Made-in-India road-legal Kawasaki KLX 230 S spotted testing

Fresh after we reported that Kawasaki India was working on a locally manufactured version of the Versys-X 300, we now have images of another made-in-India Kawasaki on test and this one is a whole lot more exciting.

1. Test mule seems to be lower S variant with 830mm seat height
2. Powered by 2-valve, air-cooled, 233cc mill
3. Could be priced below the  Rs 2 lakh mark (ex-showroom)

The Kawasaki KLX 230 is a relatively simple dual-sport bike that is sold overseas and it appears that Kawasaki India is now working on localising this bike for sale in our market. The big news is that this motorcycle will be road legal and the test mule has been spotted with India-specific essentials like a saree guard and a front number plate.

The KLX 230 S in India will be the purest of dual sport bikes in its segment with a purpose-built steel perimeter frame chassis and a proper 21-inch front and 18-inch rear wheel set-up. The bike also has what appears to be long travel suspension with a telescopic fork and a monoshock.

The Kawasaki KLX 230 is available in multiple variants overseas, including a standard KLX and a KLX 230 S. The key difference between the two is that the S version has lower suspension travel – 157mm font and 167mm at the rear vs 220mm at the front and 223mm at the rear on the regular KLX 230. 

There’s also a big difference in ground clearance between the two as well – the KLX 230 S has a decent 210mm while the regular KLX comes with a more substantial figure of 264mm. While these numbers certainly favour the regular KLX, the S version has a big advantage in seat height – 830mm vs 884mm. 

That crucial difference is why the bike spotted here is the KLX 230 S as it will be a more approachable machine for our market. Whether Kawasaki India also intends to sell the regular KLX 230 is unclear at this point. 

However, the Hero Xpulse has this particular Kawasaki thoroughly beat in the suspension travel department with 190mm at the front and 170mm at the rear. Where the Kawasaki will have a big advantage is in weight. It should be around the 140kg mark while the Xpulse weighs in at 159kg. 

Power comes from a simple air-cooled, 2-valve engine that displaces 233cc. Kawasaki does not list official power and torque figures on its international websites, but the company does sell the off road only version of this bike in India – the KLX 230R S – and that engine produces 20hp at 8000rpm and 20.6Nm at 6000rpm. Expect to see similar figures (perhaps with some losses to account for emissions compliance) and that should put it slightly higher than the likes of the Hero Xpulse 200 4V which makes 19.2hp at 8500rpm and 17.35Nm at 6500rpm.   

Kawasaki will be working on making this engine BS6 compliant for our market and it will also have ABS, although it remains to be seen whether this will be a single or dual channel system. Beyond that, the bike will be a very simple machine, with a basic digital display that is unlikely to be Bluetooth compatible. 

Given the fact that Kawasaki is looking to localise this bike as it has done with the Ninja 300 and W175, expect to see a tempting price tag, around the Rs 2 lakh mark and possibly even lower. 

While that does sound surprisingly aggressive, Kawasaki will have taken lessons from the failure of the W175 in our market (which currently sells in double digit figures per month) and is likely to go out all guns blazing here. We don’t expect to see a launch anytime soon and the bike going on sale in late 2024 or sometime in 2025 is a safe estimate to make. 

How much more would you be willing to pay over the Hero Xpulse 200 4V (Rs 1.46 lakh ex-showroom) for a purpose built dual sport from a Japanese manufacturer? Let us know in the comments below.

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