Loved the beautiful Kawasaki W175 but still decided not to buy it

I feel that in a sea of Royal Enfield Hunter and Bajaj Pulsar models, this one is very simple and approachable.

BHPian Aluminium recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Went to check this bike out at the Kochi Showroom and I loved it.

Likes:

• Proper retro bike.
• Smooth engine. Feels ok even when revving it out.
• Pretty light to move around. But feels hefty and tight, in a good way.
• Approachable seat height. My younger brother will be able to ride that bike. And when I am off-site, he could use it.

Dislikes:

• The engine was quite hot after 2 kms. SA told me the bike just came back after doing some showroom duties.
• Showroom experience. I am looking for a bike because I need one immediately for my daily commute. I walked down there once to enquire and once to remind them about sending the price list so I could sort out my financials. Honestly, though, I don't think they care about selling it at all. Asked them for a long test ride both times. They haven't gotten back to me even now. It is always me initiating a conversation. Reminds me of trying to talk to the prettiest girl in the class.

The bike's good. In a sea of Hunters and Pulsars, this one is very simple and approachable. And beautiful. Just take off the saree guard and the grab handle. Decided not to go with it anyway because of the less-than-average showroom experience. Might contact the Calicut showroom to get a quote. But at that point, is it worth the trouble? I understand now, the reason for people buying commuters from commuter brands. Looking at the CB300R and maybe waiting for the rumoured RX100.

Here's what BHPian Balaji31582 had to say about the matter:

I was very interested in trading off my TBTS 2008 for this bike. I am from Chennai and the dealer is in OMR.

Did reach out to me a couple of times after I registered my interest online on the Kawasaki site.

But the observations I have are:

• Kawasaki themselves don't show curiosity or build this as a brand to have a tribe around the W series. Why I want that is because of long-term maintenance and the cost of ownership.
• I liked how simple they have kept the bike but when the likes of Bajaj started giving dual channel ABS as standard equipment for similar price bikes, Kawasaki could have at least added an optional accessory kind of allowing us to get it while booking. Rather they have rubber shoes at the rear if I am correct.
• Last one, could be a nagging point, still, if Kawasaki thinks this is a mass commuter bike, they should have signed up for an expansion of dealers at least in tier 1 cities. They can have the Ninjas and Z series in a different showroom but for the W series, they can have a road map for 175, 250, and 300 and sell the commuter separately. People like me will get more confidence to buy a commuter from Kawasaki amidst the likes of RE, Bajaj, Honda, and TVS. This might be too much to ask as it will scream exclusivity for commuters but in my mind I think sometimes the dealers don't push these bikes because they might assume their identity of dealing sports or high-performing bikes could get diluted.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.