The Process of Elimination

The Kawasaki Eliminator has little competition, for it has always belonged to its own niche. We do not see other manufacturers bunging sport bike engines into cruiser chassis, do we?

- Sayantan De

KAWASAKI ENTERED THE Indian market back in 1986 with the two-stroke KB100. Their first four-stroke offering for the enthusiast was the Eliminator 175 in 2001.

After disappearing globally for quite some time, the Eliminator nomenclature is back around the world and in India, in the form of the 2024 Kawasaki Eliminator.

Interestingly, it was in 1985 that the name "Eliminator" first appeared in the world, powered by a ZX900 Ninja engine. The new Eliminator continues this tradition with an engine shared with the Ninja 500. So, how does it feel to ride the new Eliminator?

A lot of water has flown down the River Toga during this time and the global motorcycle market has changed drastically-both the sport bike and the cruiser are a lot less popular than they used to be, having been usurped by naked bikes, retro roadsters, scramblers, and, of course, the SUV of the two-wheeled world: the Adventure motorcycle. How does combining a sport bike and a cruiser work out today? Very well, in fact.

The Eliminator is devoid of the chrome that is ubiquitous on a cruiser, instead opting for a "murdered out" aesthetic via a black trellis frame, black paint, black engine casings, and even a black headlight nacelle with a black surround (while there are other body colours available overseas, chrome parts are not part of those). The motorcycle is properly handsome; the combination of an 18-inch front and 16-inch rear wheel lends it a low-slung, drag bike-like stance which is a subtle nod to the OG Eliminator goo. But the huge radiator gives away that it is not your average air-cooled cruiser. The front number-plate, mandatory in India, has caused Kawasaki to adopt a solution which ruins the lines of the bike a bit.