Kawasaki has launched the street-version of the Ninja 250R titled 'Z250' in Indonesia, and there is a high probability of it heading to India

Kawasaki has launched its latest offering for the Asian markets, the Z250 naked bike, in Indonesia. The Z250 will be the street version of its faired Ninja 250R and will be powered by the same motor as on the baby Ninja – a parallel-twin, liquid-cooled, DOHC 250cc unit with 8-valve and will be mated to a six-speed transmission. Kawasaki hasn’t revealed power figures yet but we assume it to be close to the 33.5PS developed by the 250R mill and torque figures to be hiked from the existing 22Nm. 

Visually, the bike looks like a shrunken version of the Z-800, which works in favour of the bike. The sharp lines on the tank and at the rear give the bike an aggressive stance and the compact headlight adds more character to the overall design. Apart from the engine, the z250 shares its frame, instrumentation console, front forks and rear suspension set-up with its faired sibling. In theme with the street bike design, the ergonomics of the bike have been altered for a more upright riding position.

Kawasaki has priced the Z250 at Rs 2.6 lakh in Indonesia and if they are successful in pricing it similarly in our country, they’ll have a serious contender to take on the up-coming KTM 390 Duke and the naked version of the Hyosung GT250R.

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Mumbai: Domestic auto maker Mahindra & Mahindra plans to launch its 300 cc bike 'Mojo' next fiscal and said it will also roll out variants of its scooter series.

"We are going through testing protocols right now for the engine. We are hopeful of its launch in the next fiscal," president of two-wheeler sector and member of the group executive board, Mahindra & Mahindra, Anoop Mathur, said here after the preview of 110CC bikes.

The company is taking all possible steps to make sure that the engine, vehicle and composite are duly tested and validated before it hits the road, he said.

Mahindra 2 Wheelers also plans to roll out a new model of its scooters portfolio by third quarter of next fiscal, Mathur said adding within the next fortnight, a variant of 'Rodeo' scooter is set to be launched.

"We want our presence across segments and ranges. Our plan is to come out with new models of scooters and motor cycle at frequent intervals over the next three to five years," Mathur said.

The company, which has forayed into 110 cc motorcycle segment with the unveiling of two models, 'Pantero' and 'Centuro' last Friday, is working on the bikes exports, which could commence before March, 2013.

"It is our strategic plan to have a significant presence in the motor cycle exports market. We hope to start shipping out our bikes within this fiscal," Mathur said.

The company has earlier said that its two models, 'Pantero' and 'Centuro' were designed completely in-house at the Mahindra R&D centre in Pune and powered by the MCi-5 engine manufactured at the company's Pithampur facility in Madhya Pradesh.

The company has invested Rs 100 crore in the research and development of the products.
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