Kawasaki first teased the upcoming KLE at EICMA 2024 in the form of an exposed 21-inch front wheel, and the name KLE was visible. Now, the company has shared a new teaser video, showing glimpses of the motorcycle, with the words “coming soon”.
- Original KLE debuted in 1991 with a 498cc parallel twin
- New KLE likely to use same engine as Kawasaki Ninja 500
- Expected to debut at EICMA 2025
Kawasaki KLE 500: What can be seen?
Likely to use the 451cc engine from the Ninja 500 with a new chassis
In last year’s teaser, the visible shape of the two header pipes made it evident that this bike was likely to use the 451cc parallel twin engine from the Kawasaki Ninja 500. In that sense, the new-age KLE will be similar in intent to the original, and the same is likely to be the case with the chassis.
.png?w=700&c=0)
The previous teaser already confirmed that the bike would run a 21-inch front wheel and have a USD fork with a single front Nissin brake. From what little is visible in the new teaser video, we know that the bike will also have a simple steel box-section swingarm. It also appears that it will have spoked wheels with tubed tyres.
.png?w=700&c=0)
The bike in the video also appears to have a rather low-slung exhaust pipe on the right side that doesn’t appear to be very different in placement when compared to the Ninja 500. As for power and torque, expect to see numbers similar to the 45.4hp and 42.6Nm in the Ninja.
Kawasaki KLE 500 India launch
The bike will probably make it to India in 2026
However, if Kawasaki India were to localise this bike, as it has done with the new KLX230, the KLE 500 could end up having a bright future in India.
Azaman Chothia
Vishal Venugopal
