Apart from celebrating motorcycling lifestyle and motorcycling in general, India Bike Week or IBW it is so lovingly called, also sees unveiling of new, India-bound motorcycles. Since this year IBW is celebrating a decade of bringing together motorcyclists from every nook and corner of the country, we are expecting a lot of two-wheeled action to take place at Vagator Hill Top, Goa. It looks like Kawasaki will be in the front line, taking charge of the assault by reviving an iconic moniker which also used to exist in India almost two decades back!
Kawasaki India has teased a new motorcycle that is set to be unveiled at IBW and looking at the silhouette of the motorcycle as well as design of the front wheel, it certainly looks like the Eliminator 450. The Eliminator 450 was recently introduced to the Americans but it holds a special place in the Indian context too. You see, when Kawasaki and Bajaj used to share one bed, the Kawasaki Eliminator used to be one of the only few ‘premium’ cruisers in the Indian market. After their fall out, the Eliminator became the Bajaj Avenger but now, the Japanese daddy is again going to claim custody of the Eliminator moniker.
The Eliminator 450 is bound to stack between the Kawasaki Ninja 400 and the Ninja Z650. It utilizes the same engine found in the Ninja 400 but with a slight bump in displacement and tuning, to aid low speed rideability. The Ninja 400 is a rather peaky motorcycle and eggs the motorcyclists to keep the throttle pinned in order to make it sing. The Eliminator 450 is going to be powered by a new 451cc engine that produces 45.4PS at 9000rpm and 42.6Nm at 6000rpm, and is mated to a 6-speed gearbox.
It might draw some aesthetic similarities to the Vulcan S but personally speaking, the Eliminator 450 looks slightly sportier and more proportionate than the Vulcan. The Eliminator 450 makes do with a set of telescopic forks at the front and twin shock absorbers at the back. The braking duties on the Eliminator are handled by a 310mm front disc and a 240mm rear disc, with dual-channel ABS. The bike gets 18-inch front and 16-inch rear alloy wheels, fitted with 130-section front and 150-section rear tubeless tyres. It might look like a bulky cruiser, but the weight doesn’t suggest the same because the Eliminator 450 tips the scale at just 176kg. Pretty compact for a 450cc twin-cylinder brawler, eh?
