Over the years, I and other women riders who've written for RideApart have covered both other bikes made by the Russian firearms maker Kalashnikov, as well as the inexplicable urge some brands have to pink all the things when you want to sell to women. As a woman who rides, myself, I have a complicated love/hate relationship with that color, as I suspect many women also do.
On the one hand, it's a color some people (and not only women) adore. And as someone who also loves bright colors and wants to see more of them in the world, who am I to yuck anyone else's yum, I ask myself? There's enough beige in the world, I say. Bring on allllllll the colors.
But on the other, it's often used as a sort of annoyingly dismissive, diminishing form of shorthand. It's pink, so that means it's For The Ladies™, you know? Sometimes a color is just a color, but sometimes it's meant to instantly convey that this thing isn't meant to be taken seriously, that it's not at full power, that it's lesser than the one meant for the big boys. Slower, maybe, or equipped only with an automatic transmission because us ladies can't possibly wrap our heads around the complexities of operating a clutch.
To be totally clear, that's not the case with this Kalashnikov, thank goodness. It has a six-speed gearbox, just like the black IZH-49. And to be totally clear, all the other specs seem to be about the same as well. In this specific case, only the color appears to have changed. So hey, another more colorful bike on the market, albeit in a super limited edition that very few people (men or women) will likely ever ride!
Other key specs: it's a single-cylinder, liquid-cooled, 250cc engine with a claimed max horsepower figure of 31 pretty ponies. It has both an electric and a kickstart. Seat height is 720mm (about 28.3 inches), and the fuel tank holds 14 liters of go juice. The wheel sizes are a little retro, with an 18-inch unit up front and a 16-inch one in the rear. They're skinny, too; the front is a 100/80 and the rear is a 130/90.
As for suspension and brakes, it's all pretty standard; telescopic conventional front fork, rear swingarm, disc brakes at both ends. Curb weight is 160 kilograms, or about 352 pounds. Claimed top speed is 155 kilometers per hour, or about 96.3 miles per hour.
If you'd prefer an EV version, Kalashnikov says it's also working on one of those, with a 4 kW motor. It announced that both bikes are available for preorder on its website, in honor of International Women's Day on March 8, 2025, though it didn't list any specific pricing or availability information.
What do you think, would you give this bike a try if you had the chance, or would it be a hard pass?
