Pricing announced for Kawasaki ZX-25R

Wednesday, 10 June 2020

Kawasaki New Zealand has confirmed the screaming ZX-25R will make it to local roads, albeit for a price.

The 250cc inline-four sports bike will start at $15,990 plus on-roads, pushing it way above the likes of Kawasaki's Ninja 400 learner machine and only a few grand away from the ZX-636 supersports.

However, the ZX-25R is really in a class of one and so can afford to dictate pricing a bit. No other manufacturer offers anything similar, as the others have all moved to cost-effective single and parallel-twin engine configurations.

The return of the '90s. This is the 17,000rpm ZX-25R, and it's coming here.

According to the brand's website, the ZX-25R will not meet LAMS requirements. That means the power-to-weight will exceed 150kW per tonne, with output likely sitting at around 45kW. Almost all of that power will be made at a stratospheric 17,000rpm.

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There was no way Kawasaki could sell the ZX-25R at Ninja 400 prices so it specced the 250cc screamer as high as possible.

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Other premium parts include: Showa SFF Big Piston upside-down forks, Brembo Monobloc calipers with dual piston front brakes, traction control, electronic ride-by-wire throttle with ride modes, a quickshifter and ABS.

The bike will be styled like the other sports bikes in Kawasaki's range, meaning a Trellis frame and plenty of angular, green highlights.

However, the deal isn't quite done yet. Kawasaki needs pre-orders to bring the bike in, as Team Green HQ in Japan never intended to sell the ZX-25R outside its home country.

Those interested need to put money down before seeing the thing, as Kawasaki NZ must have enough slots filled in order to make importing the machine feasible.

The first factory order window closes this Friday 12 June with delivery scheduled for December.

If this order isn’t filled, there will be another opportunity in next month’s factory order but that delivery won't land until early 2021.