Key highlights
- Kawasaki Eliminator to be axed soon
- It is not compliant with the E20 petrol
- Kawasaki Ninja 500 is also expected to be discontinued
Kawasaki is soon going to axe its middle-weight cruiser motorcycle, i.e. the Eliminator. The main reason behind the discontinuation is cited to be its incompatibility with the E20 petrol. The Eliminator is brought and sold in India as a completely built unit or CBU; it is not E20-compliant.
With that said, it is powered by a 451cc parallel-twin liquid-cooled engine, which is also shared with the Ninja 500. Hence, the possibility of Ninja 500 getting axed soon can not be denied as well.
Meanwhile, Kawasaki’s rest of the lineup, especially the popular bikes like the Ninja 650, Z650, Z650RS, Z900, and ZX-10R, are all E20-compliant. However, the 500 range comes as a CBU, and it does not get the ethanol-compatible engine.
Moreover, Kawasaki has no plans to reintroduce the Eliminator or the Ninja 500 with an ethanol-compatible engine any time soon in the future. In fact, the sales of the 500 platform were always on the lower side as the 650cc bikes were closely positioned, and most buyers would buy the 650 models.
So, business-wise, the elimination of the Eliminator from the lineup will possibly not distort the momentum of Kawasaki in India.
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