It was in November 2020 that Kawasaki W175 was spotted on road tests in India for the first time. Now around two years later, W175 has been launched in India. W175 is the smallest capacity retro-themed Kawasaki bike, offered in Asian markets such as Indonesia, Thailand and Philippines. It is also exported to Latin American countries such as Mexico, Uruguay and Bolivia.
In Indonesia, there are three versions on offer, the standard W175, W175 Cafe and W175 TR. In Indian market, only the standard variant has been launched as of now. W175 is manufactured locally, which has helped keep costs down. Two colours are on offer, with prices starting from Rs 1.47 lakh, ex-sh.
Design inspiration for Kawasaki W175 comes from its larger sibling, W800. Kawasaki W series has a rich history spanning more than 50 years. The first bike in this series, W1, was launched in 1966. Continuing on that journey, Kawasaki W175 has an alluring old-school profile with features such as round headlamp and rear view mirrors, fork gaiters, tear drop shaped fuel tank, quilted single piece saddle and wire-spoke wheels.
There will be two colour options, Ebony and Special Edition Red. While the former is essentially an all-black theme, the latter is a dual-tone colour option of red and black. In both, most of the components have been blacked out such as front suspension, headlight casing, engine, swingarm and exhaust pipe.
Instrumentation is fairly simple with analogue style speedometer, odometer, trip meter and turn signals. W175 signifies the pure joy of riding and absolutely no distractions with things like Bluetooth connectivity and app-based functions. Signature W branding can be seen at the bottom section of the instrument console. Fuel tank also has the W branding in a contrasting red shade.
Hardware setup is pretty straightforward, a double cradle frame integrated with telescopic front forks and dual rear shock absorbers. Riding stance is quite comfortable, as the bike supports the rider’s natural position. The bike has disc brake at front and drum brake at rear. Both ends have 17-inch wheels, shod with 80/100 front and 100/90 rear tyre.
Powering Kawasaki W175 is a 177cc, air cooled motor that churns out 13 PS of max power at 7,500 rpm and 13.2 Nm of peak torque at 6,000 rpm. It is mated to a 5-speed gearbox. While the numbers seem quite frugal, W175 can still deliver optimal performance owing to its low weight of just 135 kg.
W175 will be fun to ride across city streets, as it also has the right numbers in terms of length (2,006 mm), wheelbase (1,320 mm) and seat height (790 mm). While it won’t have any direct rival, Kawasaki W175 can be a challenger to the likes of Yamaha FZ-X, Royal Enfield Hunter 350, Honda CB350, Jawa and Yezdi Roadster.