Kawasaki D-Tracker X

The Kawasaki D-Tracker X offers a very distinctive design, which looks like a blend of dual purpose as well as a naked roadster, giving it a very lean and tall stance.

At the front, the D-Tracker X comes with a downward arrow-shaped headlamp encased in a sharp looking bikini fairing. The high front fascia mounted front fender gives it a stance of an off-road motorcycle. However, the street friendly soft compound tyres wrapped around spoke wheels ensures that it is a motorcycle meant to strike the chords of the hearts of urban jungle riders.

The slim and blocky fuel tank gives the D-Tracker X a minimalist appeal, however, the engine compartment has a fully-packed design, giving it a much needed visual bulk. The minimalist and sharply styled side body panels, underseat side mounted exhaust pipe and flat single piece seat give it an impression of a dual purpose supermoto.

However, at the rear, the D-Tracker X comes with a bulky and wide looking tailpiece which encases a very small tail lamp. The long rear fender makes sure that the bike looks big when viewed from the rear.

Talking about the instrument console, the D-Tracker X comes fitted with a very thin looking fully digital meter panel, which displays speedometer, tachometer, odometer, trip meters, and fuel gauge. Though, it is a bit hard to read while on the go, the comprehensiveness of the instrument console is quite impressive.

The Kawasaki D-Tracker X has been fitted with a very sturdy suspension setup of telescopic forks at the front and a uni-track monoshock with rectangular swingarm at the rear. The suspension is set on a slightly stiffer end, in order to make it agile and quick to steer in all possible conditions. However, due to this, the ride quality feels slightly jittery on broken patches of tarmac.

The single piece seat is comfortable for two full adults, however, the underseat exhaust pipe could have been done with a better heat dissipation. The D-Tracker X also comes fitted with disc brakes at both the ends, which are large and strong enough in returning a very positive feedback.

At the heart of the Kawasaki D-Tracker X sits a four-stroke, single cylinder, fuel-injected, 249cc engine, which develops 24.4 PS of power and 21 Nm of torque.

As opposed to the overall appeal of the design of the D-Tracker X, the engine has a very linear power delivery. The engine has a healthy mid-range and bottom-end performance, which is helpful in dealing with the daily city traffic conditions. The engine has been coupled to a 6-speed gearbox, which comes with a bit shorter ratios to make sure that the engine doesn’t run out of breath in instant throttle conditions.

To make it a cost-effective package, Kawasaki has made the D-Tracker X a bare-bones package in terms of safety equipment. Apart from the disc brake setup at both the ends, the D-Tracker X misses out on every other safety equipment, including the very essential ABS as well.

To sum it up, the D-Tracker X proves itself as a very fun to ride urban motorcycle which also offers a mild off-road riding experience as well. The minimalist and quirky styling might not suit to everyone’s taste. However, this very lean stance of the motorcycle makes it an agile handler, which only gets better with the stiffly sprung suspension. The performance could have been a bit more nifty, given the fun-oriented visual appeal of the motorcycle, but it still gives the D-Tracker X a perky character.