Kawasaki is studying a four-pot quarter litre motorcycle,
“including pricing and marketing” strategies for the product.
Kawasaki is not new to the world of four pot quarter
litres. Back in the late 80s and 90s, their Kawasaki ZXR250 was a 249 cc
transverse four cylinder machine which redlined at 19,000 rpm. The output was
capped to 45 hp due to Japanese regulations but could stretch out to well above
50 hp. With modern day technologies like fuel injection, ride by wire and
high-performance cylinder material, reaching output levels of the ZXR250 will
be highly probable.
The Kawasaki Ninja 250 with four cylinders will be a
lone wolf in modern day marketplace, much like what the ZXR250 was in the early
2000s when all the other Japanese brands had moved to a twin cylinder setup for
the quarter litre segment. Kawasaki though will have more grunt to fight the
Honda CBR250RR which with its 38.7 PS output is the most powerful series
production quarter litre.
If a decision is made to produce the motorcycle, a
premium pricing is expected to be in place for the upcoming Kawasaki Ninja 250
four pot. After all, Kawasaki has been known for a technology driven brand and
not a volume driven one.
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