 The Kriss is actually named after a Malay traditional weapon, "kris", though some motorcycle shops in the United Kingdom had mistakenly advertised the model to be named from the acronym of a famous American motorcycle racer, Kenny Roberts because Modenas had once built some racing motorcycles for Modenas KR Motorcycle Grand Prix team.It was previewed to the public during Malaysian National Day parade in 1996 and began production at the end of 1996.Since its debut in December 1996 for the original 110 cc model with drum brakes, the Modenas Kriss became one of the most popular 4-stroke underbone motorcycle in Malaysia, attaining a peak of over 50% of the Malaysian 4-stroke underbone market in 2000 and 2001.