First Look: 2024 Kawasaki Eliminator 450 and ZX-6R

2024 Kawasaki Eliminator 450

Kawasaki’s out of the blocks early this year, and has released limited info on not one but two new 2024 models.

2023 Kawaski Eliminator 450

First up is a new entry-level custom cruiser, the 450 Eliminator, which puts a 451cc parallel twin engine into a low-slung cruiser chassis, with retro styling.

2024 Kawasaki Eliminator 450

The original Eliminator was a 1000cc hot-rod muscle machine, aimed at the US market, but Kawasaki has a long heritage of smaller twin-cylinder machines, with the 454 Limited and later the EN500 Vulcan, which used the ER-5 roadster motor.

The 450 Eliminator has good genes then, and it looks set to be a solid hit for the Japanese firm. There’s not much in the way of spec so far: the bike will be launched properly later in the year. But expect an A2-licence friendly power output around 47bhp from the motor, with a sub-200kg mass.

2024 Kawasaki Eliminator 4502024 Kawasaki Eliminator 450

There’s an 18-inch front wheel and 16-inch rear, and a single front brake disc. One figure Kawasaki has announced is a rough price: around £6700, and it will be in stores next January.

There’s more than a passing resemblance to the Honda CMX500 Rebel, which has been a good performer for the big H, picking up plenty of sales amongst novices, stylish urban commuters and other suitable candidates.

2024 Kawasaki ZX-6R Ninja

The other 2024 bike from Kawasaki is also a middleweight – but it bears little relationship to the Eliminator. The new ZX-6R Ninja is an update to the long-running 636cc supersports bike, and it cements Kawasaki’s place as the only firm selling a proper 600-class sportsbike in Europe and the UK.

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2024 Kawasaki ZX-6R Ninja2024 Kawasaki ZX-6R Ninja

The only real competition is Yamaha’s R6 RACE which, as the name suggests, is not a road-legal machine any more, Yamaha having given up trying to meet ever-tougher emissions regs which stifled power, added mass, and seemed a little pointless for a bike which often ended up on a race track anyway.

2024 Kawasaki ZX-6R Ninja2024 Kawasaki ZX-6R Ninja

The new ZX-6R gets a modest overhaul to the top end of the motor, with new camshafts, revised exhaust headers and a new intake tract design, all of which helps it make 127bhp@13,000rpm, while still meeting the Euro emissions regs which have killed off all the other 600cc fours.

2024 Kawasaki ZX-6R Ninja2024 Kawasaki ZX-6R Ninja

That modified engine lives behind new bodywork too, with subtle aerodynamic winglets and double-layer front fairing panels. There’s a general updating of the tech on the middleweight Ninja, so it gets new LED lights and a colour LCD dashboard, as well as a medium-spec set of rider aids.

2024 Kawasaki ZX-6R Ninja2024 Kawasaki ZX-6R Ninja

Three-level traction control, a quickshifter, riding power modes, Bluetooth phone link, shift light and ABS rounds off the tech. On the chassis front, there’s Showa suspension at both ends, with Separate Function – Big Piston Forks and rear monoshock, Nissin brake calipers and round brake discs, and premium Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV road-sport rubber.

The new ZX-6R will be in the shops in October this year, with a choice of Kawasaki green or a neat stealth black/grey paint scheme. The price is fairly decent as well: £10,599.

More info: www.kawasaki.co.uk