Kawasaki W175 Retro Bike Real-world Mileage and Performance Explained

How versatile is Kawasaki’s most affordable offering in India

The W175 is Kawasaki India’s most affordable motorcycle. But unlike the rest of Kawasaki’s sporty portfolio, the W175 is just a humble 177cc retro-styled commuter. Hence, if you’re planning on footing the bill for a price tag of Rs 1.47 lakh (ex-showroom), you’d probably want to know if the money will be well spent. So here’s a quick rundown of the W175’s real world performance.

Not your typical Kawasaki…

Acceleration:

Roll-on acceleration:

When you think Kawasaki, you think ‘fun’, which theW175 simply isn’t. It’s peppy for urban commutes, but that 177cc mill feels very mellow, like a 125cc sporty commuter. The climb to a 100kmph is long and the bike feels too busy at the point to enjoy holding those speeds. So highway riding is out. Where it is slightly better is in the city. There is decent mid-range on this bike, hence, even if the roll-ons aren’t sprightly, they are fuss free.

Braking:

Another area of miss in our opinion are the brakes. At the price it sits, expecting Kawasaki to throw in a rear disc brake and dual channel ABS isn’t too unreasonable. That said, the W175 isn’t really a sporty motorcycle and hence in that regard, the single 270mm disc in combination with a drum at the rear seem sufficient for the purpose. 

Fuel Efficiency:

Even in this department, the W175 feels a bit underwhelming. When compared to other bikes around that 170cc mark, like the Bajaj Pulsar N160 or the TVS Apache RTR 200 4V, both outperform the W175 by a fair margin. Hence, with the W175 you don’t get that ‘it’s a good commuter’ sense of satisfaction.

Verdict: 
The Kawasaki W175 is a fairly basic yet premium looking commuter and that’s where the buck stops. You are expected to spend a fair premium for this motorcycle and hence it cannot be recommended as your primary bike, but as a second, because you always wanted a small Kawasaki? Sure why not!