After equipping the motorcycle with adjustable traction control for the first time this year, Kawasaki has limited the news on the Ninja 650 for model year 2024 to the addition of a new color scheme. The KRT edition and the matte gray version have remained, to which a fresh third color has been added.
Admittedly, in terms of sportiness, the Ninja 650 has already been overtaken by competition left and right (although it is still not a big deal in terms of offering), but look at the sales figures and it is doubtful whether it was a wrong choice not to go with that to keep up with the trend.
When Kawasaki launched the Ninja 650 in 2017 as a successor to the ER-6f, the name change was a conscious choice by Team Green to make it part of the Ninja family, but actually the name Ninja 650 SX have covered the load better, especially after the decision was made in Akisha to rename its bigger brother Z 1000 SX as Ninja 1000 SX.
In fact, the Benelux importer was convinced that Kawasaki Europe had positioned it too sportily, and they were afraid that it would scare off potential customers. Our Eastern neighbors in Nassau organized a special event to correct that. To let us experience that the Ninja 650 had much more to offer.
Which resulted in a 500 kilometer indoor tour with the Ninja 650 Touring Edition, a Ninja 650 equipped with hardshell saddlebags that – as we would later experience when we took it to Scotland and Northern Ireland – were large enough to carry to go on holiday for a week. And just to give you an idea: that 500 km included three extensive photo stops, a picnic somewhere in a picturesque location and waiting until the photographer had sorted out all the photos.
Aprilia may be proud to have the sportiest engine in its class with the RS 660, and strictly speaking there is of course no way to get in between that, but all that sporty Tralala does have its price tag, which is at least in the mid-range segment. is so important. It’s not about who is the best, but about who offers the most value for money.
This does not alter the fact that Kawasaki has improved the Ninja 650 since its introduction, but the adjustments have mainly been made to make the motorcycle even more versatile and to respond to the wishes of the customer, who nowadays wants to do everything digitally. .
Three years ago, in addition to LED lighting around a TFT color display, the motorcycle also received Bluetooth connectivity, allowing you to read a range of information on your couch via the Kawasaki Rideology app, including a route logbook and maintenance information.
This year the Ninja 650 also received ADAS in the form of adjustable traction control, called Kawasaki Traction Control (KTRC) by the greens, adjustable in 2 positions (Mode 1 and Mode 2) and an off switch. This applied (and still applies) not only to the regular version, the 35 kW version also received traction control. However, with the difference that you only had the choice between TC-on and TC-off.
For 2024, Kawasaki has now come up with a third color in addition to the two existing colors Lime Green KRT edition and Metallic Matte Graphenesteel Gray: Ebony with Candy Lime Green accents. The 2024 Ninja 650 will be available from Kawasaki dealers from October, prices will be announced later.
– Thanks for information from Motorfreaks.