re: Kawasaki W175 coming to India. EDIT: Launched at Rs. 1.47 lakh I don't think this bike is that bad. I mean, even though a cursory look would give a lacklustre impression, I think this holds some promise.
Let's try to break the bike down a bit. It's got similar specs as my 12-year-old Suzuki 150 or almost any air cooled 150 from 10-15 years ago.
> Makes around the same power... BUT from a 177 cc motor. It does have a decent displacement advantage. It could be faster, easier to ride. We'll have to wait for detailed ride reports to see what it's like in the real world.
> 30mm diameter thin fork legs. That's a bit sad looking in the face of the current 150ccs all sporting ~40mm forks, and the likes of the Ronin featuring USDs for the same price. Then again, I don't have any real complaints with the thin forks on both my 150s, and these forks do go well with the retro image of the W175.
> Twin rear shocks, though this is neither good nor bad. I certainly have no complaints with them on my Suzuki. And for a bike trying to be retro, twin shockers fit the description well.
> Thin tyres. 80mm wide front, and 100mm wide rear tyres are a bit disappointing. Looks anaemic. Atleast 110mm wide tyres at the rear would've been nicer. Then again, the advantage of thin tyres is, my Suzuki with 90F and 100R is agile like a squirrel, even while sporting 18 inch wheels. So, I'd expect the W to be a squirrel on drugs.
> Wire spoke wheels. Punctures are a pain with tubed tyres. But this is the price one must pay for going proper retro and not neo retro.
> Drum brake at the rear. Why in 2022 would they not just put a disc? Then again, it's a light bike, unlike the Hunter Retro. At 135 kgs, the W can easily get away with drum brakes.
> 135 kg wet weight+1320 mm wheelbase. This is the talking point of the bike. I wager it'll be easy-peasy to live with, and quite the agile handler. I believe this would sway many a retro seeker who can't\don't want to live with the weight of REs.
> Halogen bulb headlight. Sigh. Again, par for the course for a retro. But atleast, it's apparently a 60 watt bulb.
> Outdated instrument cluster. No tacho. Another sore point about retro designs. Bah. But it is what it is.
All in all, a cheap Kawasaki, but appears competent enough alongside my Suzuki. And this cheap Kawasaki still appears to be better than the cheap RE in my books.
I mean, the Hunter Retro competes in price, but I don't know. Apart from the engine, the bike appears to be specced out similar to the W175. I mean, thin tyres, wire wheels, drum brakes at the rear, barebones instrumentation, halogen lights, etc etc.... And REs are slow as heck for their engine capacities. If the Ronin can outrun the Hunter with its 125cc displacement defecit, the W175, with its ~50kgs lower weight, may possibly be able to keep up with the Hunter. I know my Suzuki can easily keep up with UCE RE 350s. Then again, that rear sprocket on the W looks tiny...
Kawasaki's marketing spiel also claims to be offering build quality from a segment above, whatever that means. Is that supposed to mean the W is built like the Ninja and Z250s from a decade and half ago? That's still not bad at all.
Anyway, the FZ-X seems to be the main competitor in terms of class of motorcycle where it makes around the same power, weighs similar, albeit offering a more modern experience at 20k less onroad KA. It's a solid pick.
The Ronin is the biggest rival though, I think. For the same price as the Kawasaki, TVS is offering a substantial amount of bike and biking (in the same colours too). Again, it's a more modern experience with all the flash and tech, unlike the much simpler W and the Hunter Retro.
Anyway, now that I've seen the W a step closer, I can understand what game Kawasaki is playing. I'm half interested. If the bike came with a 250 or 300cc motor, I'd be looking at it very closely. I'm not into the retro fad, but the utter practicality of such a bike attracts me. A fast, lightweight, comfortable, agile and versatile bike that can take beating upon beating and jump back up for another round hard-appeals to me.
I don't know who's gonna be buying the W175, but I hope people do. And I hope Kawasaki is buoyed by success to make more small capacity motorcycles in India like develop a W250\300 or bring the KLX230, KLX300 rather than keep selling decade old CKD Ninjas at bonkers prices.
Last edited by drt_rdr : 26th September 2022 at 02:16.
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