Agreed. I think in the realm of RS660 if Kawasaki wants to be competitive they'll need a full reboot.
Haven't seen any rumors about that. If it's going to showcase, it would be at the EICMA show in 2 weeks.
I predict it will arrive about the same time as the new Honda V4 Superbike. OK, maybe a little sooner, but only by about a year or two.
I just happen to see a Kawasaki ad that shows what might look like a sport bike still under wraps. Thought they might dump the 650 for a new 700
Over in the UK the Kawi has been their go-to lightweight bike for a long time. I would say 85% of the twins bikes at the Isle of Man TT were Kawi 650s
Rumor put to bed by @DDK732 himself. Otherwise I'd be buying one and talk him into building & running a team with it.
Slim chance. 2022 Ninja 650 has already been launched and new Z650 RS launched with the current gen 650 motor. New Kawis remaining to be released for 2022 are (most likely) going to be the new H2 SX SE+ and the new Versys. Euro docs show that the new Versys is going to be 650 also. The model has been on a 5-6 year new model schedule since it's launch and the current gen was launched in 2017 with a refresh in 2020, so possible for 2023, but highly unlikely. @Fasted Yamaha : The majority of the twins on the Euro road racing scene (circuit and real road) are Ninja/EX/ER 650s and have been for some time. A few have been raced in MotoA Twins and Danielle Diaz has had some success on one. Last time she was at Laguna on hers, she was less than .3 seconds off of Parish's best time...
Um no. AFT Ninja 650's a bored 2.5 mm & stroked to make 750cc. From what I've been told they detune them from that point to avoid stretching head bolts. I know of 2 engine failures, one was from someone trying to race without a balancer shaft, the other was mine from abusive downshifts without a slipper. SV's on the other hand ....... Lack of available parts and the abundance of race ready SV's is what killed it.
Looks like there will be a new Kawasaki for next year.. Anything else new coming in the twins cup area? I thought I remembered someone mentioned KTM before
Looks like the rumored bump for the RC390 as a single 373cc machine up to a parallel twin 490 is finally gonna happen for next year. The bike was reworked for '22 so I'm guessing mostly just an engine upgrade and frame tweaks.