When Shigeto Nishikawa, Deputy Managing Director, India Kawasaki Motors, told the buyer, “Its my humble request that you drive it very, very carefully”, the participants at the launch of 1000cc Ninja H2 knew that something different was going to hit the city’s roads.
A press note says the bike achieves “intense acceleration and a top speed in a range that most riders have never experienced”.
Launching the supercharged, four-cylinder bike costing a little over ₹29 lakh today, Nishikawa said the Ninja H2 is one of Kawasaki’s top-end models. Supercharger is something that Ninja borrows from aeroplane technology. It strengthens Kawasaki’s offerings here, which include superbikes such as the Ninja ZX-14R, ZX-10R, Ninja1000, Z1000, Z800 and the Versys1000.
The market for 500cc and above machines is fast growing.
The market for machines higher than 500cc is estimated at about 10,000 units a year of which motorcycles of more than 1000cc are about 3,000 units.
Kawasaki expects to strengthen its offerings further over the next one year with half-a-dozen models.
These are spread across the range and include less powerful machines also, he said. The superbikes are retailed through half-a-dozen showrooms in major cities.