Kawasaki first teased the upcoming KLE at EICMA 2024 in the form of an exposed 21-inch front wheel and the name KLE visible. Now the company has shared a new video teaser showing glimpses of the motorcycle and with the words “coming soon”
- Original KLE debuted in 1991 with a 498cc parallel twin
- New KLE likely to use same engine is Kawasaki Ninja 500
- Expected to debut at EICMA 2025
Kawasaki KLE 500: What can be seen?
Likely to use the 451cc engine from the Ninja 500 with a new chassis
From last year’s teaser, it was evident from the visible shape of the two header pipes that this bike was likely to use the same 451cc parallel twin engine from the Kawasaki Ninja 500. In that sense, the new age KLE will be similar in intent to the original and the same is likely to be the case with the chassis.
The previous teaser already confirmed that the bike would run a 21-inch front wheel and have an USD fork with a single front Nissin brake. From what little is visible in the new teaser video, we know that the bike will also have a simple steel box section swingarm. It also appears that it will run on spoked wheels with tubed tyres.
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The bike in the video also appears to have a rather low slung exhaust pipe on the right side that doesn’t appear to be very different in placement when compared to the Ninja 500. As for power and torque, expect to see similar numbers to the 45.4hp and 42.6Nm in the Ninja.
Kawasaki KLE 500 India launch
The bike will probably make it to India in 2026
The Kawasaki teaser video suggests that this bike will be ‘coming soon’ and we expect to see it make its official debut at EICMA in early November. The new Kawasaki KLE 500 (if that is what it ends up being called) will probably go on sale in India next year. However, a lot of this bike’s appeal will rest on how it is brought into our country. The Ninja 500 is currently sold here as a CKD import which places its price at a high Rs 5.66 lakh ex-showroom. Expect the KLE to cost around as much if not more, which will put it close to another highly appealing but very expensive bike, the Rs 6.33 lakh Honda NX500
However, if Kawasaki India were to localise this bike as they have done with the new Kawasaki KLX230, the KLE 500 could end up having a bright future in India.
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