Looking for a new bike: Kawasaki W175 earns a place on my list

Since my last motorcycle was a Royal Enfield Himalayan, I felt a significant weight difference.

BHPian DesertLynx34 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Happened to be in Kochi the past week, so dropped in at Kawasaki Kochi to have a look. The sales guys were really courteous and answered my concerns well and offered me a test ride promptly before I even asked them and then again, one today for a slightly longer one along the inner roads.

My thoughts

• The bike is better looking when seen upfront. Would have preferred some chrome bits seeing as they were going for that retro charm.
• Most affordable Kawasaki doesn't translate to cheap by any means. Looks well put together and pleasingly simple except...
•  Kawasakis have some of the weirdest-looking exhaust plumbing these days or the emission norms are gnawing on their brains a bit too much.
• The showroom had all the colours except the Metallic Grey on display. My pick would be the Ocean Blue. I didn't care about the Street versions except for the fact that they have tubeless tyres.
• Forget the spec sheet, real-use power and torque are adequate, at least in the urban environment. Don't expect to be Dani Pedrosa off the lights though.
• Perfect for zipping around in urban traffic. In-gear acceleration is fine. But you'll have to come down to first or second for steep slopes.
•  Front brake is good. Back one being a drum didn't bother me.
•  The tyres, though didn't feel bad as such, are too skinny. We had had some rains before the ride, so I was cautious.
•  I took it along the section of the road in front of the showroom and it had some uneven and unmarked patches with protruding manhole covers or something and then some awfully laid out humps on the inner lanes but the shocks behaved well.
• I'm 170cm tall, slender, the light-weight kind, so the bike dimensions are spot on and the ergonomics fitting. And since my last bike was the Himalayan, the weight difference is significant.

Overall

I'm actually looking for a bike right now and this bike has earned a place on my list.

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