After nearly a two-year break, Kawasaki has re-launched its Ninja 400 in the Indian market with a more emission friendly BS6 version.
In its previous BS4 avatar, the Ninja 400 made 45hp and 38Nm of torque out of its 399cc parallel-twin motor. However, in the latest BS6 version of the machine has impacted the Ninja’s performance figures, reducing 1Nm of torque over its BS4 version.
In most international markets, this is the smallest parallel twin from the Kawasakis. However, in the Indian market, the Kawasaki Ninja 400 BS6 is sold alongside the Ninja 300, which has remained mechanically unchanged, except for emission and ABS compliance, since the BS3 era, Autocar India reported.
As far as the colors are concerned, the Ninja 400, when sold here in its BS4 avatar, was available only in the signature Lime Green paint – a Kawasaki hallmark. Now though in its BS6 guise, it gets two paint options. There’s, of course, the Kawasaki Lime Green (Kawasaki Racing Team) for those who want the quintessential Kawasaki paint option. Alongside that is a stealthy Metallic Carbon Grey, which pairs a black-grey combination with green highlights.
As per a report published in the Autocar India, The Ninja 400 continues to be suspended by the same 37mm telescopic front fork and preload-adjustable monoshock at the rear. Paired to dual-channel ABS, the calipers at the front and rear both feature a twin-piston set-up. The steel trellis chassis keeping all these things together remains unchanged as well.
Unlike its primary rivals – the TVS Apache RR310 and the KTM RC390, which use a colour TFT display – the Ninja 400 manages with a semi-digital instrument cluster showing all the required information, although, it does get a full LED headlamp setup like the aforementioned duo.
When it comes to pricing, at Rs 4.99 lakh, the Ninja 400 is undoubtedly an expensive purchase. This price tag is all the harder to digest, given the fact that its primary rivals, as well as its peer from Kawasaki, the Ninja 300 (Rs 3.37 lakh), carry much more affordable price tags.
The KTM RC390 is priced at Rs 3.14 lakh and the TVS Apache RR 310 is even more affordable at Rs 2.65 lakh (Ex-Showroom).
Worth mentioning, given the pricing, it is the Kawasaki fanboys for whom the little Kwacker is selling in the Indian market. And until Kawasaki rectifies that, it will continue to sell in the diminutive numbers it did before.