5 lakh ex-showroom price can only be expected if Kawasaki launches it without accessories, unlike what they did with the Versys-X 300. The accessories on Versys-X 300 bumped up the price, considerably. We were expecting Kawasaki to launch the Vulcan S at the Auto Expo 2018, but the newest teaser could hint at an earlier date.
Ved Janve
Vishal Venugopal
Dinshaw Magol
