Teased Ahead Of India Launch

While Kawasaki's India lineup starts with the locally manufactured Ninja 300, the brand's global range in most of its international markets starts with the 400 range comprising Ninja 400 and Z400. Both motorcycles have now been revealed in their updated iterations.

, Z400 Revealed

For 2022, Kawasaki has updated emission norms for the fully-faired sports bike as well as the naked streetfighter. Ninja 400 and Z400 now comply with the mandatory Euro 5 emission norms in European markets. Kawasaki offered Ninja 400 in India previously before it was discontinued in early 2020 when BS6 emissions kicked in.

With the sports bike adhering to Euro 5 norms, it is on its way to making a return to the Indian market. In fact, the Japanese brand has also teased the fully-faired sports bike on its social media handles hinting at its imminent launch in India. Both Ninja 400 and Z400 are based on the same platform and underpinnings.

While Ninja 400 flaunts a fully-faired look with twin LED headlight units and a clip-on handlebar, Z400 gets an aggressive streetfighter design with a wide handlebar. Both motorcycles pack common visual highlights, split-type seats, a slim raised tail section, a muscular 14-liter fuel tank and an upswept exhaust.

17-inch designer alloy wheels are also common for both bikes. There have been no styling updates on either of the bikes except for new colour schemes on both models. Ninja 400 is available in two colour options including Lime Green with Ebony (KRT Edition) and Metallic Carbon Gray with Metallic Matte Carbon Gray.

Powertrain, Hardware Specs

Powering both speed machines is a 399cc, liquid-cooled, parallel-twin engine that generates 44.3 bhp and 37 Nm of peak torque. While the power figure remains identical, torque output has declined by 1 Nm. Although, it shouldn't be a deal-breaker since kerb weight of both motorcycles remains the same.

This power plant is mated to a six-speed gearbox via a slip and assist clutch which is claimed to be 20 percent lighter than its previous iteration. No changes have been made to the cycle parts as well since both bikes continue to be suspended on 41mm telescopic forks up front and a preload-adjustable mono-shock. Braking is handled by a 310mm petal disc at front and a 220mm disc at rear which are aided by a dual-channel ABS.

- India launch teaserFeatures & Price

Other features on offer include a part digital and a part analogue instrument cluster. We would have liked it if the Japanese superbike brand could have updated the latest avatars of both models with a fully digital TFT display. The updated Ninja 400 has been priced at 6,250 GBP (around INR 6.04 lakh) while Z400 now costs 6,000 GBP (around INR 5.8 lakh). The last time Ninja 400 was on sale in India, it was priced at about Rs 5 lakh, ex-sh.