Perhaps the most talked about motorcycle from the Tokyo Motor Show, at least when it comes to fans and journalists, the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-25R was also the least talked about machine, in terms of manufacturers releasing details.
Kawasaki pulled the wraps off a four-cylinder 250cc sport bike, and then said…nothing.
In fact, the only official thing that Kawasaki has said about the motorcycle since its unveiling is to put out a press release reminding us that the Japanese brand has said nothing of substance about the new model.
No price has been mentioned. No marks on the calendar, or hints on which markets will get it first (or get it at all).
The release of the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-25R is a great example of why brands need to have an engaged hand on their public relations, because all hell can break loose when you let go of the wheel.
While Kawasaki is still dropping the ball on this, let us try and bring some order to this chaos, both with what we know as fact, and what we can reasonably discern from those facts.
The Good
Thanks to Kawasaki Indonesia, we do know that the Ninja ZX-25RR has a steel chassis, and features big-bike items like Showa SFF-BP forks, traction control, power modes, and a quickshifter.
The motor is an obvious four-cylinder inline, with 250cc of displacement. The rumor is that the bike will make north of 50hp, as much as 60hp if you are feeling optimistic with the gossip from Japan. But, none of that has been confirmed.
There are strong indications however that the horsepower figure will be in the jaw-dropping range though, for several reasons.
For starters, the purpose of designing a four-cylinder 250cc engine is to take advantage of the bike’s ability to make revs easily, and with more engine rpms comes more power.
Secondly, and I will get into this more in a bit, the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-25R is set to fill the shoes of the Ninja 400, where the 250cc package makes more sense. This means hitting the 45hp mark, and perhaps surpassing it.
For anyone old enough to remember the gray market four-strokes that revved up to 20,000 rpm, the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-25R might not quite be the same bike from 30 years ago, but it is not far off either.
Tack on all the advancements that motorcycle manufacturers have made in the past few decades, like fuel injection, ride-by-wire, and traction control (editor’s note: each one of those technologies allowed the next to flourish, by the way), and you have a very competent small-displacement motorcycle. A rider’s bike.
The Bad
There has to be a catch to all of this, and of course there is one. Namely, the price. Kawasaki got itself pretty bent out of shape after the Tokyo Motor Show when pricing details were being talked about.
Team Green even went as far to release a press statement about the pricing rumors, and to confirm that no pre-order opportunities had officially begun with the Japanese brand.
This all because a price tag of 130,000,000 IDR was being banded about by the Indonesian motorcycle press, with Indonesia set to handle production on the Ninja ZX-25R.
I will save you the currency conversion, this works out to be about $9,500 and €8,500 for the western markets. At those price points, the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-25R is a non-starter.
Even if the bike brings performance levels above the Ninja 400, the novelty of the high-revving quarter-liter is just not enough to justify paying more than a proper middleweight twin, that has close to twice the power.
Now, it is possible that the rumored pricing figure from Indonesia is incorrect. And if that was the case, then Kawasaki’s press release about pricing and availability would certainly make sense.
But, the big question still remains. At what price point in the American and European markets does the Ninja ZX-25R find its sweet spot on the value meter?
I would argue that in the United States, we would have to see a price tag of under $6,000 to make the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-25R slot in correctly on the performance vs. price index.
This price point would put the ZX-25R nicely in Kawasaki’s lineup, just above the $5,000 Ninja 400 and the $7,400 Ninja 650. It also compares well to the more powerful offerings, like the $7,500 Yamaha MT-07 and the $6,700 Honda CBR500R.
To get to that price point though, Kawasaki will likely have to subsidize the cost of the Ninja ZX-25R, and it is not clear that the Japanese brand really needs to do that, especially when the Kawasaki Ninja 400 is taking the small-displacement space by force in the USA.
The Ugly
This is the part where we get to the ugly truth of the matter: the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-25R was not made for the American market, and its place in the European market is dubious in my mind as well.
Since the Tokyo show, Kawasaki USA has been quietly telling US journalists that the Ninja ZX-25R will not be coming to American soil, and frankly we shouldn’t be surprised by this.
The Ninja 400 sells well in the American market, and the way insurance and licensing works in the USA gives little advantage to making a machine below the 399cc mark. As such, price and performance are king, and the Kawasaki Ninja 400 has both of those attributes in spades.
Now in the European market, we can begin to see some daylight for the ZX-25R, purely because the insurance restrictions between a 250cc machine and a 400cc machine are material enough to move the needle, and there is some possibility that Kawasaki could release an A1 license compliant version of the ZX-25R for new riders.
Right now, Kawasaki lists only the Ninja 125 and Ninja 400 as available, which leaves a nice 250cc hole that could be filled in the lineup. Based on these factors, I would give 50/50 odds on seeing the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-25R in European dealerships. But, I do still have some reservations.
What’s Really Going On Here
My educated guess on Kawasaki’s thought process on the ZX-25R centers around the bike’s Tokyo debut, and its Indonesian production plans. Namely, this isn’t a bike built with the western markets in mind. It was primarily designed for Southeast Asia, with maybe availability in the home market of Japan as well.
All of this comes back to the biggest thing that the Ninja ZX-25R has going for it, and that is its size. In the Asian markets, the slow boil of the Kawasaki Ninja 250, to the Kawasaki Ninja 300, and now to the Kawasaki Ninja 400 greatly affected who could buy into this motorcycle segment on a green bike.
That 150cc delta brings with it not only added insurance costs, but also increased taxes…in some markets to the tune of 100%. The feature-creep on displacement for the Ninja lineup brought with it real hurdles on who could get onto the machine, and so Kawasaki had to find a solution for those riders left behind.
So, the clever minds at Kawasaki figured out a way to work around the system, while at the same time creating a captivating motorcycle. The recipe is simple: make a high-performance 250cc machine.
A bike with similar power and performance to the Ninja 400, but in a package that hits the wallet more like a 250cc machine. That is what we call a win/win.
This helps Kawasaki offer a more premium motorcycle to the Asian markets, but in a way that makes more sense to the constraints of the region.
It is actually a pretty clever way of achieving a goal, and as such, the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-25R highlights how important markets like those in Southeast Asia are to the Japanese brand.
These markets are rapidly developing, but they are not analogous to the United States or Europe in their growth.
These markets are changing rapidly, but we have to note that they are evolving in their own way. Their end point isn’t another USA, Canada, England, France, or even Japan.
These counties are unique in their growth and how they will use motorcycles going forward, and motorcycle brands are going to have to adapt unique solutions for riders in India, Indonesia, Thailand, China, and so on.
While I am sure loyal A&R readers had hopes of reviving the 1980’s grey market machines that captivated with their stratospheric red lines, this news likely means that we will never see a ZX-25R on American soil…unless of course, intrepid riders import this 250cc Ninja on their own, through some grey market loophole perhaps?
Maybe, this is just history re-repeating?
Photos of the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-25R from the Tokyo Motor Show:
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