Kawasaki India opens pre-bookings for MY20 Versys 1000

Last month, Kawasaki had started to accept bookings for the MY20 Ninja ZX-6R and now, the company has started to accept bookings for the new Versys 1000 adventure tourer, for an amount of Rs 1.5 lakh at its dealerships across the country. The specification and price will be announced in due course, says the company. The deliveries of the bike will be after April 2019. The bookings for the new Versys 1000 are open till December 31, 2018. Like the MY20 ZX-6R, Kawasaki says that the new Versys 1000 will be produced in limited numbers and the bookings will be closed once the company achieves the target numbers.

The MY20 Versys 1000 will be a standard variant and it will be assembled at the company’s facility in Chakan. The adventure tourer will be powered by a liquid cooled inline four cylinder engine which features Electronic Throttle Valves (ETV), which enable the addition of Electronic Cruise Control. This eliminates the need of a throttle cable and replacing it will be the accelerator position sensor located on the handle bar. The suspension settings are also updated for more comfort, says the company.  Apart from the standard ABS, the Versys 1000 is also equipped with the Kawasaki Intelligent anti-lock Brake System (KIBS) and Kawasaki Traction Control (KTRC) that offers three ride modes for tackling different terrains. Other features that the bike comes with include adjustable windscreen, twin LED headlamps and a digital/analogue instrument console.

Internationally, the MY19 Versys 1000 is sold in the SE LT+ variant and it is powered by an inline 4-cylinder 1,043cc liquid cooled motor that puts out 102Nm of peak twist and comes mated to a 6-speed gearbox equipped with a bidirectional quickshifter. Rider aids in the bike include Kawasaki Electronic Control Suspension (KECS), Kawasaki Cornering Management Function (KCMF), KIBS, KRTC and electronic cruise control.

On the commencement of bookings for  the new Versys 1000, Yutaka Yamashita, managing director, India Kawasaki Motors Pvt. Ltd, said, “The brand new Versys 1000 is known as any road, any time motorcycle. It also has the most versatile adventure-style for fun sport riding and touring. The locally assembled Versys 1000 certainly gives us an advantage to sell the bike at a very attractive price, but most importantly, we are happy to create more buying opportunities for our highly enthusiastic customers. We had a good success with earlier Versys 1000. In the recent times, we have received good number of enquiries from customers and therefore we again expect a good success with the new Versys 1000.”

The bike will be available in one colour option only – candy steel furnace orange. The new Versys 1000 will compete with the Honda Africa Twin, which is priced at Rs 13.23 lakh, ex-showroom, Delhi.